title: Influenza in the elderly: a mini-review.
abstract: Influenza is an important cause of morbidity and mortality in the elderly population each year. The often subtle clinical manifestations in the frail geriatric patients may not be recognized initially, impeding timely administration of antiviral treatment. The effectiveness of current influenza vaccines in the elderly population is often diminished by immune senescence. Increasing immunization rates among health-care workers and elderly caregivers, and finding more effective vaccines for the elderly people are likely to significantly improve disease prevention in this population at risk.
authors.affiliation: Division of Infectious Diseases, Memorial Hospital of Rhode Island, Alpert Medical School at Brown University, Pawtucket, USA. Aurora_Pop-Vicas @ brown.edu
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pop-Vicas
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gravenstein
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging / Q000276:immunology; D017281:Cost of Illness; D061345:Early Medical Intervention / Q000458:organization & administration; D005260:Female; D016330:Frail Elderly; D006299:Health Services for the Aged / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006801:Humans; D017757:Infectious Disease Transmission, Professional-to-Patient / Q000517:prevention & control; D007252:Influenza Vaccines / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D007251:Influenza, Human / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000276:immunology / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000635:transmission; D008297:Male; D011314:Preventive Health Services / Q000379:methods*; D017201:Virus Shedding / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D007252:Influenza Vaccines