Posted on 09/01/2008 10:06:20 PM PDT by neverdem
The influenza vaccine, which has been strongly recommended for people over 65 for more than four decades, is losing its reputation as an effective way to ward off the virus in the elderly.
A growing number of immunologists and epidemiologists say the vaccine probably does not work very well for people over 70, the group that accounts for three-fourths of all flu deaths.
The latest blow was a study in The Lancet last month that called into question much of the statistical evidence for the vaccine’s effectiveness.
The authors said previous studies had measured the wrong thing: not any actual protection against the flu virus but a fundamental difference between the kinds of people who get vaccines and those who do not.
This contention is far from universally accepted. And even skeptics say that until more effective measures are found, older people should continue to be vaccinated, because some protection against the flu is better than none.
Still, the Lancet article has reignited a longstanding debate over claims that the vaccine prevents thousands of hospitalizations and deaths in older people. “The whole notion of who needs the vaccine and why is changing before our eyes,” said Peter Doshi, a doctoral candidate at M.I.T. who published a paper on the historical impact of influenza in May in The American Journal of Public Health.
The Lancet paper, by Michael L. Jackson and colleagues at the Group Health Center for Health Studies in Seattle, was based on an analysis of medical charts of thousands of elderly members of an H.M.O.
The study found that people who were healthy and conscientious about staying well were the most likely to get an annual flu shot. Those who are frail may have trouble bathing or dressing on their own and are less likely to get to...
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
What about FluMist? Not to be an advertisement here, but I understand it is more effective, albeit more expensive.
Amen. But I guess the media just can't resist.
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I haven't had any experience with it.
It's only been approved for people between 2 and 50.
http://www.cdc.gov/FLU/about/qa/nasalspray.htm
Thanks for the link.
I had heard of FluMist because my wife worked on testing it for Aviron towards getting the FDC approval a few years back. I was hoping that it would have been cleared for older folks by now.
I’m not a biologist myself, but if you folks have any questions about it, I can pass them on to her.
Important Safety Information
FluMist is a live weakened influenza virus vaccine approved for the prevention of certain types of influenza disease in children, adolescents and adults 2-49 years of age. FluMist may not protect everyone who gets it. FluMist is for intranasal administration only.
FluMist is not right for everyone. FluMist must not be given to: people with history of hypersensitivity to eggs, egg proteins, gentamicin, gelatin or arginine; people with life-threatening reactions to previous influenza vaccinations; and children and adolescents receiving aspirin or aspirin containing therapy.
Children less than 24 months are not eligible for FluMist. The following people may not be able to get FluMist, or may be able to get it only in certain situations: people with asthma or active wheezing, or children less than 5 years of age with recurrent wheezing; people with a history of Guillain-Barré syndrome; people with a weakened immune system; people with long-term medical conditions including heart disease, kidney disease, and metabolic diseases, such as diabetes; and pregnant women.
If you or your child falls into one of these groups, be sure to tell your healthcare provider. They will decide if FluMist is right for you or your child.
Most common side effects were generally mild and included runny nose or nasal congestion, sore throat, and fever.
Thanks for the info & links. It’s a good refresher.
specially when the report is published in a medical journal.
Especially when it's anti-vaccine (anti autism) related
Thanks.
Then there are those who claim that some of the vaccination stuff is a good globalist effort to reduce the number of “useless eaters” . . . such as the elderly, the weakened etc.
Fascinating era we live in.
> What about FluMist? Not to be an advertisement here, but I understand it is more effective, albeit more expensive <
My doctor is a strong proponent of flu-mist, exactly for the reason that it’s more effective.
In any case, avoidance of death isn’t the only justification for having a flu vaccination: Just ask somebody who has lived thru a particularly nasty case of flu. It’s not uncommon to hear them say, “It was so bad that I almost wanted to die.”
Not exactly. You're correct insofar as FDA has recommended that Flu-Mist not be given to people over 50. But they haven't actually banned it for such use.
So my very excellent and professionally well-regarded M.D. ignores FDA on this point and gives Flu-Mist to seniors like me anyway. He has studied the scientific literature and is entirely persuaded that a normally healthy over-50 person is at no risk. I trust his judgment without reservation and have taken F-M for the past three years -- with no ill effects and no signs of flu!
In any case, avoidance of death isn't the only justification for having a flu vaccination: Just ask somebody who has lived thru a particularly nasty case of flu. It's not uncommon to hear them say, “It was so bad that I almost wanted to die.”
My parents who are in their 70's and I all got the flu about 18 months ago in spite of the fact that all three of us got the 2006-2007 flu vaccine. Perhaps there was a poor match between the vaccine and the actual flu strains going around. All of us had symptoms for at least a week. My father lost about 20 pounds. Of course its quite possible that the vaccine gave us some partial protection, because other people I know about had flu symptoms even longer.
A friend at work got Guillon-Barre syndrome. The left side of his face looked like it was going to fall off.
His doctor said it was probably from the flu vaccine that he got a couple of weeks earlier. Even over a year later his face is still not back to normal.
He’s the second person that I’ve known that had that side effect. Pretty nasty side effect, to say the least.
When my wife was working on FluMist and really up on this stuff, she used to tell me how the regular vaccine was a hit or miss affair, where they had to guess in advance what strains of the flu to gear it toward. Apparently some seasons they do a better job than on others.
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