Flu vaccination does not cut death risk in elderly

Influenza vaccination does provide protection against flu but it does not cut down the risk of death among the elderly. There have been inconsistencies in the results of previous studies regarding the role vaccination plays in cutting down the mortality rate among the elderly. To find out the association between influenza vaccines and decreased death risk, researchers from Canada studied patients aged around 65 years who were admitted to hospital. Their lifestyle and dietary factors, including smoking, drinking and exercise habits were taken into consideration. Of the total 704 participants in the study, 352 received pneumonia vaccine. Severe pneumonia was seen in 29 percent of patients while 12 percent of patients died during follow-up. A reduction of 50 percent in the death rate was observed in the participants who received vaccination but this reduction was seen only among those patients who followed a healthy regime. However, when factors like socioeconomic status were taken into consideration, the mortality reduction weakened and was no longer statistically significant. The above findings suggest that previous studies are likely to have overestimated the benefits of influenza vaccination on mortality. Patients who are well-informed about their health and lead a healthy lifestyle - exercise regularly, do not smoke, drink only in moderation, watch what they eat and come in regularly for health maintenance visits and disease screenings, are the ones who benefit from influenza vaccination.

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