Category: Flu Vaccine

As the winter chill blankets the U.S., a beacon of hope emerges in the fight against the seasonal flu. Early estimates for the 2024 flu season suggest that the flu vaccine is holding its ground, offering a shield of protection to both adults and children alike. Amidst the hustle of everyday life, millions have rolled up their sleeves, a small act that serves as a frontline defense in the annual battle against influenza.

For adults, the vaccine has demonstrated a 40% effectiveness in warding off flu cases severe enough to require medical attention. This statistic is a testament to the relentless efforts of scientists and health officials who work behind the scenes, analyzing strains and predicting the flu's next move. Children, the often most vulnerable among us, have fared even better. The vaccine's effectiveness jumps to an impressive 60% for the younger population, significantly lowering the odds of flu-related doctor visits or hospitalizations.

These figures, while falling within the expected efficacy range of 40% to 60% for flu vaccines, underscore a critical message: vaccination remains a key player in our health defense strategy. This year's success story is partly credited to the vaccine's good match with the circulating flu strains, a crucial factor in its performance. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has been vigilant, monitoring the vaccine's effectiveness through various surveillance systems, including data from hospitals and outpatient clinics.

Despite the encouraging effectiveness rates, the battle is far from over. The CDC reports that vaccination rates hover just below 50% for both eligible children and adults, a figure that highlights the ongoing challenge of achieving widespread immunization. The quest for higher vaccination rates is not merely a numbers game but a critical endeavor to safeguard public health and ease the burden on healthcare systems.

Amidst discussions of effectiveness, concerns have been raised about the potential for diminishing returns from annual flu vaccinations. Dr. Sarah Long of Drexel University brought this issue to light, questioning whether repeated vaccinations might lead to lower immune responses over time. However, Dr. Lisa Grohskopf from the CDC countered these concerns by emphasizing that, on balance, vaccinated individuals consistently fare better than those who forego the flu shot.

As the flu season progresses, the narrative of this year's vaccine effectiveness serves as a crucial reminder of the power of preventative medicine. The dialogue between researchers, healthcare professionals, and the public continues, shaping a collective response to future flu seasons. The CDC's commitment to monitoring and analyzing vaccine performance paves the way for advancements in flu prevention and public health strategies.

In the face of uncertainties and evolving flu strains, the moderate success of the 2024 flu vaccine offers a glimmer of hope and a call to action. It underscores the importance of vaccination as a cornerstone of public health, urging communities to rally together in the ongoing fight against influenza. As we navigate through the remainder of the flu season, let us carry forward the lessons learned and the successes achieved, armed with the knowledge that every vaccination is a step towards a healthier tomorrow.

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Moderate Success: Early Estimates Show Flu Vaccine's Effectiveness in the 2024 U.S. Winter Season - Medriva

As winter's chill deepens, a beacon of hope emerges in the fight against the seasonal flu. Recent data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reveals that this year's flu vaccine is performing admirably, providing substantial protection against the virus, particularly among our youngest. In a season where the flu's unpredictability often leaves health professionals guessing, these findings underscore the vaccine's critical role in our public health arsenal.

The effectiveness of the flu vaccine in children this winter is nothing short of remarkable. According to the latest CDC data, we're seeing protection rates ranging from 59% to 67% in preventing medical care for any flu type, with hospitalization prevention rates between 52% and 61%. Against the predominant influenza A H1N1 viruses, the numbers are equally impressive, with effectiveness in children for care prevention ranging from 54% to 61% and an astounding 64% to 89% against influenza B. This level of efficacy paints a picture of a strong shield guarding our children against the ravages of the flu.

For adults, the landscape is a bit more nuanced. While the vaccine shows a 78% effectiveness against influenza B requiring medical care, its performance against H1N1 dips to 25% for preventing medical care and 50% for hospitalizations. However, adults aged 65 and older benefit from specially formulated high-dose or adjuvant-containing vaccines, providing them slightly better protection. Despite these mixed results, the overarching message from health authorities remains clear: vaccination offers a significant layer of defense against the flu.

Amid these findings, a concerning trend emergesthe decline in flu vaccination rates since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Current vaccination rates stand at 51% for children and 48% for adults, with nearly 74% for those aged 65 and older. This drop underscores the need for increased public health efforts to encourage vaccination, especially in light of the substantial protection it offers. As we navigate through the winter months, the CDC continues to recommend annual flu vaccinations for everyone aged 6 months and older, emphasizing that despite the flu's unpredictability, vaccination remains our best defense.

As we reflect on the current flu season's data, it's evident that the flu vaccine is a cornerstone of public health, particularly for our most vulnerable populations. While vaccination rates and the varying effectiveness among different age groups present challenges, the overall message is clear: the flu vaccine is doing its job, providing a crucial buffer against the flu's impact. As the winter continues, let's not forget the power of vaccination in safeguarding our health and the health of those around us.

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Flu Vaccine Shows Notable Effectiveness This Winter, Especially Among Children - Medriva

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Researchers are developing a new recombinant flu vaccine that has the potential to compete with existing vaccines.

Recombinant protein vaccines, like the Novavax vaccine used to fight COVID-19, offer several advantages over conventional vaccines. Theyre easy to precisely produce. Theyre safe, and potentially more effective. And they could require smaller doses.

Because of these traits, there is much interest in developing recombinant influenza vaccines. To date, however, the Food and Drug Administration has approved only one such vaccine.

The researchers at the University at Buffalo hope to add to that number.

Because of the variable nature of the viruses that cause influenza, current vaccines are not optimally effective among the overall population, says Jonathan Lovell, professor in the biomedical engineering department at the University at Buffalo and senior coauthor of the study in the journal Cell Reports. We believe our vaccine candidate has the potential to improve upon this by inducing stronger and broader immunity, and reducing the likelihood of illness and death.

Conventional flu vaccines contain either deactivated microbes that cause influenza, or they are based on weakened forms of the disease. They are made using fertilized chicken eggs or, less commonly, through cell culture-based production.

The vaccine the research team is developing is based on a nanoliposomea tiny spherical sacthat Lovell and colleagues created called cobalt-porphyrin-phospholipid, or CoPoP. The CoPoP platform enables immune response promoting proteins to be displayed on the surface of the nanoliposome, resulting in potent vaccine efficacy.

Alone, these nanoliposomes do not fight disease. But when combined with recombinant influenza proteins that can be generated based on genetic information from viruses, they enhance the immune systems response to disease.

In the new study, the team attached to the nanoliposome a total of six proteinsthree each from two different protein groups, hemagglutinins and neuraminidases. They also added two adjuvants (PHAD and QS21) to boost immune response.

Researchers evaluated the resulting hexaplex nanoliposome in animal models with three common flu strains: H1N1, H3N2, and type B.

Even when administered in low doses, the hexaplex nanoliposome provided superior protection and survival from H1 and N1 when compared to Flublok, which is the sole licensed recombinant influenza vaccine in the US, and Fluaid, an egg-based vaccine. Tests showed comparable levels of protection against H3N2 and type B viruses.

The tests were performed via vaccination and through blood serum transfer from vaccinated mice into non-vaccinated mice.

The combination of the two groups of proteins led to synergistic effects. In particular, the adjuvanted nanoliposomes excelled in the production of functional antibodies and the activation of T cells, which are critical to fighting off serious infection of the flu, says lead author Zachary Sia, a PhD candidate in Lovells lab.

Bruce Davidson, a research associate professor of anesthesiology in the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, is a senior coauthor of the study.

He says using not only hemagglutinin but also neuraminidase antigens to create vaccines is important because it translates into broader immunity and companies will be able to create more doses with less materials. Thats critical for not only the flu but also potential outbreaks like what we saw with COVID-19. There is still much work to be done in fully testing and validating this flu technology, but at this point these early results are quite promising.

Additional coauthors are from the University at Buffalo and McGill University.

While not part of this study, the CoPoP vaccine platform underwent phase 2 and phase 3 clinical trials in South Korea and the Philippines as a COVID-19 vaccine candidate. This is a partnership between UB spinoff company POP Biotechnologies, cofounded by Lovell, and South Korean biotech company EuBiologics.

The researchers have filed patents with The Research Foundation for the State University of New York. Lovell and coauthor Wei-Chiao Huang, postdoctoral scholar in Lovells lab, are employed by POP Biotechnologies.

The National Institutes of Health funded the work.

Source: University at Buffalo

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Vaccine in development could offer better flu protection - Futurity: Research News

Just under half of eligible adults got their flu shot this season, CDC data shows.

NEW YORK Early estimates suggest flu shots are performing OK in the current U.S. winter flu season.

The vaccines were around 40% effective in preventing adults from getting sick enough from the flu that they had to go to a doctors office, clinic or hospital, health officials said during a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention vaccines meeting Wednesday. Children who were vaccinated were roughly 60% less likely to get treatment at a doctor's office or hospital, CDC officials said.

Officials generally are pleased if a flu vaccine is 40% to 60% effective.

The shots tend to do better when they are well matched against the circulating flu strains. Officials say that's what's happened during this relatively typical flu season.

Annual flu vaccines are recommended for everyone 6 months and older in the U.S. About half of eligible kids and just under half of adults got flu shots in the last several months, according to CDC data.

The CDC uses several systems to track the vaccines. One is a network of hospitals that offer information on how well the vaccines prevent flu-related illnesses bad enough to require admission. Another draws on outpatient data from urgent care clinics and hospital emergency departments.

Estimates from four different surveillance systems were presented at Wednesday's meeting of a committee that advises the CDC on vaccines. The findings were reported as ranges, but their midpoints hovered close to 40% for adults and around 60% for children.

The adult effectiveness estimate is similar to what CDC initially reported for last flu season. The shots proved less effective in some other recent seasons, the results influenced by what virus strain was dominating and how well the vaccines were matched to it.

One committee member expressed disappointment at recent effectiveness findings.

There seems to be diminishing returns for annual influenza immunization, said Dr. Sarah Long, of Drexel University.

Long asked whether repeated vaccinations, year-after-year, might be leading to lower immune system responses. A CDC official said some researchers have been exploring that question, so far without conclusive results.

One thing that does seem to arise consistently from these things is that in general you are better off if you got vaccinated than if you didn't, said the CDC's Dr. Lisa Grohskopf.

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Flu shots effective against virus this season, data suggests | wusa9.com - WUSA9.com

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Children born in October are both more likely to be vaccinated against influenza and least likely to be diagnosed with influenza compared with children born in other months, finds a US study published by The BMJ.

The results suggest that birth month is associated with both timing of flu vaccination and the likelihood of a flu diagnosisand that October is the optimal time for young children to have a flu shot, in line with current recommendations.

Annual influenza vaccination is particularly important for young children, who are at higher risk of flu and severe infection requiring admission to hospital. Vaccination is recommended during September or October to maximize immunity during the peak flu season.

Among young children in the United States, preventive care visits tend to occur during birth months and are a convenient time to receive the influenza vaccine, but large-scale studies of the optimal timing of vaccination are unavailable.

To address this, researchers set out to assess the optimal timing of influenza vaccination in young children.

Using health insurance claims data, they identified over 800,000 children aged 25 years who received an influenza vaccination between 1 August and 31 January during 201118. They then analyzed rates of diagnosed influenza among these children by birth month.

After accounting for a range of potentially influential factors such as age, sex, existing conditions, health care use and family size, the results show that October was the most common month for children to be vaccinated.

Children born in October also had the lowest rate of influenza diagnosis. For example, among children born in August, the average rate of influenza diagnosis across flu seasons studied was 3% compared with 2.7% for children born in October and 2.9% for those born in December.

This is an observational study and the authors acknowledge that their findings are limited to insured children who received medical care. Nor can they rule out the possibility that other unmeasured factors may have influenced their results.

Nevertheless, results were similar after additional analyses to evaluate whether the relation between birth month and influenza risk was due to chance, providing greater confidence in their conclusions.

"Our findings suggest that US public health interventions focused on vaccination of young children in October may yield the best protection in typical flu seasons," they say.

"The study's findings are consistent with current recommendations promoting October vaccination," they add.

More information: Optimal timing of influenza vaccination in young children: population based cohort study, The BMJ (2024). DOI: 10.1136/bmj-2023-077076 http://www.bmj.com/content/384/bmj-2023-077076

Journal information: British Medical Journal (BMJ)

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US study finds children born in October least likely to get flu - Medical Xpress

Getting the flu shot any time during respiratory virus season is better than not getting it at all. But vaccine protection wanes, so timing the shot properly can help antibodies peak when cases are highest.

Researchers wanted to figure out the optimal time for getting a flu shot, and took advantage of the fact that children tend to get vaccinated in the month they were born. In a study published in BMJ, they analyzed health insurance data from more than 800,000 children, ages 2-5, who got a flu shot from 2011 to 2018. The data showed that kids vaccinated in October had the strongest protectionthey were about 12% less likely to get the flu compared to kids vaccinated in August.

It makes sense that October is the ideal time to get vaccinated, says the study's senior author Dr. Anupam Jena, professor of health care policy at Harvard Medical School and professor of medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital. Get vaccinated in August or September, and immunity might wane too soon; get the shot in December or January, and immunity might not have time to build up before the December or January peak, he says. October seems to be the sweet spot. "These findings provide a data-driven way to show thats true.

Read More: Why It's So Hard to Get Kids Vaccinated Against COVID-19

Pediatricians could put this finding into practice by discussing optimal timing of the shot and doubling down on October appointments, says Jena. To the extent that they can more forcibly advocate that October is the optimal time for kids to get vaccinated, we might see parents moving to get shots in that month.

Other strategies may include focusing on school-based vaccination programs. For things like flu vaccines, convenience is a really big deal, and making them more available in school would solve the problem of many kids not getting vaccinated in the first place, as well as facilitating optimal timing, says Jena.

Getting the flu shot in October could also be important in helping children with weakened immune systems get the best protection possible against severe illness and hospitalization. If you are at risk of having flu-related complications, optimal timing of the shot may matter even more, says Jena. For those kids, they get a larger bang for their buck if they are vaccinated in October.

Since the study only involved children, its not clear if the same effect will hold for adults. But since children are among the most efficient spreaders of the flu, making sure kids are protected could also lead to fewer cases among adults, Jena says. If kids are going to get vaccinated, you might as well optimize the time at which they get the shot."

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This Is the Best Time to Get a Flu Shot - TIME

(Precision Vaccinations News)

The World Health Organization (WHO) has revealed its recommended composition for influenza vaccines for the northern hemisphere flu season of 2024-2025.

Both trivalent and quadrivalent vaccines are recommended as of February 23, 2024.

These WHO recommendations are utilized by national vaccine regulatory agencies and pharmaceutical companies to develop, produce, and license influenza vaccines for the following influenza season.

Previously, the WHO urged manufacturerstoeliminatetheB/Yamagatacomponent from flu vaccines for 2024-2025.

As of February 10, 2024, over157millionflu vaccines (egg, cell, and nasal)had beendistributed in the United States during the 2023-2024 season.

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Flu Shot Recommendations Issued for 2024-2025 Precision Vaccinations News - Precision Vaccinations

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Recombinant protein vaccines, like the Novavax vaccine used to fight COVID-19, offer several advantages over conventional vaccines. They're easy to produce precisely. They're safe and potentially more effective. And they could require smaller doses.

Because of these traits, there is much interest in developing recombinant influenza vaccines. To date, however, the Food and Drug Administration has approved only one such vaccine.

A University at Bufalo-led research team hopes to add to that number. It is developing a new recombinant flu vaccinedescribed in a study published in Cell Reports Medicinethat has the potential to compete with existing vaccines.

"Because of the variable nature of the viruses that cause influenza, current vaccines are not optimally effective among the overall population. We believe our vaccine candidate has the potential to improve upon this by inducing stronger and broader immunity and reducing the likelihood of illness and death," says study senior co-author Jonathan Lovell, Ph.D., SUNY Empire Innovation Professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at UB.

Conventional flu vaccines contain either deactivated microbes that cause influenza or are based on weakened forms of the disease. They are made using fertilized chicken eggs or, less commonly, through cell culture-based production.

The vaccine the UB-led team is developing is based on a nanoliposomea tiny spherical sacthat Lovell and colleagues created called cobalt-porphyrin-phospholipid, or CoPoP. The CoPoP platform enables immune response-promoting proteins to be displayed on the surface of the nanoliposome, resulting in potent vaccine efficacy.

(While not part of this study, the CoPoP vaccine platform underwent phase 2 and phase 3 clinical trials in South Korea and the Philippines as a COVID-19 vaccine candidate. This is a partnership between UB spinoff company POP Biotechnologies, co-founded by Lovell, and South Korean biotech company EuBiologics.)

Alone, these nanoliposomes do not fight disease. But when combined with recombinant influenza proteins that can be generated based on genetic information from viruses, they enhance the immune system's response to disease.

In the new study, the team attached to the nanoliposome a total of six proteinsthree each from two different protein groups, hemagglutinins, and neuraminidases. The team also added two adjuvants (PHAD and QS21) to boost immune response.

Researchers evaluated the resulting "hexaplex" nanoliposome in animal models with three common flu strains: H1N1, H3N2, and type B.

Even when administered in low doses, the hexaplex nanoliposome provided superior protection and survival from H1 and N1 when compared to Flublok, which is the sole licensed recombinant influenza vaccine in the U.S., and Fluaid, an egg-based vaccine. Tests showed comparable levels of protection against H3N2 and type B viruses.

The tests were performed via vaccination and through blood serum transfer from vaccinated mice into non-vaccinated mice.

"The combination of the two groups of proteins led to synergistic effects. In particular, the adjuvanted nanoliposomes excelled in the production of functional antibodies and the activation of T cells, which are critical to fighting off serious infection of the flu," says lead author Zachary Sia, a Ph.D. candidate in Lovell's lab.

Bruce Davidson, Ph.D., research associate professor of anesthesiology in the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at UB, is a senior co-author of the study.

He says, "Using not only hemagglutinin but also neuraminidase antigens to create vaccines is important because it translates into broader immunity, and companies will be able to create more doses with fewer materials. That's critical for not only the flu but also potential outbreaks like what we saw with COVID-19. There is still much work to be done in fully testing and validating this flu technology, but at this point, these early results are quite promising."

More information: , Adjuvanted Nanoliposomes Displaying Six Hemagglutinins and Neuraminidases as an Influenza Virus Vaccine, Cell Reports Medicine (2024). DOI: 10.1016/j.xcrm.2024.101433. http://www.cell.com/cell-reports-medi 2666-3791(24)00056-9

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Study: 'Hexaplex' vaccine aims to boost flu protection - Medical Xpress

Although the vaccine works for several months, its potency is known to wane over time. So for maximum protection, you dont want to get it too far ahead of flu season. But if you wait too long, your immune system may not have enough time to rev up before it encounters the virus.

A Harvard research team asked the question when is the ideal time to get vaccinated against influenza? and found a clever way to answer it, at least for children. They realized that children tend to visit their pediatricians during their birth month, and that for children with birthdays in August through December, they typically get a flu shot during that visit.

Mining a vast trove of insurance claims, they found that kids who get their flu shot in October were least likely to get the flu. That points to October as possibly the ideal month to get a flu shot.

In one sense, its not surprising, said Dr. Anupam B. Jena, professor of health care policy at Harvard Medical School and senior author of the study, published Wednesday in the BMJ. October is about midway between when each years vaccine becomes available and when flu season typically begins. But through this study, he said, We were able to show, in a more convincing way, that this is actually the optimal time.

Jena thinks the finding probably applies to adults as well, but that question has not been studied.

He cautioned, however, that getting the vaccine at some point should be the first priority. The benefit of vaccination is much larger than the benefit of tinkering around with the timing, he said.

Small studies have suggested that antibody levels rise about two weeks after vaccination, but no one has examined what that means for protection against flu, Jena said. The most important question, he said, is whether the person gets severely ill with the flu and thats what his study looked at.

How fast the vaccines protection wanes depends on the individual and also the specific strain of flu. Most flu vaccines protect against more than one strain, so whether your vaccine remains effective may depend on which strain of flu you happen to encounter.

Dr. Edward Belongia, an infectious disease epidemiologist and vaccine researcher who was not involved with the study, called it well-designed with a robust methodology, and said it added useful new information about the ideal time to vaccinate children.

Its very helpful from a policy and planning perspective. Its not really too relevant in terms of parents decision-making, said Belongia, who is a senior research scientist with the Marshfield Clinic Research Institute in Wisconsin. He advises parents to simply trust their pediatricians advice.

The difference between September and October is going to be very modest. From a practical standpoint, I would not worry about it, he said. The most important thing is to get vaccinated before the flu season starts. That season typically starts around December with peak transmission in February or March, but the timing can vary significantly from year to year.

This year, flu cases nationally and in Massachusetts peaked in late December. The number of cases has fallen sharply since then, but remain plateaued at a high level. Only 40 percent of Massachusetts residents have been vaccinated against the flu this season. But its not too late to benefit from a flu shot even now, because flu is still widely circulating, Jena said.

Dr. Christina R. Hermos, an associate professor of pediatrics at the UMass Chan Medical School who specializes in infectious diseases and immunology, called the report a cool paper whose results are convincing. But she cautioned, If its summarized as a sound bite, it could be dangerous. I dont want people to think vaccines dont work unless given in October.

The study encompassed 819,223 children ages 2 to 5 who were vaccinated against the flu during 2011 through 2018. It focused on children with birthdays between Aug. 1 and Jan. 31 who were continuously enrolled in employer-sponsored health insurance for at least one flu season, defined as September through May.

The analysis found that October was the most common month for children to be vaccinated. Children born in October were more likely to be vaccinated that month, and were least likely to come down with flu during the ensuing season. Some 3 percent of children vaccinated in August got the flu, compared with 2.7 percent of those vaccinated in October.

The study gathered information only on children who had commercial insurance, and did not include uninsured children and children on public insurance such as Medicaid. It also could not account for any vaccinations that were not submitted for insurance reimbursement.

Dr. Caroline J. Kistin, a pediatrician with Hasbro Childrens Hospital in Providence and a health services researcher at the Brown School of Public Health, who was not involved with the study, said the research points to the need to build capacity to administer vaccines at optimal times to think about whether we need to invest more in community-delivered vaccinations.

Primary care practices might set up Saturday flu clinics in October, for example, she said.

Children whose annual pediatrician visit occurs in the spring may not be getting their shots at all, she noted. Theres a huge population of kids who just logistically end up not getting it. We dont make it in health care particularly easy to just pop in and get what you need.

Kistin noted that the worst time to get the shot is after being exposed to the flu. Getting it early is better than that, she said.

If a child came to her for a visit in September, she would tell the parent that its important to get vaccinated, and mention there is some added benefit to getting it in October. If the parent thinks it would be difficult to come back the next month, shed give the shot in September.

I dont want parents to feel stressed about getting it too early, Kistin emphasized. The findings, she said, are more important as a signal to the health care system to increase capacity during that key time.

Felice J. Freyer can be reached at felice.freyer@globe.com. Follow her @felicejfreyer.

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Flu shots may be most effective in October, but it's not too late - The Boston Globe

The prospect of the worrisome triple threat of COVID, RSV and flu was assuaged last year by the effectiveness of flu vaccines. Two recent studies from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's VISION Network have found that flu vaccines were effective for all ages against both moderate and severe flu in the U.S. during the 2022-2023 flu season.

Both the pediatric and adult VISION Network studies analyzed flu-associated emergency department (E.D.)/urgent care visits (indicative of moderate disease) and hospitalization (indicative of severe disease) from October 2022 through March 2023, a flu season in which far fewer individuals were social distancing or wearing masks than during the two previous flu seasons.

Vaccination reduced the risk of flu-related E.D./urgent care visits and hospitalization for those 6 months to 17 years by almost half. For adults, regardless of age, vaccination reduced the risk of E.D. urgent care visits by almost half and reduced the risk of hospitalization by slightly more than a third.

These results led the authors of both studies to conclude that flu vaccination is likely to substantially reduce illness, death and strain on healthcare resources.

We study the effectiveness of flu and other vaccines to ensure that our processes for forecasting the most effective vaccines are working well and therefore might potentially also be translatable to other diseases as well. Given influenza's significant disease burden -- for example the H1N1 (swine) flu killed over a quarter of a million people worldwide in 2009-2010 -- we want to make sure that we understand virus trends as well as other factors and that we're continuing to do as well as and as much as we can to reduce the flu disease burden."

Shaun Grannis, M.D., M.S., co-author of both the pediatric and adult VISION Network studies, Regenstrief Institute vice president for data and analytics and family practice physician

Both the pediatric and adult studies evaluated electronic health record (EHR) data from sites across three healthcare systems in California, Utah, Minnesota and Wisconsin.

Vaccination reduced the risk of flu-related E.D./urgent care visits (moderate disease) by 48 percent and hospitalization (severe disease) by 40 percent overall across ages 6 months to 17 years. Broken down by age, risk reduction was greater for those age 6 months to 4 years than older children and adolescents.

Approximately 30 percent of E.D./critical care visits for acute respiratory illness in children and adolescents were positive for flu, as were 14 percent of hospitalizations.

"Vaccine Effectiveness Against Pediatric Influenza-A-Associated Urgent Care, Emergency Department, and Hospital Encounters During the 2022-2023 Season, VISION Network" is published in Clinical Infectious Diseases.

Vaccine effectiveness was 45 percent against E.D./critical care visits(moderate disease) for adults under age 65. Effectiveness against hospitalization (severe disease) was 23 percent.

Adults younger than 65 typically received standard-dose inactivated vaccines.

Vaccine effectiveness was 41 percent against both flu-associated E.D./urgent care visits (moderate disease) and hospitalization (serious disease) for this age group.

Adults age 65 and older typically received enhanced vaccine products.

"Influenza vaccine effectiveness against influenza-A-associated emergency department, urgent care, and hospitalization encounters among U.S. adults, 2022-2023" is published in the Journal of Infectious Diseases.

"As with COVID, the dynamics of flu differs between children and adults. But we found that for both children and adults, vaccination significantly reduced the need for trips to the E.D, or critical care center and for hospitalization for flu-related illnesses last flu season and this is encouraging," said Dr. Grannis. "I'm hopeful that we will see similar or even better vaccine effectiveness during the current flu season. Even if they do experience symptoms, people who are vaccinated typically tend to have milder, shorter cases of the flu, a viral illness which can carry a severe disease burden.

"The vaccine effectiveness we saw in last year's flu season is encouraging. As both a research scientist and a primary care physician, I urge everyone to be vaccinated for flu this year and every year it's good for each person's health and the health of your community."

Source:

Journal reference:

Tenforde, M. W.,et al.(2024) Influenza Vaccine Effectiveness Against Influenza AAssociated Emergency Department, Urgent Care, and Hospitalization Encounters Among US Adults, 20222023.The Journal of Infectious Diseases.doi.org/10.1093/infdis/jiad542.

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CDC studies show effectiveness of flu vaccines across all age groups - News-Medical.Net