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Article: Mortality in the elderly not decreased by flu shots.(Infectious Diseases)
- Article from:
- Internal Medicine News
- Article date:
- October 15, 2007
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2007 International Medical News Group. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Influenza vaccinations don't reduce flu-related mortality in elderly adults in the United States, and prior reports of the vaccine's efficacy in this population have been exaggerated, according to a recent report.
Although flu vaccination rates in the United States have increased from 15% to 65% since 1980, recent mortality studies cannot confirm any decrease in flu-related deaths in adults aged 70 years and older, wrote Lone Simonsen, Ph.D., of George Washington University, Washington, and colleagues (Lancet Infect. Dis. 2007;7:656-66 [Epub doi:10.1016/S1473-3099(07)70236-0]).
To assess the validity of the evidence for and against flu shots for the ...