Elderly people are always more prone and sensitive at getting diseases, since they have a weak immune system which cannot effectively fight with the virus attacks. Until recently, it was thought that Flu vaccines can protect the older people from Flu and pneumonia, but this thought as per the researchers is false.

Researchers have reported that even if the older people are vaccinated with Flu vaccines, there may still get the flu, and once they get the flu, they become more susceptible to diseases such as pneumonia. The benefit of the vaccine, however, seems to be more confined to the younger than older citizens.

The research was led by Michael L. Jackson, a postdoctoral fellow at the Group Health Center for Health Studies in Seattle. He reported that though the vaccine may not be that useful for the senior citizens, still it is recommended they should get the vaccine, for it at least reduces the risk of catching flu if not preventing it.

He said, “There have been good randomized trials that show, at least in healthy seniors, that the vaccine reduces the risk of influenza. However, earlier studies have overestimated how well the vaccine works in reducing complications of influenza. So, the vaccine may not reduce the risk of complications as much as previously thought.”

The report was published in the August 2 issue of The Lancet. The researchers studied the collected data on 1,173 people between ages of 65 and 94 who developed pneumonia. Then they compared these individuals with 2,346 people who did not get the disease. The researchers clarified that both groups taken under consideration had similar rate of flu vaccination over three seasons of studies.

The researchers found that the vaccinated seniors as well as the unvaccinated seniors who got the flu were equally prone to develop pneumonia.

However, researchers still advice that the senior citizens should be vaccinated against flu. Dr. Pascal James Imperato, dean of the master of public health program at the State University of New York Downstate Medical Center in New York City, who was not at all surprised to see the results said, “Having many people vaccinated builds up herd immunity to disease, and you create barriers to transmission.” He added that when a person reaches his 70’s and 80’s, his immune system becomes weak and thus does not produce sufficient anti-bodies to fight the diseases.