CDC: As Viruses Mutate, Flu Vaccine Becomes Inefficient
By Dee Chisamera
10:27, February 16th 2008
88 votes
Vote this story
CDC: As Viruses Mutate, Flu Vaccine Becomes Inefficient

The World Health Organizations issued a warning about the necessity of adapting next year’s vaccines to the new strains of viruses. U.S. officials, together with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, also warned about the virus mutations that turn the current vaccines into inefficient methods to stop the infections.   

In the United States alone, the flu has spread in almost every state: “This week 44 states are reporting widespread influenza activity. This is up from 31 states reporting widespread activity last week. Five states are reporting regional activity, making 49 states overall in one of our top two categories of activity,” Dr. Joe Bresee, chief of the branch of epidemiology and prevention at CDC said.

What health officials are most concerned about is that this year’s flu vaccine is no longer able to cover all the strains of the viruses that have been circulating throughout the United States, and some of the strains have become immune to antiviral medication: “two of the three common circulating types or subtypes [of viruses] are not as well-covered by the vaccine as an ideal match this year,” Dr. Bresee added.

For the time being, the flu activity at the beginning of the year is not exactly an alarming one, but at the same time, the problem is that February is the time when flu tends to reach its highest peak, and so far, 10 pediatric deaths have been registered, CDC reports have shown.

Every winter, health specialists work on developing an appropriate vaccine for the season to come, by choosing three strains of viruses, two from the Type A family and one Type B. Usually the assumptions for the next flu season prove to be accurate, but this time, the Type B in the vaccine and the Type B virus were no match, and it was the same problem with one of the Type A components.

Unfortunately, the death occurrence rate in the past years has significantly increased, and specialists need to come up with adequate and updated vaccines every time, so as to prevent such occurrences. The virus is constantly mutating and increasing its resistance to the vaccines, CDC officials warned.



© 2007 - 2008 - eFluxMedia
Tags: flu, vaccine
dotclear

Other News in

Mexico Strongly Denies Any Involvement In The Salmonella Outbreak

Mexico Strongly Denies Any Involvement In The Salmonella Outbreak

The pressure of finding an explanation for the salmonella outbreak has pushed the government to boost its efforts for finding the disease’s source. A few days ago several reports presented the...

Genentech’s Cancer Drug Avastin Questioned over Its Price

Genentech’s Cancer Drug Avastin Questioned over Its Price

Genentech’s cancer drug Avastin is now facing a halt in approval for expanded use because of its price tag, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said. Avastin or bevacizumab is a...

The American Academy of Pediatrics Recommends Cholesterol Drugs for Kids

The American Academy of Pediatrics Recommends Cholesterol Drugs for Kids

The American Academy of Pediatrics is seeking to change some of its recommendations regarding children who have too much so-called “bad” cholesterol. According to the new recommendations,...

Men Over 40 Could Face Fertility Problems As Well

Men Over 40 Could Face Fertility Problems As Well

If you and your spouse wish to have babies, you’d better not delay the time of conceiving too much, at least that is what a team of French researchers suggests. To be more specific, they...

9/11 Health Official Dismissed, Bush Administration Looks for Replacement

As the term of National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health’s director, Dr. John Howard, heads towards  an ending, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is thinking to replace...

dotclear
Latest videos in Health
Hospital death controversy
Zac Web Browser Aims to Focus...

dotclear
Health You are here: Health
» Science   » Health   
E-mail To A Friend Print RSS Text size: Decrease font size Increase font size
dotclear
dotclear
dotclear
Most Popular in Health
Resveratrol In Red Wine May Be The Secret To Ward Off Damage Of AgingResveratrol In Red Wine May Be The Secret To Ward Off Damage Of Aging

» read full story
dotclear

Interested In This Topic?

News Alert will keep you informed. Find out more.
dotclear
Photos Gallery
dotclear
Today's Latest News
Officials Are Looking Closer to the Yahoo-Google DealOfficials Are Looking Closer to the Yahoo-Google Deal

» read full story
dotclear