# 2855
The study, which appears in today's issue of JAMA (Journal of the American Medical Association) is entitled:
Zhong Wang, PhD, MPH; Steven Tobler, MD, MPH; Jean Roayaei, PhD; Angelia Eick, PhD, ScM
JAMA. 2009;301(9):(doi:10.1001/jama.2009.265).
The study compared the incidence of `influenza' and pneumonia among more than 1 million military personnel over the 2004-2005, 2005-2006, and 2006-2007 influenza seasons.
Military personnel receive either the TIV (trivalent inactivated vaccine) - the flu shot most people are familiar with - or the LAIV (live attenuated influenza vaccine) via a nasal spray.
By looking back at who got which type of vaccine (shot or nasal spray), and who was subsequently treated for influenza-like-illnesses or pneumonia, researchers conclude that the standard flu shot is more effective in adults than the nasal spray, particularly among adults that have received immunizations in the past.
This from the New York Times.
Nasal Flu Vaccine Less Effective in Adults Than Shots, Study Finds
By RONI CARYN RABIN
Published: March 2, 2009
For the best protection against winter flu, adults may just have to roll up their sleeves and take shots the old-fashioned way.
After reviewing the medical records of over one million adults in the United States military over a three-year period, researchers have found that conventional intramuscular shots reduced doctor visits for flu-like symptoms by up to 54 percent, while an intranasal vaccine curbed flu-related visits by just 21 percent at best.
The intranasal vaccine, FluMist, is primarily marketed for use in children and is believed to be more effective than the conventional vaccine for them. But FluMist is the only nasal spray flu vaccine approved in the United States, and it is increasingly popular among adults.
The results echo findings from previous studies, which reported that conventional flu shots are more effective in adults. The new study was posted online Monday in The Journal of the American Medical Association.
“Our results are consistent with other studies and data — they’re in the same ballpark,” said Dr. Zhong Wang of the Armed Forces Health Surveillance Center in Silver Spring, Md., who is first author of the study.
Military personnel who received flu shots had 54.8 percent fewer health care visits for flu-like symptoms and pneumonia than those who received no vaccine at all in the 2004-05 flu season, 30.7 percent fewer visits the following year and 28.4 fewer visits in 2006-07, the researchers found.
By contrast, those who took the inhaled vaccine had 20.8 fewer visits than the unvaccinated population in 2004-05, 12 percent fewer visits the next year and 10.7 percent fewer visits in 2006-07.
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