Flu Sends More and More Seniors to Hospital in US

Influenza-related hospitalizations have increased dramatically in the US in the last two decades, in part because of the aging population, according to a report in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Influenza-related hospitalizations have increased dramatically in the US in the last two decades, in part because of the aging population, according to a report in the Journal of the American Medical Association.To assess the trends in hospitalizations attributed to the flu from 1979 to 2001, Dr. William W. Thompson, from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, and colleagues analyzed data from the National Hospital Discharge Survey and from the World Health Organization Collaborating Laboratories.Flu-associated hospitalizations increased during the study period among elderly subjects, but remained relatively stable for younger people.The highest rate of hospitalizations for flu was noted in people who were at least 85 years of age, at 1195 per 100,000 persons. The rate in children younger than 5 years was108 per 100,000, which was comparable to that seen in adults between 50 and 64 years.Influenza-associated hospitalization rates were highest in seasons in which the A type of the virus was dominant, the authors report.”Additional efforts are needed to ensure that current recommendations for influenza vaccination for all high-risk individuals, household contacts of high-risk individuals, healthcare workers, and young children are fully implemented,” they add.(Source: Reuters, Journal of the American Medical Association, September, 2004.)