The vaccine choice for the 2022-2023 influenza season has provided relatively robust protection for seniors, reducing the risk for hospitalization by 35%, according to preliminary data from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
Flu vaccines are developed, based on best estimations, before the flu season starts. A vaccine is generally considered well matched if it reduces the risk of flu illness by between 40% and 60% among the overall population, according to the CDC. The immune system becomes weaker with age, and flu vaccines may be less effective in seniors than in the general population. But hospitalization can trigger a cascade of adverse health issues, and flu vaccination remains the best protection against severe illness, the agency states.
In August, the CDC for the first time preferentially advised clinicians on which drugs to prescribe for older adults. The agency’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices recommended that older adults be given strengthened (adjuvanted or high-dose) influenza vaccines for the best protection against severe illness.
By January, approximately 70% of U.S. seniors had received a flu vaccine, according to CNBC. And flu cases and hospitalization rates have begun to fall, according to Jose Romero, head of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Disease, the news outlet reported.
“While influenza activity is declining, it remains possible that a second wave may occur later in the season as it has in the past,” Romero noted.
Among 14,358 nursing home facilities reporting flu cases to the CDC, 0.7% said they had at least one positive influenza test among their residents during week six of 2023, a number that had begun to trend downward after week five, the CDC has reported.
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