[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 8]
[Senate]
[Page 10137]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                   VA FINDS FLU SHOTS PROTECT ELDERLY

  Mr. GRAHAM of Florida. Mr. President, throughout its history, the 
Department of Veterans Affairs, VA, has made great strides in medical 
research. At a time when VA's medical and prosthetic research program 
is being starved of vital funding, as ranking member of the Committee 
on Veterans' Affairs, I would like to draw attention to a significant 
discovery the program recently has made.
  As highlighted in an April 22, 2003, article in The Washington Post, 
researchers at the Minneapolis VA Medical Center found that not only do 
seniors who get vaccinated against the flu gain protection from the 
disease, but they also reduce their risk of hospitalization from 
pneumonia, cardiac disease and stroke. The VA study, published in the 
April 3, 2003, issue of The New England Journal of Medicine, also found 
that during a given flu season, vaccinated elderly patients were half 
as likely to die as their unvaccinated peers.
  Since its inception, the VA research program has made landmark 
contributions to the well-being of veterans and the Nation as a whole. 
Past VA research projects have resulted in the first successful kidney 
transplant performed in the U.S., as well as the development of the 
cardiac pacemaker, a vaccine for hepatitis, and the CAT and MRI scans. 
This new discovery is yet another example of the crucial research work 
done by the VA, and of why we must keep the research program 
sufficiently funded.
  I ask unanimous consent that the article from The Washington Post 
highlighting the VA research study on the benefits of the flu vaccine 
be printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

               [From the Washington Post, Apr. 22, 2003]

                          Flu Shots Save Lives

                (By Jennifer Huget and Associated Press)

       Seniors who get vaccinated against the flu not only protect 
     themselves from that deadly disease but also reduce their 
     risk of hospitalization for pneumonia, cardiac disease and 
     stroke. Plus, a study in the April 3 issue of the New England 
     Journal of Medicine shows, vaccinated elderly patients were 
     half as likely to die as their unvaccinated peers during a 
     given flu season.
       The study, conducted by the Department of Veterans Affairs 
     at the Minneapolis VA Medical Center, tracked 286,000 men and 
     women age 65 and over through two flu seasons. Although the 
     vaccinated folks were on average older and in worse overall 
     health than the unvaccinated, they were about a third less 
     likely to have pneumonia and about a fifth less likely to be 
     hospitalized for cardiac care of suffer a stroke during the 
     flu season.
       Influenza kills about 36,000 people of all ages each year, 
     according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 
     (CDC); about 90 percent of those deaths are among the 
     elderly. Yet the CDC says that only 63 percent of those over 
     age 65 got flu shots in 2001. Flu shots confer benefits for 
     one flu season only. Since this year's flu season is now 
     winding down, experts suggest that seniors start seeking new 
     shots in October.

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