Are winter flu jabs for pensioners a waste of time?

NHS £115million, saves people from developing more serious illnesses.

The study, following others which have cast doubt on the campaign's effectiveness, led to calls for it to be scrapped.

The researchers said flu was an 'important-contributor' to acute infections including bronchitis and emphysema.

But these were no less frequent in people who had been vaccinated than in those who had not.

More than 15million people - including three-quarters of over-65s - will receive flu jabs this winter.

Although the report itself, published in the online version of the medical-journal Vaccine, does not call for the programme to be abandoned, it says its effectiveness may have been exaggerated.

One of its authors, Birmingham University public health lecturer Dr Peymane Adab, told the GPs' magazine Pulse: "Putting all our efforts into vaccination won't have a major impact on hospital admissions.

"We should look at other factors like reducing chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, treating chest infections and promoting smoking cessation.

"These are probably going to be more effective."

The study looked at 3,970 people between 65 and 89 and compared data on hospital admissions with whether or not they had received the jab.

It found that, even after taking into account the person's age, sex, illnesses and level of deprivation, the flu vaccine had no effect on admissions for acute respiratory illnesses such as bronchitis and emphysema.

The researchers said their results showed the effects of the vaccine on the elderly are 'likely to be overestimated'.

They warned: "Solely relying on the influenza vaccine to control the annual winter bed pressure in hospitals is unlikely to be a sufficiently effective yearly strategy."

Another of the report's authors was Jeremy Hawker, from the Government's advisory Health Protection Agency.

He said: "Of the elderly people who became ill with an acute respiratory infection, not just flu, in the winter, the ones that ended up in hospital were no less likely to have been vaccinated than those who were successfully treated in primary care.

"We therefore suggested that there is a need to think of additional measures in this particular group to reduce winter pressures in NHS hospitals."

He added: "However, this does not negate the need for influenza vaccine, as other studies show benefits in reducing both infection and subsequent mortality in the elderly."

The researchers also noted that the jab was effective in preventing flu among healthy young adults in 67 per cent of cases. However, it was known to be less effective in protecting elderly people.

The report fuelled growing calls for ministers to consider whether the jab is worth the huge cost to the NHS.

Vaccine expert Dr Tom Jefferson said: "I want to see the Government taking stock of this because this is a major campaign every year that uses public money."

Jo Haynes, editor of Pulse, said: "Each year, GPs face weeks of frantically busy flu clinics to make sure everyone eligible is vaccinated-It's a stressful and extremely expensive business, and doctors and patients need to know the whole process is worthwhile.

"It's time ministers took notice of the growing doubts over flu vaccination and commissioned a large-scale trial to sort out once and for all whether it works."

The first flu vaccine was developed during the Second World War and the Government has recommended its use since the late 1960s.

The programme to vaccinate pensioners began in 2000, and more than 15million people in England now receive the flu vaccine every year.

Priority is given to people of 65 and over and those in vulnerable groups, like diabetics.

It is believed that 12,000 Britons died from flu in the winter of 2005-6, when the rate of outbreaks was relatively low. In a typical year the virus kills around 25,000.

The Department of Health said last night: "The aim of our influenza policy is to protect those who are most at risk of serious illness or death should they develop influenza.

"Although vaccination may not protect all elderly people from infection, experts advise that the majority benefit by at least having a less severe illness.

"Policy is constantly under review to take into consideration all available evidence."

Last month a review in the Lancet medical journal said there were no figures to back claims that the jab saves lives.

It said few vaccine trials had actually included elderly people and there is evidence that the clinical benefits of vaccination decline with advancing years, especially after 70.

Researchers from George Washington University, Washington DC, said recently that no study had found a decline in flu deaths since 1980, even though vaccination coverage had increased from 15 to 65 per cent.

Last year experts at the independent Cochrane Library, which examines the effectiveness of treatments, found jabs had little or no effect on deaths, the length of hospital stays or time off work.

But Dr George Kassianos of the Royal College of General Practitioners said last night flu vaccination should be extended to people over 50 and young children.

He said the current narrow range allowed the infection to circulate in the population.