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An overwhelming majority of the influenza patients who required intensive care from Duke University Hospital during this year?s flu season had not been vaccinated, the medical center reported Monday in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.
According to lead author Dr. Cameron Wolfe and his colleagues, 22 of the first 55 patients treated at the academic health care facility from November 2013 through January 8, 2014 required intensive care, but only two of those 22 had gotten a flu shot. Those who had not been vaccinated were found to have the most severe cases requiring the most intensive treatment.
?Our observations are important because they reinforce a growing body of evidence that the influenza vaccine provides protection from severe illness requiring hospitalizations,? explained Dr. Wolfe, an assistant professor of medicine at Duke University. ?The public health implications are important, because not only could a potentially deadly infection be avoided with a $30 shot, but costly hospitalizations could also be reduced.?
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According to lead author Dr. Cameron Wolfe and his colleagues, 22 of the first 55 patients treated at the academic health care facility from November 2013 through January 8, 2014 required intensive care, but only two of those 22 had gotten a flu shot. Those who had not been vaccinated were found to have the most severe cases requiring the most intensive treatment.
?Our observations are important because they reinforce a growing body of evidence that the influenza vaccine provides protection from severe illness requiring hospitalizations,? explained Dr. Wolfe, an assistant professor of medicine at Duke University. ?The public health implications are important, because not only could a potentially deadly infection be avoided with a $30 shot, but costly hospitalizations could also be reduced.?
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