IFor senior citizens, how effective are flu shots? Scientists challenge previous studies. Read excerpt below:

Sept. 29, 2008

By Melissa Healy, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
Los Angeles Times

At 67, Helen Wong hasn't missed her annual flu shot in years. She also hasn't been seriously sick in years. Wong is pretty sure there's a connection between those two facts, and she'll be sharing that conviction this fall with fellow members of her fitness club at the Glassell Park Senior Center, five miles north of downtown Los Angeles.

When it comes to flu vaccination, there are always doubters, says Wong, a resident of Glassell Park and a regular at its senior center. But on Nov. 1, when the center holds its annual flu immunization clinic, Wong expects that many of her peers will line up for the shot.

"I'm finding confidence growing," she says, in the long-advertised benefits of the vaccine for older people -- that it drives down the odds of catching the flu, of developing complications from the illness such as pneumonia, of dying.

Read entire article: http://www.latimes.com/features/health/la-he-fluseniors29-2008sep29,0,1716794.story