Report finds influenza incidence rates lower among those immunized last year

SILVER SPRING, Md. According to a report prepared in October by the Armed Forces Health Surveillance Center, those individuals who received their flu shots last year may be better protected against the novel H1N1 influenza virus as compared with those who did not get inoculated.

The study was presented Thursday at the 58th annual meeting of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene in Washington.

By the beginning of 2009, influenza-like illness and pneumonia and influenza incidence rates were lower among immunized service members compared to those unimmunized, the agency stated. The difference in these rates increased greatly after week 20, corresponding to the emergence of the novel H1N1 virus.

According to published reports, last year’s seasonal flu vaccine made it 62% less likely that a service-member would be hospitalized because of H1N1 virus this year; and 42% less likely to have consulted a doctor for an ILI or P&I.