Study Finds Flu Vaccine is 23 Percent Effective [View all]

[Demeter]

Source: WDET


A study from the Centers for Disease Control has found a person’s risk of contracting the flu is reduced by about 23 percent after getting this year’s flu shot. However, older adults and young children are at a higher risk for getting the flu.

Arnold Monto is a professor of epidemiology at the University of Michigan School of Public Health and an author of the study. He says the outcome is not unexpected.

“We had predicted that we might have lower than usual efficacy this year because the virus has changed since the vaccine was formulated, and the vaccine is now not quite performing as well as we would like.”

Monto says typically, the flu shot reduces risk by 60 to 70 percent. He says people should still get the flu shot since it can reduce the severity of the illness.


Read more: http://wdet.org/news/story/study-flu-vaccine-23-percent-effective-01-16/