May 30, 2019

expert reaction to phe end of season flu vaccine effectiveness data

A report published by PHE shows that the flu vaccine offered to those eligible for immunisation this season reduced the likelihood of visiting the GP because of flu by approximately 44%.

Prof John Edmunds, Professor in the Centre for the Mathematical Modelling of Infectious Diseases, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, said:

“This is good news.  Adjuvants are designed to boost the immune responses to vaccines.  The UK switched to an adjuvanted flu vaccine last year for the elderly, as the traditional (unadjuvanted vaccine) tends to give lower levels of protection in this key at-risk group.  Hence, it is very encouraging news that relatively high levels of protection appear to have been achieved with this new vaccine.  However, flu vaccine effectiveness does vary from year to year, depending on how well the vaccine is matched with the circulating strains.  So, although this is good news, we would need to see data over a number of years before we could make firm conclusions about the effectiveness of this vaccine.”

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/vaccine-for-older-adults-gives-significant-protection-against-flu

Declared interests

Prof John Edmunds: “None.”