A study run in Norway with the latest flu vaccine has shown that it has only a very limited effect in preventing or curing flu symptoms in healthy adults. Experts are saying, if you are a healthy, wholesome adult you do not need a flu vaccination, so, before you rush out to get that flu jab, consider the following.
The study was carried out by Cochrane Collaboration and examined the flu vaccination studies carried out on 90 people. Of 71 people who received the vaccine, only one case of the flu was actually prevented. There was apparently no effect of the number of sick days among those patients, or their hospital admissions.
According to Allan Randrup Thomsen, professor of virology at the Department of International Health at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark, “This is a well-known observation.”
Chief physician Tyra Krause from the State Serum Institute in Denmark is also not surprised by the results saying, “It is not surprising, because young and healthy people don't have a high risk of a serious flu. That is why we recommend the vaccine only to the risk groups.”
Key risk groups for the flu are older people from 65 years and above, the chronically ill, pregnant women and overweight persons. These groups have the greatest chance of suffering serious complications from the flu, some of which could, reportedly, be fatal.
On the other hand, many patients, otherwise young and healthy, have suffered severe side-effects just after receiving a flu jab.
Norwegian sources:
Forskning.no
The Local
Photo: In the Public Domain
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