JAMA Intern Med

High-dose flu vaccine lowers hospitalization risk in older adults regardless of diabetes status

January 22, 2026

A prespecified secondary analysis of the DANFLU-2 trial (NCT05517174) involving 332,438 older adults, including 43,881 with diabetes, found that high-dose influenza vaccine (HD-IIV) reduced hospitalizations for cardiorespiratory disease, cardiovascular disease, heart failure, and lab-confirmed influenza compared with standard-dose vaccine (SD-IIV). Relative vaccine effectiveness was consistent regardless of diabetes status, though absolute benefits were greater in people with diabetes due to their higher baseline risk.

Clinical takeaway: These exploratory results highlight the value of influenza vaccination and indicate that high‑dose IIV may offer added protection over the standard-dose formulation in people with diabetes.

Source:

Nielsen AB, et al. (2026, January 12). JAMA Intern Med. High-Dose vs Standard-Dose Influenza Vaccine in Older Adults With Diabetes: A Secondary Analysis of the DANFLU-2 Randomized Clinical Trial. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41525066/