OBJECTIVES: Influenza A is currently the greatest pandemic disease threat to humankind. The availability of pandemic vaccine influenza H1N1 will be delayed by several months because of the requirements for vaccine formulation and production lead-time. Furthermore, it is probable that insufficient production capacity will restrict global access to the vaccine, at least during the first phase of the pandemic. The aim of this study was to investigate the uptake in seasonal influenza vaccine consumption by deprivation of H1N1 influenza vaccine in Iran 2017.

METHODS: Data on vaccines consumption 2013–2017 were extracted from the databases of the health system research (HSR) in Ministry Of Health (MOH). The full research database currently contains the records of seasonal influenza vaccine consumption in the last 5 years. The rates of consumption between each two consequence years were evaluated and compared.

RESULTS: Consumption of seasonal influenza vaccine measured by this series of surveys was 431822 in year 2013. Seasonal influenza vaccine consumption reached 2255000 in the latest year 2017. This uptake was higher than the uptake in the other years. The first rate measured was 17% and the current rate was 190%. In last year examined, the total use of seasonal influenza vaccine increased extremely in Iran.

CONCLUSIONS: In Iran, the overall rate of seasonal influenza vaccine consumption increased in year 2017 compared to previous years and this uptake was not evidence base. The pandemic influenza H1N1 may have had a direct influence on the increased vaccination rates. It is necessary to give more information to the people on seasonal influenza vaccines and about the adverse effects of inadequate use of influenza vaccines and urge people not to use influenza vaccines without prescriptions.