Giving all seniors age 65 and older the high-dose flu vaccine may be unnecessary, according to a new Veterans Affairs study, since for people ages 65 to 84 the standard vaccine works. People ages 85 or older, however, would benefit from the high-dose vaccine.
The study included more than 165,000 VA patients, 25,000 of whom got the high-dose vaccine during the 2010-2011 flu season, and the rest received the normal vaccine. Researchers tracked those patients' hospitalizations and deaths.
"The main overall outcome was that we didn't find a difference between the groups," said Darren Linkin, MD, one of the study's authors. "But in a secondary analysis, there appeared to be a strong effect for those 85 or older."
Despite the study's findings, its authors noted some limitations, such as its relatively small sample size and the fact that its population was almost all male and had many chronic diseases.
"I don't think we have the final answers," on if the high-dose vaccine is necessary, said Diane Richardson, PhD, another study author.