A diabetes diagnosis raises your odds of a flu jab by twenty points

Diabetes raises the risk of serious illness from influenza, so higher
vaccination in that group is the intended outcome. The size of the gap is the
interesting part.

Where the gap is, and where it is not

Over 65, the three groups converge — because age alone already puts everyone in
a recommended group, and the health system acts on it. Under 65, a diagnosis is
what moves a person from 35% to 54%.

That is a useful thing to know about how vaccination actually happens. It is
less a matter of personal risk assessment than of **being in a category
somebody acts on**: a chronic condition means regular appointments, a record
flagging you, and a clinician who raises it.

**Regardless of diabetes status, vaccination was higher among those 65 and
over than among those 18–64.**

The prediabetes row

Prediabetes sits between the two throughout, and closer to diabetes than to no
diagnosis. Being told you are heading towards a condition appears to bring some
of the same follow-up — which is worth noting, because prediabetes is otherwise
often treated as a warning rather than a status.

What is counted

"During the past 12 months, have you had a flu vaccination?" — a
calendar-year question, which differs from seasonal vaccination totals
that count doses given during a flu season.

Diabetes and prediabetes are self-reported diagnoses — *"have you ever been
told by a doctor or health professional…"* — with **women asked to exclude
gestational diabetes**. Prediabetes was counted when volunteered, or from a
direct question naming **impaired fasting glucose, impaired glucose tolerance,
borderline diabetes or high blood sugar**.

Everything here is therefore about diagnosed status. Adults with
undiagnosed diabetes are counted in the 40.1% row — which, if anything,
understates the difference a diagnosis makes.

From **household interviews of the non-institutionalised US civilian
population aged 18 and over**, National Health Interview Survey, 2017.

Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, MMWR QuickStats.