Flu Shots Not Equipped To Handle New Virus Strains
- 9 years ago
Getting a flu shot this year will get you an ‘A’ for effort, but it may not protect you from falling ill.
Getting a flu shot this year will get you an ‘A’ for effort, but it may not protect you from falling ill.
Since the creation of the 2014 vaccine, a number of new strains have either emerged or changed enough to no longer be deterred by it.
Testing of virus samples taken between early October and late November show that of the 85 variations detected, over 50 percent of them fall outside what was included in the vaccine.
Among them is the potentially fatal H3N2 variety.
Failing to provide protection against it was not an oversight by the CDC, but rather an unforeseen morphing of the virus itself.
The version that the flu shot can handle is the one that was identified in February, which is when the planning for the preventative measure took place.
Vaccination is still being encouraged, and the CDC announced that it’s possible some of the more serious effects of H3N2 will be lessened or averted by the existing formula.
Getting a flu shot this year will get you an ‘A’ for effort, but it may not protect you from falling ill.
Since the creation of the 2014 vaccine, a number of new strains have either emerged or changed enough to no longer be deterred by it.
Testing of virus samples taken between early October and late November show that of the 85 variations detected, over 50 percent of them fall outside what was included in the vaccine.
Among them is the potentially fatal H3N2 variety.
Failing to provide protection against it was not an oversight by the CDC, but rather an unforeseen morphing of the virus itself.
The version that the flu shot can handle is the one that was identified in February, which is when the planning for the preventative measure took place.
Vaccination is still being encouraged, and the CDC announced that it’s possible some of the more serious effects of H3N2 will be lessened or averted by the existing formula.