Flu jabs '˜work better when given in morning'

A new study of 276 people found a better bodily response to vaccines if they were given before 11am, suggesting a higher level of protection.

The study, published in the journal Vaccine, saw over-65s vaccinated against three strains of flu, either during morning GP surgeries (9-11am) or afternoon surgeries (3-5pm).

For two of the three strains, there was a significantly bigger increase in antibody concentration one month after vaccination for those receiving the jab in the morning, compared with those given the jab during the afternoon.

For the third strain of flu, there was no significant difference between morning and afternoon sessions.

The authors concluded: “The present study was the first large-scale randomised trial of different times of vaccination and provides evidence that morning vaccination enhances the antibody response to the influenza vaccine.”

Dr Anna Phillips, from the School of Sport, Exercise and Rehabilitation Sciences at the University of Birmingham, who led the study, added: “We know that there are fluctuations in immune responses throughout the day and wanted to examine whether this would extend to the antibody response to vaccination.

“Being able to see that morning vaccinations yield a more efficient response will not only help in strategies for flu vaccination, but might provide clues to improve vaccination strategies more generally.”

Overall, 24 GP practices across the West Midlands took part in the study, which ran between 2011 and 2013.

Figures released earlier this month showed that deaths in England and Wales hit a 12-year high last year, with flu thought to be to blame for taking the lives of a significant number of people aged 75 and over.

The substantial rise in deaths has been partly blamed on the lack of effectiveness of that season’s winter flu vaccine.

The vast majority of the extra deaths in 2015 were registered in the first three months of the year, coinciding with a peak in flu.

There were 24,065 more deaths in the first three months of 2015 compared with the same period in 2014, with 11,865 of these extra deaths registered in January alone, when flu was circulating at its highest levels.

Professor Janet Lord, a co-investigator on the new study, from the Institute of Inflammation and Ageing at the University of Birmingham, said: “A significant amount of resource is used to try and prevent flu infection each year, particularly in older adults, but less than half make enough antibody to be fully protected.

“Our results suggest that by shifting the time of those vaccinations to the morning we can improve their efficiency with no extra cost to the health service.”