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Flu vaccine reduces severity of the illness
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The efficacy of vaccination against the influenza virus has been sharply demonstrated in a report published online today in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine. The report shows that of flu patients presenting for care at Duke University Hospital, patients who had not been vaccinated were most severely affected and required the most intensive treatment. The study was carried out between November 2013 and early January 2104 on 55 patients. Of these 22 required intensive care, however only two of these had been vaccinated. The majority of the 55 patients were infected with the H1N1 virus that caused the 2009 pandemic. Young, previously healthy adults were particularly hard-hit by the flu outbreak.

The lead author on the paper, Dr Cameron Wolfe, commented that: "Our observations are important because they reinforce a growing body of evidence that the influenza vaccine provides protection from severe illness requiring hospitalizations….The public health implications are important, because not only could a potentially deadly infection be avoided with a $30 shot, but costly hospitalizations could also be reduced."
Previously on this site we have described a flu forecasting website for the United States set up by infectious disease experts at Columbia's Mailman School of Public Health (http://www.biotechnologyforums.com/thread-2914.html). Dr Jeffrey Shaman, who led the development of this forecasting website commented that it may help “foster greater awareness of influenza activity and risk around the country, and motivate individuals to take measures, such as vaccination, to protect themselves against the virus". Studies such as today’s American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine paper would seem to support a strategy whereby flu outbreaks are predicted and vaccination programmes initiated in a timely manner. The study also highlighted problems associated with false negative results obtained with a rapid test for influenza which resulted in some patients not receiving anti-virals at an early stage in their illness.

Dr Wolfe concluded that: "Together, our observations during this influenza season support a high prevalence of the H1N1 virus affecting young adults and requiring ICU care, high false negative rates of rapid flu tests, and delay in starting antiviral treatment……Added to the finding of very low vaccination rates among both hospitalized and ICU admissions, our observations support previous findings that vaccination reduces the severity of disease and vaccinations should be encouraged as recommended by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention."

Sources

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2...021014.php [Accessed 10 February 2014].

Catania, J., Que, L.G., Govert, J.A., Hollingsworth, J.W. and Wolfe, C.R., 2014. High ICU admission rate for 2013-2014 Influenza is associated with a low rate of vaccination. American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, Feb. 10, 2014. http://www.atsjournals.org/doi/abs/10.11...vlM57avnIU [Accessed 10 February 2014].
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