Flu Vaccine Dud, Only Effective in 50 Percent of Users

For those of us who were too lazy to get a flu vaccine, statistics show that it probably didn't matter anyway.

According to a U.S. government analysis of this season's flu vaccine, it was effective in only 56 percent of the people who got the shot, and it largely failed to protect the elderly against an especially deadly strain circulating this season, according to Reuters.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the findings underscore the need for more effective weapons in the fight against influenza, which kills between 3,000 and 50,000 people in the United States each year depending on the severity of the flu season.

"We simply need a better vaccine against influenza, one that works better and lasts longer," CDC Director Dr. Thomas Frieden said in a statement on Thursday.

The vaccine did cut the risk of medical visits caused by either influenza A or influenza B by 56 percent, according to the study published in the CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

The estimates are based on studies of 2,697 children and adults enrolled in the U.S. Influenza Vaccine Effectiveness Network between December 3 and January 19. The CDC said those estimates may change by the end of the flu season, when more people have been sampled.

Even so, the findings suggest that a large group of elderly people, who are consistently the most vulnerable to influenza, were unprotected during this year's flu season. Reasons for this include poor immune systems typically seen in older individuals.

Fortunately, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is hoping to pull out some new vaccines that would promote better safety against the virus.