Flu Vaccine Has No Effect in People Over Age 65: Cochrane Collaboration Study

by Heidi Stevenson

21 February 2010

A Cochrane Collaboration study has documented that there is no evidence that influenza vaccines have any protective effect in people over age 65. The meta analysis concluded that the "available evidence is of poor quality and provides no guidance regarding the safety, efficacy or effectiveness of influenza vaccines for people aged 65 years or older."

The standard recommendation by modern medicine and health officials is for people over age 65 to be immunized with every influenza vaccination that comes out, in spite of the fact that there has never been any evidence that it keeps them from getting flu.

The study points out that "surrogate outcomes"—antibody stimulation—are used to predict flu vaccine efficacy. That means no influenza vaccine trials actual test to see if they're effective. Instead, fairly arbitrary blood antibody levels are used to claim efficacy. Trials to see whether the vaccines actually prevent flu are not done. Neither are trials done to determine whether the antibody levels are actually effective in preventing flu.

The Cochrane Collaboration study's results should come as no surprise. The studies provided by drug companies to gain approval of their flu vaccines routinely document that antibody levels in people over 65 are significantly lower than for younger people.

This is not the first study to demonstrate a lack of efficacy for influenza vaccines in the elderly. A study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine in 2005, titled "Impact of Influenza Vaccination on Seasonal Mortality in the US Elderly Population", (2005;165:265-272) came to the same conclusion in reference to all age groups:

We could not correlate increasing vaccination coverage after 1980 with declining mortality rates in any age group.

The Study's Conclusions

The Cochrane Collaboration study concludes:

Until such time as the role of vaccines for preventing influenza in the elderly is clarified, more comprehensive and effective strategies for the control of acute respiratory infections should be implemented. These should rely on several preventive interventions that take into account the multi-agent nature of influenza-like illness (ILI) and its context (such as personal hygiene, provision of electricity and adequate food, water and sanitation). The effect of vaccination of high-risk groups should also be further assessed.

In other words, use commonsense in personal hygiene, provide the basics for good health: food, shelter, water, and sanitation—and skip the vaccination.

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