According to a study in the Aug. 2 issue of The Lancet, old people who receive flu vaccines may remain vulnerable to pneumonia

NEW YORK According to a study in the Aug. 2 issue of The Lancet, old people who receive flu vaccines may remain vulnerable to pneumonia.

Contradicting the previous assumption that flu vaccines were effective among all elderly age groups, the research shows that they may only protect healthy seniors in lower age groups as opposed to older, less healthy seniors.

The study, led by a researcher from Seattle’s Group Health Center for Health Studies, examined data on 1,173 people aged 65 to 94 who had developed pneumonia and 2,346 who did not develop it. Both groups had similar flu vaccination rates.