Studies have confirmed that influenza vaccines can enhance immune response in older adults

recently, a U.S.-China research team demonstrated that specially-made flu vaccines may provide better protection for people 65 and older than standard inactivated flu vaccines. The findings were published in Clinical Infectious Diseases.
generally speaking, people aged 65 and over are at higher risk of serious flu complications, and flu vaccines may not protect them as much as they do for young people. Currently, there are at least three relatively new flu vaccines that may enhance protection for older people, and the team used the new flu vaccine to directly compare the antibody responses of older people after being vaccinated against new and standard flu vaccines, respectively, during the same flu season.
To assess whether the new flu vaccine can provide greater protection for the elderly, the researchers randomly assigned locally involved elderly people to be vaccinated against standard inactivated tyrencation influenza vaccines, or one of three enhanced inactivated influenza vaccines designed specifically for older adults to enhance flu protection: high-dose triethic influenza vaccine, standard-dose trialectant influenza vaccine, and four-price gene recombinant HA flu vaccine.
study found that all three enhanced vaccines produced a better immune response against H1N1 and H3N2 influenza than standard inactivated influenza vaccines. For example, in participants who were vaccinated against the enhanced vaccine, the antibody against the H3N2 component made from eggs in the vaccine increased by 4.2 to 4.7 times, while among the elderly who were vaccinated against the standard inactivated influenza vaccine, the antibody increased only 3.4 times. For people who were vaccinated against genetically recombinant HA in addition to other enhanced vaccines, there was a significant increase in antibodies to the cell-made, more locally transmitted H3N2 strain of the vaccine.
researchers say that while antibody enhancement in older adults does not mean better clinical protection against influenza diseases, the study could help to more clearly assess the expected efficacy of enhanced vaccines and differences between vaccines, laying the groundwork for future clinical trials and effectiveness studies to design enhanced vaccines for older people. (Source: Lu Yi, China Science Journal)
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