[Ip-health] Influenza Vaccine Programs May Be Pointless

[Ira Glazer]

http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/reprint/333/7574/912

Summary points:

Public policy worldwide recommends the use of
inactivated influenza vaccines to prevent seasonal
outbreaks

Because viral circulation and antigenic match vary
each year and non-randomised studies
predominate, systematic reviews of large datasets
from several decades provide the best
information on vaccine performance

Evidence from systematic reviews shows that
inactivated vaccines have little or no effect on the
effects measured