Comments on: Seasonal influenza vaccine

By: reverse phone lookup

reverse phone lookup — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 21:19:00 +0000

nice theme. but it takes a while to load

By: perry

perry — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 01:52:39 +0000

I saw in a tv show a young lady who get sick with a danger daises after 10 days from taking the seasonal flu vaccine and i want to take the vaccine but scared because i have asma and im 32 year old female?

By: perry

perry — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 17:52:39 +0000

By: profvrr

profvrr — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 19:10:45 +0000

IVR-148 is a descendant of last season's seasonal influenza virus; it
is significantly different from the 2009 H1N1 pandemic strain.
Immunizing with IVR-148 will not confer protection against the 2009
H1N1 strain. The IVR-148 H1 protein has been evolving in humans since
1918 (with a gap between 1957-1977), while the 2009 H1 protein has
been evolving in pigs from 1918 to 2009. There are two vaccines this
year: a trivalent seasonal vaccine (your Novartis example), and a
monovalent vaccine against the 2009 H1N1 pandemic strain.

By: pam goldman

pam goldman — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 00:53:52 +0000

Hi. Just discovered your site and have a question. The current Novartis vaccine for seasonal flu contains, according to the informational insert in the box containing the vial of vaccine, 15 micrograms of influenza virus hemagglutin (HA) from each of the following 3 viruses: A/Brisbane/59/2007, IVR-148 (H1N1); A/Uruguay/716/2007, NYMC X-175C (H3N2); and B/Brisbane/60/2008.

Is IVR-148 different from the current H1N1? If so, how?

Also, what will the viral makeup of the current H1N1 vaccine be--will it, like the seasonal flu vaccine, contain several strains or only the H1N1?

Thanks,
Pam

By: profvrr

profvrr — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 19:24:33 +0000

NA is not standardized in the inactivated vaccine because the glycoprotein is labile during purification and storage. However there is an immune response to NA (albeit weak) so some must be present. You can probably find some information on NA in the vaccine on PubMed but it will take a good amount of searching.

By: profvrr

profvrr — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 19:09:37 +0000

I have zero concerns that the seasonal influenza vaccine would increase the severity of 2009-H1N1. There is no precedent for such an observation and no biological basis for it. Nevertheless, I haven't seen the data referred to in the Canadian study. Since it has been leaked during peer review it's not likely to originate from some of the more respected scientific journals. When it emerges I'll write about it on virology blog.

By: profvrr

profvrr — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 19:06:48 +0000

The swine flu vaccine has not been rushed through safety testing. It has been given to thousands of volunteers before being licensed by the Food and Drug Administration. The technology used to produce the vaccine has been used to make influenza vaccines for 60 years and the safety record is excellent.

By: Technocrat

Technocrat — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 19:01:59 +0000

B/Florida/4/2006 replaced B/Malaysia 2506/2004 in 2008-09.

By: Technocrat

Technocrat — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 19:00:16 +0000

Sorry…wrong year. lol

By: Technocrat

Technocrat — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 18:58:09 +0000

What happen to B/Florida/4/2006?

According to the CDC - http://www.cdc.gov/flu/weekly/weeklyarchives200...

WHO and FDA have recommended that the 2008-09 trivalent influenza vaccine for the Northern Hemisphere contain A/Brisbane/59/2007-like (H1N1), A/Brisbane/10/2007-like (H3N2), and B/Florida/4/2006-like viruses.

By: albatross

albatross — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 12:57:45 +0000

A related question is whether the swine flu vaccine is being rushed through the safety testing. I've seen this issue raised a few places, but I don't know enough to evaluate whether it's a concern.

By: David

David — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 11:27:25 +0000

Vincent, any concerns that the seasonal shot you just got may actually increase your risk of being infected with 2009-H1N1? The Canadians think so and have even delayed their seasonal vaccination program based on this infamous yet-to-be-published study: http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2009/09/23/flu-s...

David

By: gsgs

gsgs — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 06:44:33 +0000

I had tried to figure out, how much NA is in the vax.
Emailed several producers, searched the web … invain.
Invain.
But I assume it is tiny, if any. It also degrades presumably.
This had come up wrt. H5N1-protection : there had been a report
by Webster et.al. that seasonal vax gave some protection against
H5N1 (because of the N1, they thought)

By: profvrr

profvrr — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 20:04:54 +0000

In answering your very interesting question, we'll just consider the
HA and NA genes, which are typically the only ones present in the
reassortants used to produce vaccine. The other RNAs are derived from
a virus that produces high yields in eggs. The seasonal H1N1 vaccine
that we have had since 1977 has HA and NA genes that originated in the
1918 pandemic strain which came from birds. The HA and NA of the H2N2
and H3N2 vaccines were also avian. The 1976 swine flu vaccine, and the
2009 H1N1 vaccine, are the only vaccines to have swine-origin HA and
NA genes. Indeed, the HA genes of the two vaccines are very similar -
in fact if you received the 1976 vaccine you likely are protected
against 2009 H1N1 influenza. Does this make the 2009 vaccine any
riskier? If risk is based on scientific evidence, the answer is no. I
know of no evidence that swine HA and/or NA genes predispose to
Guillain-Barré, and I can't think of a reasonable mechanism to explain
the association. I'm not worried.

By: Margaret

Margaret — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 19:44:19 +0000

I've already gotten my seasonal flu shot, and am ready and willing for the swine flu shot as soon as I can get my hands on it! I have a question for the expert.
Have there been any influenza vaccines in any year since they've been given, other than the 1976 swine flu vaccine of course, that contained any swine or avian flu parts? Since I understand this 2009 novel H1N1 is made up of a mix of elements of swine and avian influenza , and not just human influenza parts, I'd like to know, does this fact in itself make the vaccine any riskier than the usual seasonal flu vaccines? Does it make the effects less predictable?