Hello all. I'm currently enrolled at a university and I'm going to become a Medical Labatory Scientist, and I will like to provide you guys with some
information about flu shots and how the flu virus works Etc. I've been on here before and there is alot of misinformation going around and its making
people not get flu shots. Remember its everyone's personal choice to get a vaccine or not and hopfully you can take some of my information in for
consideration.
First thing I'm going to add is that H1N1 subtype has been in a flu shot since 1978 it was called A/New Jersey/1976/H1N1 the flu shot also contains a
H3N2 virus and a B virus every year, even this year its been the same flu shot. But they are the same subtype not the same strain. So this years H1N1
virus is A/California/7/2009 (H1N1) Its still H1N1 but a different strain. So every year the main ingredients for a vaccine stay the same but the
virus they put into it changes.
So this years strains goes as follows
•an A/California/7/2009 (H1N1)–like virus;
•an A/Perth/16/2009 (H3N2)–like virus;
•and a B/Brisbane/60/2008–like virus.
So last year for the 2009 season they had to make two vaccines for the flu and this is why.
The influenza (flu) viruses selected for inclusion in the seasonal flu vaccines are updated each year based information about which influenza virus
strains are identified, how they are spreading, and how well current vaccine strains protect against newly identified strains. Currently, 130 national
influenza centers in 101 countries conduct year-round surveillance for influenza and study influenza disease trends. These laboratories then send
influenza viruses to the four World Health Organization (WHO) Collaborating Centers for Reference and Research on Influenza located in Atlanta,
Georgia, USA (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, CDC); London, United Kingdom (National Institute for Medical Research); Melbourne, Australia
(Victoria Infectious Diseases Reference Laboratory); Tokyo, Japan (National Institute for Infectious Diseases) for additional analyses. The seasonal
flu vaccine is a trivalent vaccine (a three component vaccine) with each component selected to protect against one of the three main groups of
influenza viruses circulating in humans.
so what does this mean and why was there still two vaccines last year?
Well this was two last year because the three viruses they were going to put into the seasonal vaccine where already choosen for the year. H1N1 or
"swine flu" didn't come out intill Apirl 2009 and they couldn't put it into the seasonal "it takes time to be approved etc" so thats why there was
two. They didn't rush to make a second vaccine because the ingredients stay the same the only thing they had to do was put the virus into the vaccine.
If H1N1 "Swine Flu" came out earlier in the year, no would have ever heard of "Swine Flu" and everything would have been like normal. The media took
everything out of context and made people scared of a flu shot or any vaccine for that matter. If you really want to know how vaccine works read the
Pink Book from CDC it will tell you the history and the vaccine and how many lives they have protected.
But I get sick anyways why would I get a flu shot?
The three vaccine viruses are chosen to maximize the likelihood that the main circulating viruses during the upcoming flu season will be well covered
by the vaccine. WHO recommends specific vaccine viruses for vaccine production, but then each individual country makes their own decision for
licensing of vaccines in their country. In the United States, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) determines what viruses will be used in
U.S.–licensed vaccines.
Here is WHO's report
www.who.int...
So the flu shot is trying to protect you from the main circulating viruses for that year. There are thousands of flu viruses and you can still get
sick.
So if I can still get sick why get a flu shot?
Well flu virus can be different but the same. So if you have antibodies to H1N1 virus and another H1N1 virus comes along it will minimize the effect
the virus will have on you and make your symptoms more mild, then they were going to be.
But can you get flu from the flu shot itself?
No you can't the virus is dead and can't cause infection.
www.cdc.gov...
So its not government sheme or plot to make you buy more vaccines, flu kills people, alot of people and it can help you.
thanks for reading and good luck
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