The efficacy and effectiveness of influenza vaccination among Thai elderly persons living in the community.

Abstract

In Thai elderly living in the community, influenza vaccination reduced the incidence of influenza-like illness by half, but not the number of treatments received for influenza-like illness, their cost, and its serious complications. In the year of the study, considering the cost of vaccines and the numbers needed to prevent one episode of infection from the provider's viewpoint, it may not be cost-effective to recommend that all Thai older persons living in the community should receive influenza vaccination annually. Vaccination recommendation for the elderly should be promptly implemented in expectation of a severe epidemic in Thailand.