29.11.2006

A group of Italian researchers (Rizzo et al., 2006; Vaccine 24: 6468-6475) evaluated the mortality benefits that may be attributed to the increasing vaccination coverage in the Italian elderly. Their findings were that either the vaccine failed to protect the elderly against mortality (possibly due to immune senescence), and/or the vaccination efforts did not adequately target the frailest elderly. As in the US (Simonsen et al., 2005), this study challenges current strategies to best protect the elderly against mortality, warranting the need for better controlled trials with alternative vaccination strategies.