Have the elderly and children in your family been vaccinated against the flu?
According to the position paper issued by the World Health Organization (WHO), although influenza viruses show the highest infection rates and incidences among children aged 5-9 years, severe morbidity and death after infection with influenza viruses are more common in the elderly and specific high-risk groups.
In order to reduce the incidence of severe illness and premature death caused by influenza, according to the WHO recommended influenza vaccination prioritization, the top five are:
■ The elderly and the disabled who live in nursing homes and nursing homes.
■ Elderly people who do not live in nursing homes or nursing care institutions but suffer from chronic cardiopulmonary disease, metabolic or kidney disease, or immunodeficiency.
■ Adults with any of the above diseases and children over 6 months of age.
■ All older persons who exceed the age limits of the countries mentioned above, regardless of whether they have other risk factors.
• Other groups identified on the basis of national data and capacities, such as contacts of high-risk groups, pregnant women, medical workers and other important functions in society and young children aged 6-23 months.
The elderly are at high risk of influenza and have a very heavy burden of disease
The incidence of influenza is high in the elderly. A systematic review of 32 randomized controlled trials found that laboratory-confirmed symptomatic influenza prevalence among ≥ 65-year-olds without influenza vaccine was 7.2 percent, higher than the 4.4 percent prevalence among adults3.
Older people are at higher risk of death after the flu. A population-based study in China showed that in the 2010-2011-2011 to 2014-2015 influenza season≥ 60-year-olds accounted for 80% of the total population, and their excess mortality rate was significantly higher than 4. For older adults with chronic disease, the risk of death increases significantly after influenza infection. In Canada, during the 1994-1995-1999-2000 influenza season, the risk of death increased by 5-fold and 12-fold after influenza infection in older adults with chronic heart disease and chronic lung disease, respectively, and the risk of death increased by 20-fold after influenza infection in older adults with chronic heart disease and chronic lung disease5.
Influenza-related excess mortality at different ages4
Influenza can also cause a fairly high burden of hospitalization in older adults, ≥ the financial burden associated with hospitalization in 60-year-olds is higher than in other age groups6. Population-based studies in Jingzhou, Hubei Province, during the 2010-2012 epidemic season, found that the hospitalization rate of severe acute respiratory infections (SARI) cases caused by influenza confirmed by influenza in ≥ 65-year-olds was 89-141/100,0007. In 2013, the total economic burden of outpatient emergency cases of influenza in ≥ 60-year-old elderly people in China was 129 US dollars / person, and the total economic burden of influenza hospitalized elderly cases (2735 US dollars / person) was about 20 times the total economic burden of outpatient cases; higher than that of other age groups (1417-1621 US dollars / person) 8.
The total cost of influenza hospitalization for different age groups8
Influenza vaccinations have great benefits for older adults
Influenza vaccination reduces the risk of influenza/flu-like illness in older adults. A meta-analysis of eight randomized controlled trials found that the protective efficacy of influenza onset confirmed by the laboratory for influenza vaccination in older adults was 58%9. A meta-analysis of a study on the efficacy of influenza vaccines from 1998 to 2008 in China found that the preventive effect of influenza vaccines on the onset of influenza-like diseases in ≥ 60-year-olds was 53%10.
Influenza vaccination also reduces the incidence of influenza-related complications in older adults and reduces influenza-related visits, hospitalizations, and deaths. A meta-analysis of 95 studies found that during the flu season, influenza vaccination in older adults protected against 28% of fatal or nonfatal complications associated with influenza11. A study in China showed that > the first, third and sixth months after the influenza vaccine for 60-year-old people, the treatment rate of influenza-like diseases decreased by 45.16%, 50.54% and 50.54% respectively12. In the 2018-2019 epidemic season, influenza vaccination in the Elderly Over the Age of 65 in the United States reduced the incidence of 300879, 168492 people visited the hospital, 28,695 people were hospitalized, and 2,625 people died13. The results of a study including 102698 elderly people over the age of 65 in Taiwan showed that influenza vaccination reduced the risk of all-cause death by 44%, of which stroke, kidney disease, diabetes, pneumonia, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, malignant tumors and heart disease died were reduced by 65%, 60%, 55%, 53%, 45%, 26% and 22% respectively14.
Risk of death after influenza vaccination in older adults14
In addition, influenza vaccination reduces outpatient emergency visits and hospitalizations for older adults, thereby reducing exposure to older adults during the influenza season, crowding out public health resources, and reducing nosocomial cross-infection.
Unanimously recommended by our authoritative bodies
≥ 60-year-olds are given priority in getting the flu vaccine
The Healthy China Action Promotion Committee 1, the Chinese Health Commission15, and China CDC6 unanimously recommended that ≥ people over 6 months of age should be vaccinated against influenza, and the elderly ≥ 60 years old should be given priority in influenza vaccination.
The elderly are a high-risk group of influenza, and the timely vaccination of the elderly against influenza is equivalent to customizing the "golden bell hood iron cloth shirt" for them to help them resist the threat of influenza. Your one-voice reminder will help countless elderly people survive this difficult winter!
bibliography:
1. Healthy China Action Promotion Committee. Healthy China Initiative (2019-2030).
2. Cd-19.Statistical Table of Deaths Reported by Notifiable Infectious Diseases in China in 2020. http://www.nhc.gov.cn/jkj/s3578/202103/f1a448b7df7d4760976fea6d55834966.shtml
3. Somes MP, et al. Estimating the annual attack rate of seasonal influenza among unvaccinated individuals: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Vaccine. 2018 May 31;36(23):3199-3207.
4. Li Li, et al. Influenza-associated excess respiratory mortality in China, 2010-15: a population-based study. Lancet Public Health. 2019 Sep;4(9):e473-e481.
5. Dena L Schanzer, et al. Co-morbidities associated with influenza-attributed mortality, 1994-2000, Canada. Vaccine. 2008 Aug 26;26(36):4697-703.
6. Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Technical guidelines for influenza vaccination in China (2021-2022).
7. Hongjie Yu, et al. The substantial hospitalization burden of influenza in central China: surveillance for severe, acute respiratory infection, and influenza viruses, 2010-2012. Influenza Other Respir Viruses. 2014 Jan;8( 1):53-65.
8. Juan Yang, et al. The economic burden of influenza-associated outpatient visits and hospitalizations in China: a retrospective survey. Infect Dis Poverty. 2015 Oct 6;4:44.
9. Vittorio Demicheli, et al. Vaccines for preventing influenza in the elderly. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2018 Feb 1;2(2):CD004876.
10. Xingyi, et al. Meta-analysis of the effect of influenza inactivated vaccine application in China. Chinese Journal of Epidemiology. 2009; 30(4):368-370.
11. Walter E P Beyer, et al. Cochrane re-arranged: support for policies to vaccinate elderly people against influenza. Vaccine. 2013 Dec 5;31(50):6030-3.
12. Liu Min, et al. Immunization effect and cost-effectiveness evaluation of influenza vaccine for the elderly in Beijing. Chinese Journal of Epidemiology. 2005; 26(6):412-416.
13. Jessie R Chung, et al. Effects of Influenza Vaccination in the United States During the 2018-2019 Influenza Season. Clin Infect Dis. 2020 Nov 5;71(8):e368-e376.
14. Chong-Shan Wang, et al. Impact of influenza vaccination on major cause-specific mortality. Vaccine. 2007 Jan 26;25(7):1196-203.
15. Health Commission of the People's Republic of China. Influenza Diagnosis and Treatment Plan (2020 Edition).
This information is for medical and scientific reference only and does not constitute a recommendation or promotion of any drug or treatment regimen. The information contained in this article should not be a substitute for medical advice provided by healthcare professionals.
Approval number: MAT-CN-2131837
Expiration Date:12/15/2022
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