Do flu vaccines save elderly lives?

A new study in the British medical journal The Lancet questions if annual flu vaccines are saving the lives of seniors. (Source: "Flu vaccines may not save elderly lives: experts" Reuters, Sept. 24, 2007.) The article states that while "no studies have conclusively proven that influenza shots prevent flu-related deaths in people over the age of 65 . . . the elderly should continue to get flu shots" However, researchers said "health officials should also be looking for other ways to prevent some of the 36,000 deaths that come each year from flu in the United States alone."

Dr. Lone Simonsen of George Washington University said there is no evidence vaccination cuts deaths from flu among the elderly, primarily because older people have lower immune activity than younger people. She added, though, that "There is no question about the vaccine working in people under the age of 65." Simonsen recommended designing vaccines that better protect the elderly and more aggressive use of antiviral drugs to treat and prevent flu. Dr. Joe Bresee of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said his agency was "considering these and other measures--including better vaccination of health care workers and recommending the widespread vaccination of schoolchildren. "We know that school children are a big part of community transmission. They shed lots of virus. They shed it for long periods of time," he said.