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Centre for Policy on Ageing | |
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The efficacy of influenza vaccine in elderly persons
— a meta-analysis and review of the literature | | Author(s) | Peter A Gross, Alicia W Hermogenes, Henry S Sacks |
| Journal title | Annals of Internal Medicine, vol 123, no 7, October 1995 |
| Pages | pp 518-527 |
| Keywords | Influenza ; Immunisation ; Clinical surveys ; Literature reviews. |
| Annotation | All studies on the protective efficacy of influenza vaccine for older people were identified through a MEDLINE search. Only 20 cohort observational studies with mortality assessment were included in the meta-analysis. In addition, 3 recent case-control studies, 2 cost-effectiveness studies, and 1 randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial were reviewed. Studies differ in their matching of virus strains and their definitions of clinical illness, as well as the presence of other respiratory micro-organisms that cause illness during a flu epidemic. Studies on vaccine efficacy, therefore, need to be evaluated with caution. However, many studies do confirm that the vaccine reduces risk for pneumonia, hospitalisation, and death in older people during an influenza epidemic, if the vaccine strain is identical or similar to the epidemic strain. Annual immunisation of older people is therefore an important requirement for public health. (RH). |
| Accession Number | CPA-980106210 A |
| Classmark | CJM: LLF: 3G: 64A * |
Data © Centre for Policy on Ageing |
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| ...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing. |
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