Authors: McElhaney, Janet E; Nichol, Kristin L

Source: Aging Health, Volume 1, Number 1, August 2005 , pp. 167-177(11)

Publisher: Future Medicine

Abstract:

A decline in immune function is a hallmark of aging and influenza is foremost amongst all infectious diseases in the age-related increase in risk for serious complications and death. While epidemiologic studies have demonstrated the benefit of influenza vaccination in older adults, substantial numbers of hospitalizations and deaths attributable to influenza continue to occur, suggesting the need for even more effective vaccines. Clinical trials of new vaccines in older adults that rely on antibody responses as a sole measure of vaccine efficacy cannot evaluate components of the cellular immune response that are critical for protection against influenza in this population. This article will review recent publications that have helped us to understand the spectrum of illnesses caused by influenza and the potential benefits of vaccination, identify key components of the immune response that decline with aging, and describe how new vaccine technologies may reverse these changes to prevent complicated influenza illness in older people.

Keywords: benefits of vaccination; granzyme B; immunosenescence; impact of influenza; older adults; T-cell responses

Document Type: Research article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.2217/1745509X.1.1.167

Affiliations: 1: 1University of Connecticut School of Medicine, Center for Immunotherapy of Cancer and Infectious Diseases, USA., Email: jmcelhaney@uchc.edu

Publication date: 2005-08-01

More about this publication?

• Aging Health leading coverage of current and emerging topics relating to the safe and effective management of therapy in the elderly, all subject to rigorous peer review. The journal focuses on the most important advances and highlights their relevance in the clinical setting. The journal has been designed to deliver essential concise information in an easily assimilable format - vital for the increasingly time-constrained professional.
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