Thursday, February 21, 2013
ATLANTA (AP) — This year's flu shot is doing a startlingly dismal job of protecting senior citizens from the harshest strain this season, proving only 9 percent effective, the government said today.
Health officials don't know why this is so, but it helps explain why so many older people have been hospitalized with the flu this year.
Flu vaccine tends to protect younger people better than older ones and never works as well as other kinds of vaccines. But experts say the preliminary results for seniors are disappointing and highlight the urgent need for a better vaccine.
Overall, the vaccine's effectiveness is a moderate 56 percent, which means those who got a shot have a 56 percent lower chance of winding up at the doctor with the flu. That is nearly as good as other flu seasons, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said today.
For those 65 and older, it offers far less protection. It is 27 percent effective against the three strains in the vaccine, the lowest in about a decade but not far below from what's expected. But the vaccine did a particularly poor job of protecting older people against the toughest flu bug, which is causing more than three-quarters of the illnesses this year. CDC officials say it's not clear why.