Annual Flu Shots May Benefit Diabetics

Filed in archive Treatment on July 31, 2006

Are flu shots really necessary? This is a subject of heated debate, as many people feel that they are not only unnecessary, but may also make healthy people 'sick.'

Some doctors feel that 'high risk' groups, including diabetics, should seriously consider receiving a flu shot every year.

Like other high-risk groups, adults with diabetes benefit from having a flu vaccination every year, regardless of age, Dutch researchers confirm.

The percentage of adult diabetics who get a flu shot ``remains low,`` note Dr Ingrid Looijmans-Van Den Akker from University Medical Center, Utrecht and colleagues in the medical journal diabetes care, perhaps because of uncertainty about the vaccine`s effectiveness in people with diabetes.

``Influenza vaccination was associated with a 56 percent reduction in any complication, a 54 percent reduction in hospitalisations, and 58 per cent reduction in deaths,`` the investigators report.

Is this enough to convince you to face yet another needle?