Priming the elderly for flu shots
Drug that shuts down a potent signaling molecule might boost protection
By Nathan Seppa
For older people, the sniffling, coughing, fever and aches of the flu aren’t just a nuisance. Influenza infections can turn deadly. Researchers now report a novel strategy for fighting the flu that might improve the odds in this high-risk group.
Low doses of a drug called everolimus taken ahead of a flu shot by people age 65 or older bumped up their immune response to the vaccination by an average of 20 percent, scientists report in the Dec. 24 Science Translational Medicine. Everolimus is commonly given to transplant recipients to fend off rejection and is used to fight certain cancers.