A study from the US Center for Disease Control (CDC) has found that this year’s flu vaccine did little to protect seniors (individuals 65-years of age and older) from influenza A strain H3N2, the flu culprit at the head of the pack in North America.
In fact, the flu vaccine merely reduced flu risk for seniors by 9- percent and by 56-percent for all other age groups, which really, isn’t that impressive considering that strains like H3N2 pose the most danger to the elderly!
“Clearly it’s much lower than we had hoped for,” Dr. Joe Bresee, a flu expert with the CDC, who warns seniors that even if they got a flu shot this year, they need to take further precautions so they don’t still get sick.
Dr. Bresee points out that there has been a huge spike in hospitalized elderly patients this season due to the hard hitting H3N2 flu among the elderly this winter.
“We wanted to make sure that…if you’re elderly you know that… if you do get sick, get antivirals. And don’t assume just because you got the vaccine that that flu-like illness you’ve got can’t be flu.”
Source: Vancouver Sun
