Help the Aged response to flu report

24 October 2007

Reacting to a report in the latest edition of the medical journal 'Vaccine' which concludes that the positive effects of the flu jab are up for debate , Dr. Lorna Layward, Research Manager at Help the Aged comments:
 
"Fighting off infections such as influenza becomes harder as we age - so the option to have a flu jab should be absolutely protected.  This report has not concluded that the vaccine fails to work and so Help the Aged continues to strongly advise that older people protect themselves by getting the free flu jab as winter approaches.  If an older person contracts flu, it can last longer and hit them harder leading to possible complications which could even be fatal.

"More research is desperately needed to help improve the efficacy of vaccines for older people.  At the same time however, it is vital that more work is done on older people’s immune systems so they can better deal with vaccines or the infection itself.  Research into Ageing is already funding research to find the solutions about how we can improve older people’s ability to fight infection, but there is an urgent demand for more investigation into this area.  The importance of this cannot be understated as the population ages.”