Do flu vaccines do as much good as everyone thinks?
THIS month, millions of elderly people in the US, Europe and elsewhere are lining up for their annual flu shots. This is widely seen as a hugely effective public health intervention that halves the risk of dying over the winter for those aged 65 or above. For every 200 vaccinations, one life is saved.
Yet there is now overwhelming evidence that this claim is simply too good to be true, and that we should be looking at additional ways to tackle flu.
According to the
