In a finding that should ease the minds of Americans ahead of another flu season, this year’s vaccines have already cut the risk of hospitalization in half during the South American winter, health officials report.
Even better, the flu virus strains that have been detected in the United States have so far shown a similar pattern to those in South America, although that could still change.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report is based on nearly 3,000 patients who were hospitalized in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay between late March and early July. It was published Sept. 8 in the CDC publication Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.