High-dose vaccine improves elder immunity

ROCHESTER, N.Y., Oct. 28 (UPI) -- U.S. researchers report a high-dose influenza vaccine increased immune responses in older adults.

Older adults -- who account for about 90 percent of the annual influenza-associated respiratory and circulatory related deaths -- are not only more susceptible to infections, but also less responsive to vaccination.

The study found the new high-dose vaccine increased the immune responses to all three influenza strains compared with standard vaccine, and the increased immune response was seen in study participants who had no measurable circulating protective antibodies before receiving their annual influenza vaccine.

"Development of an influenza vaccine that will provide an improved immune response in older adults is important because this population has the highest rates of complications from influenza including hospitalization and death," Dr. Ann Falsey of the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Rochester General Hospital in New York said in a statement.

The participants in the randomized double-blind study participants were all age 65 and older. The 2,575 people receiving the high-dose influenza vaccine were compared to 1,262 receiving the standard influenza vaccine.

The study results were reported at the Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy/Infectious Diseases Society of America annual meeting in Washington.