New Study: Benefits of the 2017-2018 Flu Vaccination

CDC recently published an article in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases describing the effectiveness of the influenza vaccine and the number of illnesses, hospitalizations, and deaths prevented by flu vaccine during the 2017-18 flu season. The study shows last season’s flu vaccine prevented more than 7 million illnesses, 109,000 hospitalizations and 8,000 deaths associated with flu.

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2017-2018 Estimated Influenza Illnesses, Medical visits, and Hospitalizations Averted by Vaccination in the United States

In partnership with academic and public health colleagues, CDC recently published an article in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases describing the effectiveness of the influenza vaccine and the number of illnesses, hospitalizations, and deaths prevented by flu vaccine during the 2017–2018 flu season.

The authors found that the flu vaccine reduced the chances of getting sick and going to the doctor for flu by 38% (95% confidence interval: 31–43%).

The authors used a mathematical model, combining the vaccine effectiveness, estimated vaccine coverage, and influenza burden, and estimated that influenza vaccination prevented 7.1 million illnesses, 3.7 million medical visits, 109,000 hospitalizations, and 8,000 deaths associated with flu.

Influenza vaccination was more effective against medical visits due to influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 (62%) and influenza B (50%). And flu vaccination was also more effective in young children. In fact, the authors estimated that flu vaccine prevented approximately 40% of deaths due to flu in children younger than 5 years.

The 2017–2018 flu season in the U.S. was severe for people of all ages. The immense burden and the burden prevented by vaccination highlight the importance of getting an annual influenza vaccine to protect yourself against influenza and complications from the flu.

Full article is available through the journal Clinical Infectious Disease, Effects of Influenza Vaccination in the United States during the 2017–2018 Influenza Season .