By LAURAN NEERGAARD AP Medical Writer
WASHINGTON September 27, 2012 (AP)
Time to get your flu vaccine — and a surprising new report shows babies
and toddlers seem to be getting protected better than the rest of us.
Last year's flu shot won't shield you this year: Two new strains of influenza have begun circling the globe, and the updated vaccine appears to work well against them, government officials said Thursday.
Just because last year was the mildest flu season on record doesn't mean the virus might not bounce back to its usual ferocity this winter.
-snip-
Flu specialists can't say how bad this winter's flu season might be. Influenza strains constantly evolve, and some cause more illness than others.
But strains from the H3N2 family tend to be harsher than some other flu types, and a new H3N2 strain is included in this year's vaccine because it is circulating in parts of the world.
Because of that strain, "I am pretty confident that this year will be a more traditional flu season" than last year, CDC's Jernigan told The Associated Press. "People won't have had any real exposure to that."
Only one ingredient in this year's flu vaccine was retained from last year's, protection against the H1N1 strain that caused the 2009 swine flu pandemic and has been the main kind of influenza circulating since. Also new in this year's shot is protection against a different Type B strain.
Full article: http://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory/years-flu-vaccine-guards-strains-17338927#.UGTZIRgXqkI
Last year's flu shot won't shield you this year: Two new strains of influenza have begun circling the globe, and the updated vaccine appears to work well against them, government officials said Thursday.
Just because last year was the mildest flu season on record doesn't mean the virus might not bounce back to its usual ferocity this winter.
-snip-
Flu specialists can't say how bad this winter's flu season might be. Influenza strains constantly evolve, and some cause more illness than others.
But strains from the H3N2 family tend to be harsher than some other flu types, and a new H3N2 strain is included in this year's vaccine because it is circulating in parts of the world.
Because of that strain, "I am pretty confident that this year will be a more traditional flu season" than last year, CDC's Jernigan told The Associated Press. "People won't have had any real exposure to that."
Only one ingredient in this year's flu vaccine was retained from last year's, protection against the H1N1 strain that caused the 2009 swine flu pandemic and has been the main kind of influenza circulating since. Also new in this year's shot is protection against a different Type B strain.
Full article: http://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory/years-flu-vaccine-guards-strains-17338927#.UGTZIRgXqkI
No comments:
Post a Comment