Shaun Grannis, M.D., M.S., discusses the effectiveness of last season’s flu vaccines and says vaccines have many effects besides just preventing the disease.
Transcript:
Vaccine effectiveness for adults in the 2022-23 season ranged from around 25 percent to 40 percent and this was in a season that was characterized by increased burden or increased cases of influenza. And we know that given the increased number of cases, the vaccine is important and effective in reducing the number of hospitalizations and also reducing the subsequent burden.
When we receive a vaccine, even if we do experience symptoms of the virus, typically vaccinated individuals see reduced morbidity, mortality and tend to have shorter cases. And so, there are many effects besides just preventing the disease, as we talked about a lot during the pandemic. They’re certainly preventing death, preventing hospitalizations, preventing emergency department visits. But there’s also reducing the disease burden for individuals making that case of influenza not as severe as it would have been without the vaccine.
