Repeated Vaccination May Prevent Severe Flu in Older People

Older adults hospitalized for the flu who received repeated doses of the flu shot in consecutive years were better protected against developing severe influenza, researchers found. Compared to unvaccinated adults 65 and older, a flu shot in the current flu season and any of the three previous flu seasons helped prevent admission to the ICU, as well as death, reported Itziar Casado, MD, of Instituto de Salud Pública de Navarra in Spain, and colleagues. However, this repeated vaccination was less effective in preventing hospitalization from non-severe influenza, the authors wrote in CMAJ, the Canadian Medical Association journal. https://www.medpagetoday.com/infectiousdisease/uritheflu/70364?xid=nl_mpt_DHE_2018-01-09&eun=g721819d0r&pos=2&utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Daily%20Headlines%202018-01-09&utm_term=Daily%20Headlines%20-%20Active%20User%20-%20180%20days