Zitat:
...Abstract
The efficacy of influenza vaccination is not well understood for major cause-specific mortality except pneumonia. For 10 months we followed the mortality data of 35,637 vaccinated elderly (>65 years old) in a county with 102,698 elderly in southern Taiwan. A multivariate Cox model showed that vaccination was significantly associated with lower mortality for all causes, [hazards ratio (HR)=0.56], stroke (HR=0.35), renal disease (HR=0.40), diabetes mellitus (HR=0.45), pneumonia (HR=0.47), COPD (HR=0.55), malignancy (HR=0.74), and heart diseases (HR=0.78), p<0.05. Influenza vaccination was strongly associated with reducing major cause-specific mortality. ...
Zitat:
... Results: Among high-risk children and adolescents younger than 18 years (n=5933; 8% of the study population), 1 death, 3 hospitalizations for pneumonia, and 160 GP visits occurred. After adjustments, 43% (95% confidence interval [CI], 10%-64%) of visits were prevented. Among high-risk adults aged between 18 and 64 years (n=24 928; 33% of the study population), 47 deaths, 23 hospitalizations, and 363 GP visits occurred. After adjustments, vaccination prevented 78% of deaths (95% CI, 39%-92%), 87% of hospitalizations (95% CI, 39%-97%), and 26% of GP visits (95% CI, 7%-47%). Among elderly persons (n=44 366; 59% of the study population), 272 deaths and 166 hospitalizations occurred, and after adjustments the vaccine prevented these end points by 50% (95% CI, 23%-68%) and 48% (95% CI, 7%-71%), respectively.
Conclusion: Persons with high-risk medical conditions of any age can substantially benefit from annual influenza vaccination during an epidemic.
