This year s flu vaccine appears to be doing a poor job of protecting the elderly, federal health officials reported yesterday.
Overall, this year s vaccine is about 27 percent effective for people ages 65 and older, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported in this week s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. Perhaps the most concerning news for seniors is that the shot is only nine percent effective against the most common and dangerous flu bug (H3N2 flu strain).
Although flu vaccines never work as well among older people, probably because of their weaker immune systems, this year s protection seems to be unusually low and officials are not sure why. The preliminary data for seniors is, however, less than definitive, being based on fewer than 300 people scattered among five states.
Despite the poor protection, the CDC is still urging the elderly (as well as everyone else over 6 months of age) to get vaccinated. Seniors are, of course, among those most vulnerable to life-threatening complications from the flu, and some protection is better than none.
The vaccine is the best and only protection we have, says ACSH s Dr. Josh Bloom. Some years it works better than others the science just isn t there yet. He adds, But to conclude that this is a reason not to get vaccinated defies logic. Indeed, the poor protection for the elderly makes vaccination of others more important. Do you really want to visit your grandmother when you may be infected knowing that she is not protected?
