New York, June 26 -- People who received at least one influenza vaccine were 40 per cent less likely than their non-vaccinated peers to develop Alzheimer's disease over the course of four years, according to a new study.

Research from University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston compared the risk of Alzheimer's disease incidence between patients with and without prior flu vaccination in a large nationwide sample of US adults aged 65 and older.

"We found that flu vaccination in older adults reduces the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease for several years. The strength of this protective effect increased with the number of years that a person received an annual flu vaccine - in other words, the rate of developing Alzheimer's was...