Higher dose flu shot decreases hospitalization of older nursing home residents

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2015-10/uhcm-hdf100715.php

Public Release: 10-Oct-2015
Higher dose flu shot decreases hospitalization of older nursing home residents
University Hospitals Case Medical Center

In the largest nursing home study to date on the effect of high dose flu vaccine, researchers found that shots with four times the strength of standard flu shots significantly reduced the risk of being hospitalized during the influenza season. There was a 1.2 percent difference (19.7 percent versus 20.9 percent) in admission for the group that received the high dose vaccine compared to the one that received the standard dose vaccine.

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"If given to all approximately 1.5 million nursing home residents, a one percent drop in hospitalizations would translate to thousands fewer being hospitalized," said Stefan Gravenstein, MD, MPH, lead author of the study,

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