And even then, human flu vaccines aren't very effective... in fact the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) tracks
flu vaccine effectiveness each year and it's usually around 50 % to 60 %.
Differences in individuals» immune responses linked to
flu vaccine effectiveness, the importance of resting phases in B cell development and research into whether pathogens cause type 1 diabetes.
«PittVax will continue collecting, analyzing and reporting on flu cases and
flu vaccine effectiveness in the Pittsburgh region, helping guide flu immunization recommendations,» said senior author Richard K. Zimmerman, M.D., M.P.H., professor in Pitt School of Medicine's Department of Family Medicine and Pitt Graduate School of Public Health's Department of Behavioral and Community Health Sciences.
Flu vaccine effectiveness can vary widely from year to year since scientists essentially have to try and predict which strains will be most prevalent, but is generally found to reduce flu illness risk by 40 % to 60 %.
Not exact matches
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates the
effectiveness of this year's
flu vaccine to be only 23 percent.
Based on preliminary
effectiveness estimates, the CDC estimates that the
flu vaccine is approximately 25 % effective against the H3N2 strain https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/67/wr/mm6706a2.htm.
The
flu vaccine is showing higher
effectiveness for H1N1 and influenza B strains (67 and 42 % respectively for all age groups).
The Rice method, known as pEpitope (pronounced PEE - epih - tope), was invented more than 10 years ago as a fast, inexpensive way of gauging the
effectiveness of proposed
flu vaccine formulations.
The
vaccine's
effectiveness suggests there must be pre-existing cell - mediated immunity, possibly because of similarities between the surface proteins on swine
flu and the seasonal H1N1
flu that emerged in 1977.
The company plans in October to conduct a separate test specifically to study the seasonal
flu vaccine's
effectiveness among 480 elderly participants (a demographic often encouraged to get seasonal
flu shots), and Phase III efficacy trials across a larger set of demographics are scheduled to begin early next year.
Findings from this study of
flu vaccines delivered by a small needle intradermally parallel earlier results that found adding a strain of influenza B could improve the
effectiveness of a
flu vaccine nasal spray and a traditional intramuscular
vaccine that is injected as a shot in the arm muscle.
«This is the first study to show that current strategies to bolster the
effectiveness of
flu vaccines protected lean mice from serious illness but fell short of protecting obese mice from infections,» said corresponding author Stacey Schultz - Cherry, Ph.D., a member of the St. Jude Department of Infectious Diseases.
Recent federal recommendations against offering the inhaled nasal influenza
vaccine due to lack of
effectiveness could lead to more
flu illness in the U.S. if the inhaled
vaccine becomes effective again or if not having the choice of the needle-less
vaccine substantially reduces immunization rates, according to a new analysis led by University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine scientists.
Vaccines are used to offer protection against a number of diseases and so ensuring their effectiveness is important, and a study published in the journal Vaccine has reported that flu vaccines given in the morning brought about a greater immune (measured by antibody levels) response than those given in the af
Vaccines are used to offer protection against a number of diseases and so ensuring their
effectiveness is important, and a study published in the journal
Vaccine has reported that
flu vaccines given in the morning brought about a greater immune (measured by antibody levels) response than those given in the af
vaccines given in the morning brought about a greater immune (measured by antibody levels) response than those given in the afternoon.
Another important point to consider when weighing the risks and benefits of the
flu vaccine (s) is their
effectiveness.
There is some preliminary evidence that the
effectiveness of the
flu vaccine may wane over the course of a
flu season, Dr. Barnett adds, but «at this time, this information does not represent a rigorous study of the phenomenon,» she says, and the research certainly isn't strong enough to warrant getting another shot.
So, basically, you know, the
flu vaccine is in the same realm of
effectiveness as a placebo.
Furthermore, the B.C. government is temporarily no longer forcing thousands of provincial health workers to get a
flu shot before they can work with patients due to the conflicting evidence about the
effectiveness of the
vaccine.
But it's not very reassuring, especially given what we know about vaccination risks and side effects and the very low
effectiveness of
flu vaccines.
You could also talk to your vet about a dog
flu vaccine, although there is some question about its
effectiveness as the
vaccine for H3N8 may not offer protection from H3N2 and vice versa.
Currently, a canine
flu vaccine does exist for dogs, but it's
effectiveness against the H3N2 virus is not yet proven.
They noted in 2011 how grossly overstated
effectiveness of
Flu vaccines were stated.
Early indications are showing the
effectiveness of this year's
flu vaccine may be lower.