Studies have revealed that influenza vaccination prevents medical visits and hospitalizations.5
- During the 2015-2016 influenza season in the United States, the vaccine reduced outpatient influenza visits in adults by 53% for influenza B viruses and by 51% for influenza A viruses.5
- The flu vaccine offered significant protection against influenza hospitalizations in the United States, including among adults over the age of 65. During the 2015-2016 season, it reduced influenza hospitalizations by 50% among all adults and by 50% among adults >65 years of age (influenza A and B viruses).5
- Flu vaccines have also been shown to be highly cost-effective in the prevention of acute myocardial infarction, particularly for high-risk people.6
FDA APPROVED INFLUENZA VACCINES IN THE UNITED STATES, 2022–2023 INFLUENZA SEASON7
Certain influenza vaccines (*) are preferred by CDC for adults 65 years and older. If one of these vaccines is not available at the time of administration, people in this age group should get a standard-dose flu vaccine instead.8 All influenza vaccines for the 2022-23 season are quadrivalent vaccines.
TRADE NAME
MANUFACTURER
AGE RANGE
Afluria® Quadrivalent
Seqirus
6 months and older
*Fluad® Quadrivalent
Seqirus
65 years and older
Fluarix® Quadrivalent
GlaxoSmithKline
6 months and older
*Flublok® Quadrivalent
Sanofi Pasteur
18 years and older
Flucelvax® Quadrivalent
Seqirus
6 months and older9
FluLaval® Quadrivalent
GlaxoSmithKline
6 months and older
FluMist® Quadrivalent
AstraZeneca
2 through 49 years
*Fluzone® High-Dose Quadrivalent
Sanofi Pasteur
65 years and older
Fluzone® Quadrivalent
Sanofi Pasteur
6 months and older
HOW INFLUENZA VACCINES WORK
About two weeks after influenza vaccination, antibodies develop in the body. These antibodies offer protection against infection by the viruses that are covered in the vaccine.1
Seasonal flu vaccines protect against the influenza viruses that surveillance indicates are likely to be circulating in the upcoming flu season.1
Quadrivalent vaccines are made to protect against four flu viruses: two types of influenza A viruses (H1N1 and H3N2) and two types of influenza B viruses.1
Preventing influenza helps reduce the potential loss of function in older adults. Sadly, approximately 15% of older adults hospitalized with influenza experience catastrophic disability, which is defined as a loss of independence of three or more basic activities of daily living (personal care and hygiene, mobility and being able to get in and out of bed or up from a chair or sofa, toileting, bathing and feeding).10
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) recommends that all people 6 months of age and older receive an annual flu vaccine. 1 The CDC preferentially recommends the use of higher dose and adjuvanted flu vaccines for adults 65 years and older. If none of the preferred products are available, any other age-appropriate vaccine should be used as per the ACIP recommendations.8
CLICK HERE for the latest ACIP recommendations on seasonal influenza vaccines
EVIDENCE-BASED RESOURCES
From the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
- Influenza Vaccination: Information for Healthcare Professionals (web section)
- Prevention and Control of Seasonal Influenza with Vaccines: Recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices — United States, 2022-23 Influenza Season
- Recommended Adult Immunization Schedule for ages 19 years and older, United States, 2022 (PDF)
From Immunize.org
- Influenza Vaccine Products for the Influenza Season (PDF)
- Free, ready-to-print influenza educational materials for healthcare personnel and patients (web section)
- Ask the Experts: Influenza (web section where Immunize.org experts answer questions for healthcare professionals about influenza disease and vaccines)
- Influenza Vaccine web page (with links to many additional Immunize.org influenza resources)
- Vaccine Information Statement (VIS) for Inactivated or Recombinant Influenza (Flu) Vaccine (PDF)
- Vaccine Information Statement (VIS) for Inactivated or Recombinant Influenza Vaccine — Translations in more than 30 languages (web page)
From the Literature
- Immunity and Ageing: The Immune Response to Influenza in Older Humans: Beyond Immune Senescence
- JAMA: Association Between Influenza Vaccination and Cardiovascular Outcomes in High-Risk Patients: A Meta-Analysis
- Heart: Influenza Vaccine as a Coronary Intervention for Prevention of Myocardial Infarction
1. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Key Facts About Seasonal Flu Vaccine. https://www.cdc.gov/flu/prevent/keyfacts.htm. Accessed September 2022. 2. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Vaccine Effectiveness: How Well Do Flu Vaccines Work? https://www.cdc.gov/flu/vaccineswork/vaccineeffect. Accessed September 2022. 3. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Coverage by season. https://www.cdc.gov/flu/fluvaxview/coverage-by-season.htm. Accessed September 2022. 4. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Healthy People 2030. Increase the proportion of people who get the flu vaccine every year — IID‑09. https://health.gov/healthypeople/objectives-and-data/browse-objectives/vaccination/increase-proportion-people-who-get-flu-vaccine-every-year-iid-09. Accessed September 2022. 5. Ferdinands J, Gaglani M, Martin E, et al. Prevention of Influenza Hospitalization Among Adults in the United States, 2015-2016: Results From the US Hospitalized Adult Influenza Vaccine Effectiveness Network (HAIVEN). J Infect Dis. 2019;200(8):1265-1275. doi:10.1093/infdis/jiy723 6. MacIntyre CR, Mahimbo A, Moa AM, et al. Influenza Vaccine as a Coronary Intervention for Prevention of Myocardial Infarction. Heart. 2016;102:1953–1956. doi:10.1136/heartjnl-2016-309983 7. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Table 1. Influenza Vaccines – United States, 2022–23 Influenza Season. https://www.cdc.gov/flu/professionals/acip/2022-2023/acip-table.htm. Accessed September 2022. 8. Grohskopf LA, Blanton LH, Ferdinand JM, et al. Prevention and control of seasonal influenza with vaccines: recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices – United States, 2022-23 influenza season. MMWR Recomm Rep. 2022;71(1):1–28. doi:10.15585/mmwr.rr7101a1 9. Flucelvax Quadrivalent (Influenza Vaccine) [package insert]. Holly Springs, NC: Seqirus Inc; 2022. 10. McElhaney JE, Verschoor CP, Andrew MK, et al. The Immune Response to Influenza in Older Humans: Beyond Senescence. Immun Ageing. 2020;17:10. doi:10.1186/s12979-020-00181-1