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US health officials are trying to increase the rate of flu shots this year after a severe outbreak last season that killed a record number of children and helped identify shortages of antiviral drugs like Tamiflu.
In a panel organized by the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Washington on Thursday, general surgeon Jerome Adams took a nasal vaccine – an effort to make flu prevention "viral" . The light outbreak was accompanied by alarming statistics from the 2017-18 influenza season: 80,000 deaths in total, including 180 children.
"I'm tired of hearing people say," I have not been sick and I have not received the flu shot. "Or," I do not like it, my arm hurts me, "Adams said." These 80,000 people died of the flu last year, guess what? They caught someone's flu. It is therefore extremely important that we make people understand that this is not right for them. It's their social responsibility to get vaccinated. "
The vaccine should be more accurate this season and influenza activity in the southern hemisphere has not been remarkable so far – a good sign for the United States and Canada. But health officials at the briefing said that it was too early to make a prediction.
"I would get the vaccine now and you do not have to worry about whether it's a mild or severe season," said William Schaffner, medical director of NFID.
The United States has been facing the most serious seasonal influenza epidemic in all age groups since at least 2003 last season, according to CDC data. This led to 900,000 confirmed hospitalizations. So many people have caught the flu that some US hospitals and pharmacies have missed antiviral drugs, Alabama said the state of emergency and an Arkansas school district has shut down its 10 schools.
"This really brought to light our vulnerability," said Amesh Adalja, a researcher at the John Hopkins University Health Security Center. "It looks like we're in a better position this year, but it's the flu and it can do a lot of tricky things, so we will not know it until the start of the season."
Each year, vaccines are produced according to the CDC's predictions for the types of viruses most likely to circulate during the influenza season. These predictions may be false, of course, but even if they are correct, the vaccines may not match the circulating viruses. Last winter, the US vaccine was only effective at 25% against the unexpected emergence of the H3N2 strain, or 36% of overall efficacy, according to the CDC.
About 40% of US residents received a seasonal flu vaccination last year. About 80% of the children killed had not received a shot. Vaccines significantly reduce the risk of getting the flu and passing it on to the most vulnerable people, such as the elderly. Even if someone catches the flu after receiving the vaccine, the symptoms may be less severe.
Yet the science of vaccines is imperfect. Drug manufacturers continue to grow vaccines in chicken eggs – a technique developed in the 1940s. Eggs do not support all types of viruses and allow mutations in those that they do. The process takes at least six months, allowing time for circulating viruses to change and adapt.
Medicago Inc., a biotechnology company, has the first seasonal herbal vaccine for advanced clinical trials. His vaccine, created with genetic sequencing and grown with tobacco, can be upgraded to immunize against almost any virus as long as his DNA can be obtained. The whole process takes about six weeks.
"Human viruses have never been designed to grow in eggs," said Bruce Clark, chief executive officer of Medicago, based in Durham, North Carolina. "The core technology of vaccine culture in eggs has always been a solution because we had no other options."
The inadequacies of the 2017-2018 season can be attributed to egg-related complications, said Nathalie Landry, senior vice-president of research and development at Medicago. Some types of H3N2 can not be grown in eggs without mutations making vaccines less effective.
Vaccines similar to yeast are available in the market for human papillomavirus or HPV and hepatitis B. Sanofi, the French pharmaceutical giant, manufactures a seasonal flu shot with DNA technology recombinant and proteins.
Clark said that more effective vaccines could increase vaccination rates.
"People do not really understand the need for collective immunity – we are protecting those who are most vulnerable," Clark said. "Low rates of effectiveness are not helpful."
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