Skip to main content

Flu Shot Protects Against Only 3 Flu Viruses

English: Illustration of antigenic shift
Image via Wikipedia
English: Modified version of File:CDC-11214-sw...
Image via Wikipedia
Influenza haemagglutinin
Image by AJC1 via Flickr
Flu shots that are given each year during the flu season, carries vaccination for only three influenza viruses; 1) influenza A (H3N2) virus, 2) seasonal influenza A (H1N1) virus, and 3) influenza B virus. There is a chance that you have prevention against one of the illnesses. In the United States, federal health officials at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) are in charge of selecting which viruses to include in seasonal flu vaccine, a process that is based on international "surveillance-based forecasts about what viruses are most likely to cause illness in the coming season." U.S. health officials works with World Health Organization (WHO) health officials to come up with projectons about which three type A or type B infuenza viruses should be included in seasonal influenza vaccine each year. In other words, it's an educated guess. As you might suspect, getting a "good match" between the chosen vaccine virus strains and the actual influenza viruses that do end up circulating and causing most of the type A or type B influenza in the U.S. and around the world is challenging.

The Media Manipulates Flu Vaccine Facts
Enhanced by Zemanta

Comments