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Originally posted by METACOMET
Making money with influenza 101:
Ok, now here is the biggie: The first batch of vaccine to be released to the population is the nasal-spray kind. The obvious reasoning behind this is that these vaccine all contain LIVE VIRUS. Now you can release your more virulent strain on the population through viral shedding of those who received the vaccine. This virus will be more potent and more deadly. Perhaps it is the lung attacking strain.
These "shedding" individuals are the key to selling billions of vaccines. They spread the deadly virus.
"There's a potential for you to sneeze some of that little bit of live attenuated virus back out. The question if that would really cause disease in people is theoretical, and it could particularly in people with lowered immune systems." Grossman adds that the chance of spreading H1N1 from the spray is very low. He said the benefit it provides -- immunity to H1N1 -- far outweighs the worries.
Can people receiving the nasal-spray flu vaccine LAIV (FluMist®) pass the vaccine viruses to others?
In clinical studies, transmission of vaccine viruses to close contacts has occurred only rarely. The current estimated risk of getting infected with vaccine virus after close contact with a person vaccinated with the nasal-spray flu vaccine is low (0.6%-2.4%).
Is shedding the virus a problem for health care workers?
By law the FluMist package insert must state that a person can shed the virus for up to three weeks, but shedding alone should not be equated with person-to-person transmission. In fact studies have found that it is very rare. In a study designed to maximize the chance of detecting vaccine virus transmission, conducted in a Finnish daycare, one child shed the virus for 21 days. Other children in this study shed the virus a mean of 7.6 days. An additional small study of 40 adults conducted since licensure found that only 50% of the adults were shedding the virus from the influenza vaccine on day three after vaccination; one adult shed the virus on day seven as well.