Shiloh
Editor, Senior Moderator
Source: http://www.globaltoronto.com/health...dictor+of+effectiveness/6442787616/story.html
Flu studies suggest vaccine 'match' not super predictor of effectiveness
Helen Branswell, Sunday, January 13, 2013 7:10 PM
TORONTO - From the start of this year's influenza season, public health officials assured people the flu vaccine was a good 'match' for circulating strains of the virus, which suggests it should offer good protection this winter.
But an early assessment of how well the vaccine is doing at preventing illness in those who are vaccinated suggests this year's shot reduces one's risk of being infected with influenza A ? in other words H3N2 or H1N1 ? by about 55 per cent and influenza B by 70 per cent. (Those are U.S. estimates; a corresponding Canadian analysis is underway.)
Those figures raise two related questions: Is that the best currently designed flu vaccines can do, even when the strains in the vaccine are closely related to those making people sick? And does the concept of a good match carry as much weight as has been suggested?...
Flu studies suggest vaccine 'match' not super predictor of effectiveness
Helen Branswell, Sunday, January 13, 2013 7:10 PM
TORONTO - From the start of this year's influenza season, public health officials assured people the flu vaccine was a good 'match' for circulating strains of the virus, which suggests it should offer good protection this winter.
But an early assessment of how well the vaccine is doing at preventing illness in those who are vaccinated suggests this year's shot reduces one's risk of being infected with influenza A ? in other words H3N2 or H1N1 ? by about 55 per cent and influenza B by 70 per cent. (Those are U.S. estimates; a corresponding Canadian analysis is underway.)
Those figures raise two related questions: Is that the best currently designed flu vaccines can do, even when the strains in the vaccine are closely related to those making people sick? And does the concept of a good match carry as much weight as has been suggested?...