Influenza vaccine effectiveness was under 50 percent this season, according to preliminary data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), though a smaller study arrived at higher estimates.
Data from the CDC’s New Vaccine Surveillance Network showed the vaccines were 49 percent effective against hospitalization or emergency department visits.
The total was higher, 68 percent, for just inpatient admissions.
The network includes seven hospitals across seven states, including Texas Children’s Hospital Houston and the Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh.
Vaccine effectiveness estimates were drawn from data collected on hospital admissions and emergency department visits from Sept. 13, 2022, to Jan. 25, 2023, according to a presentation CDC officials gave the agency’s vaccine advisory panel on Feb. 22. The data covered laboratory-confirmed influenza A infections in children aged 6 months to 17 years. Influenza a subtypes were behind 99.5 percent of the cases this season, according to sequencing….