We are now approaching the limit of the highest risk seazon of influenzza ( which is considered to be the end of April ) . Preparations are probably under way for the comming Flu seazon and calls for vaccinations will probably start by October.
This being said I would like to ask our fellows about their opinion regarding the urge for Influenzza Vaccination in the elderly and the strong mass vacc recommendation of health systems for it ? This question emerges from several publications which question the efficiency of Flu Vacc in the old age as well as from hesitations some elderly persons have ( either with regard to vaccinations in general or specifically to Flu Vacc.) .Has anyone any personal experience ?
Here's a website that lists studies and the effectiveness of the influenza vaccine on different groups of individuals including the elderly. From reading some of these articles there is a significant reduction in serious consequences from the flu in the elderly who often are more susceptible to these consequences because of chronic illnesses.
influenza is a vaccine preventable disease and health care personel and elder people should be vaccinated on time without hesitation. Also other risk groups must be included in vaccination. The effectiveness of vaccine is satsifactory 70-90%.
While influenza vaccine isn't strongly protective in the elderly, even partial protection is worthwhile, given the severe consequences of influenza infection in this population. It's important to vaccinate essentially everyone in the other age groups to prevent them from carrying influenza to the elderly. It's worked in other countries.
Elderly individuals may be suspicious of the side effects of influenza vaccination(everyone else is!), however the facts are that reactions are not severe generally, and are mostly limited to those receiving their first influenza immunization. Many of the side effects attributed to influenza vaccination are actually unrelated to vaccination itself, but are due to other events happening in the community (other viral infections) around the time that influenza vaccine is administered
Dear Colleagues
The effectivenes of Flu Vacc for 2014 - 2015 ( according to the CDC ) is estimated
as only 23 % ! It may be much less than this in elderly people. People may also be concerned about side effects which are usually minor indeed ( the early ones.. ) .
Moreover when speaking about this : Do we have the right to promote vaccination
for " essentially everyone in the other age groups " .
In my opinion it is important to vaccinate oneself and others against the influenza virus. The reason is that even partial immunity is better than no immunity. The side effects of the vaccination itself are mild and can be even further mitigated by taking a two tablets of acetaminophen (500 mg) soon (within a couple of hours) after the vaccination.
That being said most people should be strongly encouraged to get themselves vaccinated, however the final decision to doso or not must be left up to the individual.
Whether the CDC influenza surveillance sites are representative of the general population is open to question: I suspect their VE figure of 23% is way too low. Immunizing seniors remains important, though protecting seniors from influenza might be better served by immunizing their younger contacts and family members first. Many seniors don't seroconvert well to the vaccine- I'm not certain how the new high-dose vaccine for seniors is working out, but it may be more of a stop-gap than a solution. Starting with immunizing the healthcare workers that seniors come into contact with is also a good first step.
As far as I know there is only one study ( Germany 2010) reprting that vaccination of a LTC facility staff with the Flu shot did not influenced occurance of the disease among the residents.
Does somebody know about additional publications on this subject ?
We specifically looked at B cell responses to Influenza vaccine in the aged and have few publications on this subject:
1 In a small study with 34 aged individuals, we showed that shortening of vaccine interval (6-9 months instead of 12 months) in elderly individuals increased VNA titers to influenza virus. More subjects need to be tested on this regard.
2 B cells responses to TIV vaccination showed only marginal increases in circulating ASC in the aged compared younger individuals leading to reduced production of IgG antibodies.
3 In a different study, we observed that decrease in BTLA expression in aged individuals (>65 yrs old) correlated to decreased numbers in plasma cells, memory B cells and antibody titers to influenza virus.
Overall, understanding the connections between metabolism and immune function in older adults may lead to improved influenza vaccines, and potentially improvements in other vaccines.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23674565
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26637961
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26277622
Article B cell responses to the 2011/12-influenza vaccine in the aged
Article BTLA expression declines on B cells of the aged and is assoc...
Article A shortened interval between vaccinations with the trivalent...
Dear Raj - Very interesting indeed. I will transmit these to all my colleagues.
Arthur
As an elderly, I want to say give the freedom to make the decision to accept or not by themselves. Due to
1. There is no Vincent can treat the quick and constant changing virus.
2. There is a better exercise that really boosts up the immunity. The energy goes through the spine and the center of the body, it activates the kidneys and the thymus gland the primary immunity organs and then at step 3, the energy goes through the spleen – the secondary immunity organ.
https://universaltcm.com/da-zhou-tian/
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