If you are in the process of taking antibiotics or have just finished it, now is not the time to go to the pharmacist to get your flu shot. United States National Allergy and Infectious Disease Program states that oral antibiotics, by altering the gut microbiota, may alter the immune response to seasonal influenza vaccination.
For this study, researchers at Stanford University, USA, examined 33 healthy adults during the last influenza season, as well as 22 volunteers studied during the 2014-2015 influenza season and 11 volunteers during the 2014-2015 influenza season. the 2015-2016 influenza season. All had been vaccinated against influenza and half of them received antibiotic treatment.
Understanding the reaction of seniors to vaccination
The results, published in Cell magazine, corroborate the results of previous research carried out on mice. They show that patients taking antibiotics had undergone changes in their immune system leading to a pro-inflammatory state and that they had a reduction in the level of good intestinal bacteria.
According to the researchers, further research in this direction would undoubtedly explain why the elderly have a weaker immune response to the flu vaccine.
Read also :
- Flu symptoms: how to recognize them?
- Flu: 15 foods to boost your immunity
- Flu epidemic: the right actions against viruses
