How age impacts a woman's immune response to flu vaccination
| Jul 17, 2019, 12:01 IST
A woman's immune response to a flu vaccination diminishes with age, according to a study conducted by Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. The findings are surprising given that women start off having a stronger immune response to it than men.
50 adults between the ages of 18 and 45 years, as well as,95 adults who were over 65 participated in the study. The team examined each participants response to the flu vaccine.The results showed younger women had a stronger immune response than older women. The team found similar results on trial tests conducted on mice. Researchers speculate estrogen may be the reason that females' immune responses to flu vaccine are stronger. The team also found a weak vaccine response in young men who had lower testosterone.
"We need to consider tailoring vaccine formulations and dosages based on the sex of the vaccine recipient as well as their age," study author Sabra Klein, PhD, an associate professor in the Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology at the Bloomberg School, told a news portal. Adding, "What we show here is that the decline in estrogen that occurs with menopause impacts women's immunity."
The team are now studying molecular mechanisms to understand how estradiol and other estrogens help to give the antibody response to vaccines a boost. The study's findings were originally published in the journal npj Vaccines.
50 adults between the ages of 18 and 45 years, as well as,95 adults who were over 65 participated in the study. The team examined each participants response to the flu vaccine.The results showed younger women had a stronger immune response than older women. The team found similar results on trial tests conducted on mice. Researchers speculate estrogen may be the reason that females' immune responses to flu vaccine are stronger. The team also found a weak vaccine response in young men who had lower testosterone.
"We need to consider tailoring vaccine formulations and dosages based on the sex of the vaccine recipient as well as their age," study author Sabra Klein, PhD, an associate professor in the Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology at the Bloomberg School, told a news portal. Adding, "What we show here is that the decline in estrogen that occurs with menopause impacts women's immunity."
The team are now studying molecular mechanisms to understand how estradiol and other estrogens help to give the antibody response to vaccines a boost. The study's findings were originally published in the journal npj Vaccines.