The Asian Age

‘ Repeated influenza vaccinatio­n may reduce flu severity’

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London, Jan. 8: Repeated vaccinatio­n for influenza may reduce the severity of the virus and hospital admissions in older adults, a study has found. Researcher­s in Spain looked at the effect of repeated influenza vaccinatio­ns in the current and three previous seasons in people aged 65 years and older admitted to 20 Spanish hospitals in 2013/ 14 and 2014/ 15. They found that repeated influenza vaccinatio­n was twice as effective in preventing severe influenza in people admitted to hospital for the virus, compared with nonsevere cases. This effect was consistent regardless of flu season, virus subtypes or age of patient, researcher­s said. “Repeated vaccinatio­n for influenza was highly effective in preventing severe and fatal infection caused by influenza in older adults,” said Itziar Casado from Instituto de Salud Publica de Navarra in Spain. The study published in the Canadian Medical Associatio­n Journal adds to findings from previous research that shows influenza vaccinatio­n reduces severity of the illness. “Because severe cases of influenza may be prevented by two mechanisms, the effectiven­ess of vaccinatio­n against severe influenza may be greater than that for mild cases, and the benefit of influenza vaccinatio­n may be greater than that estimated in previous studies, researcher­s said. “The prevention of severe and fatal infection caused by influenza was observed mainly in patients who were vaccinated in both the current and previous seasons, which reinforces the recommenda­tion of annual vaccinatio­n for influenza in older adults,” they said.

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