Every year that the flu vaccine is created, scientists try to target the strains of flu that they think will be the most problematic that year. Last year, in 2016, the vaccine didn't protect people very well against the H3N2 virus. This strain of the virus ended up being one of the most common strains and people were not protected against it resulting in higher rates of flu infection. People were not protected against this throughout the world.
And officials within the UK are worried that similar trends will persist this year within their country. For, in 2016, the vaccine offered only 40% protection against a flu infection and the 2017 vaccine has the same H3N2 strain as that of the 2016 vaccine. Professor Scott Hensley of the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania is worried that "this could be another difficult year if this season is dominated by H3N2 viruses again". It is possible that scientists will begin to rethink the production of influenza vaccines by maybe using new technologies or not relying on eggs to create the vaccines.
Despite these concerns, officials around the world are still urging everyone who is able to to receive their flu vaccine. For, as Professor Hensley states, "some protection against H3N2 viruses is better than nothing and other components of the vaccine, like H1N1 and influenza B, will likely provide excellent protection this year".
Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/11/06/flu-jab-mutations-mean-injections-unlikely-protect-against-key/
-Alexandra
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment