Author Interviews, Cleveland Clinic, Flu - Influenza, Vaccine Studies / 11.09.2015
Elders Also Benefit When Young Adults Get Flu Vaccine
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Dr. Glen Taksler, PhD
Medicine Institute
Cleveland Clinic Main Campus
Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Dr. Taksler: Although young, healthy adults who develop influenza are usually able to recover, they may spread the flu to other people in the community who have a higher risk of hospitalization or other serious complications. These higher-risk people have a limited ability to protect themselves from influenza, because flu vaccines are less effective in the elderly and in people with weakened immune systems.
To better understand whether young, healthy adults could help the community-at-large by getting a flu vaccine, we looked at data on more than 3 million Medicare beneficiaries across 8 influenza seasons.
We found that the elderly had 21% lower odds of developing influenza if they lived in areas where more nonelderly adults (people aged 18-64 years old) got a flu vaccine.
Importantly, we found these benefits even in elderly adults who obtained an influenza vaccine, perhaps because flu vaccines are less effective in the elderly. This means that elderly adults who were proactive to try to prevent influenza still benefited from communitywide vaccination.
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