Skip to main content

Research suggests that intradermal flu shots work better for seniors

6/23/2008

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia International researchers on Friday made the case for delivering flu shots intravenously, as opposed to in the muscle, at the International Congress for Infectious Diseases held here.

Researchers from Sanofi-Aventis determined that seniors older than 60 who were given the flu shot under the skin using a short, thin needle were about 7 percent better protected against flu than those who received Sanofi’s Vaxigrip shot in a muscle with a conventional needle.

The researchers employed a new intradermal microinjection system for the study.

The study may prove influential into how seniors—already a high-risk population for infections like the flu because of a weaker immune system—receive flu shots. According to the researchers, vaccine efficacy is lower in elderly adults as compared to younger, healthier subjects, and it is likewise the population most associated with influenza morbidity.

The study included 3,701 men and women over the age of 60 (54.4 percent were female).

X
This ad will auto-close in 10 seconds