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CDC Panel Recommends Against Using FluMist Vaccine


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http://www.cnn.com/2016/06/22/health/cdc-flumist-nasal-spray-flu-vaccine/index.html

 

 

*Snip

 

 

CDC panel recommends against using FluMist vaccine

By Susan Scutti, CNN

Updated 7:46 PM ET, Wed June 22, 2016

 

(CNN)Flu vaccines are about to get more painful. A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advisory committee recommended on Wednesday that FluMist, the nasal spray influenza vaccine, should not be used during the upcoming flu season.

 

"To everyone's surprise and increasing consternation, this vaccine has performed quite poorly compared to the injectable vaccine," said Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious disease specialist.

 

An alternative to the standard flu shot, FluMist had been approved for people between the ages of 2 and 49 years old by the Food and Drug Administration.

 

The CDC committee, which includes 15 immunization experts, reviewed data from previous flu seasons, including the most recent season, comparing FluMist with the standard flu shot.

 

Though the viruses in FluMist are live, they have been weakened (attenuated, in medical terms) and work by stimulating the immune system. There are two versions of FluMist: one a trivalent vaccine, which protects against three strains of flu virus, and the other a quadrivalent, protecting against four strains.

 

"We agree with [the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices'] decision today to recommend health care providers and parents use only the inactivated vaccine," Dr. Benard Dreyer, president of the American Academy of Pediatrics, said in a statement. The Pediatric Infectious Disease Society also stated its support during the hearing.

 

Yet, prior to its recent poor performance, all evidence showed the spray worked better than the flu shot in children under the age of 8. And, during those sunny days, the CDC committee expressed a preference for the mist over the shot.

 

During the hearing, Dr. Chris Ambrose of MedImmune shared results from the company's 2015-16 influenza vaccine effectiveness study, which found the FluMist quadrivalent vaccine to be 46% effective, compared with the flu shot's 65% effectiveness. However, Dr. Brendan Flannery of the CDC presented data indicating that FluMist had zero effectiveness against one strain of flu.

 

Acknowledging that FluMist offered advantages in the past, especially for children, Sun said the FDA would continue to work with MedImmune. "At this point, we're not ready to take a requirement for changing prescribing information," he said.

 

 

 

:wormie2:

John

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Depends on the luck of the year. They have to take their best guess cuz the production of vaccine must be done before the "flavor of the season" actually shows up. Got some casinos in CO that might give better odds..... {sorry, MtR has never been too impressed with vaccines. Potential for good, certainly. But in THIS society where profit beats our morals....I'm skeptical! }

 

MtRider :behindsofa:

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Flu vax? Thanks, but no thanks.

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