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NBC News: Why next year's flu vaccine will be lousy, too
Maybe Trump can get off his ass and do something about this, than taking positions with the NRA that kill people!
https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/why-next-year-s-flu-vaccine-will-be-lousy-too-n850641
Work started this week on next season’s flu vaccine, with experts working off forecasts about which strains of the influenza virus will be making the rounds.
But flu experts are already admitting that most vaccines will give at best mediocre protection, because they’re based on outdated technology.
It’s not a new problem, but one that the slow-moving world of drug and vaccine production seems helpless to improve upon.
“You can’t change on the drop of a dime,” said Scott Hensley of the University of Pennsylvania, an influenza virus expert.
The process of making flu vaccines starts months before the actual flu season gets under way because it takes a long time to make them using the current technology.
A yearly cocktail
Every flu vaccine is a cocktail, aimed at either three or four of the most common flu strains. Flu vaccines must be reformulated every year, because flu viruses mutate constantly in a process called antigenic drift.
In recent years, flu vaccines have been based on H1N1, H3N2 and either one or two strains of influenza B virus. Each of these has a “reference” strain that has particular mutations to match the current drift.
Using eggs is a tricky and unpredictable process. Sometimes the virus doesn’t grow well in eggs, which can mean less vaccine than anticipated. And Hensley’s lab identified several mutations that occur when flu viruses are grown in eggs as part of the vaccine-making process.
In fact, the viruses must mutate to grow in eggs, Hensley said. In some cases, the mutations make little difference in the vaccine-making process.
But in recent years, the H3N2 strains have mutated in a way that makes them harder for the human immune system to see. “The egg-adapted strains all have the mutation,” Hensley said.
The result is a flu vaccine that doesn’t offer much protection. In part because of the egg mutations, this year’s flu vaccine only has provided about 36 percent protection, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates. And the vaccine was overall only 25 percent protective against H3N2, meaning it lowered the risk of developing illness serious enough to go see a doctor by 25 percent.
“As long as we have eggs we are going to have this problem,” Hensley said — and other flu vaccine experts agree.
“The only solution is not to depend on eggs,” Hensley said.
But flu experts are already admitting that most vaccines will give at best mediocre protection, because they’re based on outdated technology.
It’s not a new problem, but one that the slow-moving world of drug and vaccine production seems helpless to improve upon.
“You can’t change on the drop of a dime,” said Scott Hensley of the University of Pennsylvania, an influenza virus expert.
The process of making flu vaccines starts months before the actual flu season gets under way because it takes a long time to make them using the current technology.
A yearly cocktail
Every flu vaccine is a cocktail, aimed at either three or four of the most common flu strains. Flu vaccines must be reformulated every year, because flu viruses mutate constantly in a process called antigenic drift.
In recent years, flu vaccines have been based on H1N1, H3N2 and either one or two strains of influenza B virus. Each of these has a “reference” strain that has particular mutations to match the current drift.
Using eggs is a tricky and unpredictable process. Sometimes the virus doesn’t grow well in eggs, which can mean less vaccine than anticipated. And Hensley’s lab identified several mutations that occur when flu viruses are grown in eggs as part of the vaccine-making process.
In fact, the viruses must mutate to grow in eggs, Hensley said. In some cases, the mutations make little difference in the vaccine-making process.
But in recent years, the H3N2 strains have mutated in a way that makes them harder for the human immune system to see. “The egg-adapted strains all have the mutation,” Hensley said.
The result is a flu vaccine that doesn’t offer much protection. In part because of the egg mutations, this year’s flu vaccine only has provided about 36 percent protection, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates. And the vaccine was overall only 25 percent protective against H3N2, meaning it lowered the risk of developing illness serious enough to go see a doctor by 25 percent.
“As long as we have eggs we are going to have this problem,” Hensley said — and other flu vaccine experts agree.
“The only solution is not to depend on eggs,” Hensley said.
11 replies
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= new reply since forum marked as read
Yep, I'm thinking private funding is the only way to get things done anymore. Our government can't do shit. 
