FDA approves flu vaccine for coming season
August 14, 2012 in Medications
Two of the three strains picked weren't in last year's shot, experts note.
(HealthDay) -- The formulation for the vaccine that will help protect against the flu this coming season was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Monday.
"The best way to prevent influenza is by getting vaccinated each year," Dr. Karen Midthun, director of the FDA's Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, said in a statement. "It is especially important to get vaccinated this year because two of the three virus strains used in this season's influenza vaccines differ from the strains included in last year's vaccines."
Experts from the FDA, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization, along with other public health officials, study global flu infection patterns to try to predict which strains of the virus are most likely to make people ill in the coming flu season. Sometimes there is a mismatch between the strains in the vaccine and the strains that wind up infecting most people each season, but officials noted that even then the vaccine can lessen the severity of illnesses.
Six vaccine makers are licensed to provide the flu vaccine in the United States, and the 2012-2013 vaccine will include the following strains: A/California/7/2009 (H1N1)-like virus; A/Victoria/361/2011 (H3N2)-like virus; and B/Wisconsin/1/2012-like virus. The H1N1 virus is the same as the one included in last year's vaccine, while the other two differ from the strains used in the 2011-2012 vaccine, according to an FDA news release.
Between 5 percent and 20 percent of the U.S. population develops influenza each year, resulting in more than 200,000 hospitalizations from related complications. Influenza seasons can vary widely, with annual influenza-related deaths ranging from a low of about 3,000 to a high of about 49,000 people in the United States, the news release stated. The CDC recommends that everyone 6 months of age and older receive an annual influenza vaccine.
The companies producing the 2012-2013 flu vaccines and the brand names of the vaccines are:
- Afluria, manufactured by CSL Ltd.
- Fluarix, manufactured by GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals
- FluLaval, manufactured by ID Biomedical Corp.
- FluMist, manufactured by MedImmune Vaccines Inc.
- Fluvirin, manufactured by Novartis Vaccines and Diagnostics Ltd.
- Fluzone, Fluzone High-Dose and Fluzone Intradermal, manufactured by Sanofi Pasteur
More information: To prepare for the coming flu season, go to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Copyright © 2012 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
-
FDA approves first 4-in-1 flu vaccine
Feb 29, 2012 |
not rated yet |
0
-
FDA approves 2006 strain of flu vaccine
Aug 03, 2006 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Building a better flu vaccine: Add second strain of influenza B
Apr 06, 2010 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Four works better than three: An enhanced flu vaccine does the trick
Apr 04, 2012 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Study: Flu shot better than nasal spray in adults
Sep 23, 2009 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Motion perception revisited: High Phi effect challenges established motion perception assumptions
Apr 23, 2013 |
3 / 5 (2) |
2
-
Anything you can do I can do better: Neuromolecular foundations of the superiority illusion (Update)
Apr 02, 2013 |
4.5 / 5 (11) |
5
-
The visual system as economist: Neural resource allocation in visual adaptation
Mar 30, 2013 |
5 / 5 (2) |
9
-
Separate lives: Neuronal and organismal lifespans decoupled
Mar 27, 2013 |
4.9 / 5 (8) |
0
-
Sizing things up: The evolutionary neurobiology of scale invariance
Feb 28, 2013 |
4.8 / 5 (10) |
14
-
Why is zone 1 in liver more prone to ischemic injury?
3 hours ago
-
How can there be villous adenoma in colon, if there are no villi there
May 22, 2013
-
How can there be a term called "intestinal metaplasia" of stomach
May 21, 2013
-
Pressure-volume curve: Elastic Recoil Pressure don't make sense
May 18, 2013
-
If you became brain-dead, would you want them to pull the plug?
May 17, 2013
-
MRI bill question
May 15, 2013
- More from Physics Forums - Medical Sciences
More news stories
Experts favor US approval of Merck sleeping pill (Update)
An independent panel of experts on Wednesday recommended US approval of a new Merck sleeping pill called suvorexant, but expressed concerns over the highest dosage and risks of drowsy daytime driving.
Medications
14 hours ago |
not rated yet |
0
Glaxo, US partnering to develop new antibiotics
GlaxoSmithKline PLC says it's starting an unusual collaboration with the U.S. government to develop several antibiotics for both bioterrorism threats and bacterial infections resistant to current medicines.
Medications
16 hours ago |
not rated yet |
0
Study finds new pneumococcal vaccine appears to be as safe as previously used vaccine
The new 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV13) appears to be as safe as the previous version used prior to 2010, the 7-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV7), according to a Kaiser Permanente study published ...
Medications
21 hours ago |
not rated yet |
0
Succesful results in developing oral vaccine against diarrhea
The University of Gothenburg Vaccine Research Institute (GUVAX) announces successful results in a placebo controlled phase I study of an oral, inactivated Escherichia coli diarrhea vaccine.
Medications
23 hours ago |
not rated yet |
0
New sleeping pill poised to hit US markets
An experimental sleeping pill from US drug company Merck is effective at helping people fall and stay asleep, according to reviewers at the US Food and Drug Administration, which could soon approve the new drug.
Medications
May 21, 2013 |
4.2 / 5 (5) |
0
Researchers find possible 'master switch' in deadly brain cancer
(Medical Xpress)—Researchers at the University of Virginia School of Medicine have identified a promising target for treating glioblastoma, one that appears to avoid many of the obstacles that typically frustrate efforts ...
Depression linked to telomere enzyme, aging, chronic disease
(Medical Xpress)—The first symptoms of major depression may be behavioral, but the common mental illness is based in biology—and not limited to the brain.
Vaccine blackjack: IL-21 critical to fight against viral infections
(Medical Xpress)—Scientists at Emory Vaccine Center have shown that an immune regulatory molecule called IL-21 is needed for long-lasting antibody responses in mice against viral infections.
Fast-acting mothers' milk for healthier babies
Human breastmilk responds quickly to protect the child when there is an infection in mothers or babies, according to new international research led by The University of Western Australia.
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma survival doubles since early 1970s
More than half of patients diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma (NHL) are now surviving the disease thanks to improved diagnosis and treatment, according to a new report1 from Cancer Research UK.
Air travel during pregnancy poses no significant risk, say experts
(Medical Xpress)—There is no significant risk directly associated with air travel during pregnancy, even at advanced gestation, says report by the University of Liverpool.
Aug 14, 2012
Rank: not rated yet
http://fathernatu...#pid4785