Researchers defend influenza vaccine study

We all should question the magnitude of that benefit, but this does not imply that the elderly should not be vaccinated. There is a void of evidence from randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trials in the elderly for influenza vaccines that are relicensed annually, confusion about the effectiveness of the vaccine and, consequently, substantial disagreement in the literature on the implied burden of influenza on mortality. Because influenza is an important cause of mortality in the elderly and because we had found no apparent reduction in influenza-related deaths despite great strides in vaccination coverage, we suspect there is room for improvement and believe further research is warranted to identify more effective control strategies.