2008–2009 Flu
Vaccine Targets Three New Strains
[Posted 02/27/2008]
FDA’s Vaccines and Related
Biological Products Advisory Committee (VRBPAC) met
in Gaithersburg, Maryland, on February 21, 2008, to
select the influenza virus strains for the
composition of the influenza vaccine for use in the
2008-2009 US influenza season. The flu vaccine must
be reformulated every year to keep up with the
fast-evolving influenza virus.
This
year the government made a rare miscalculation
regarding which strains would cause the most
disease. After a slow start, the flu season
rocketed in mid-January as some new strains
arrived. The CDC has determined that the current
vaccine is a good match for only about 40% of the
virus now spreading in the US. In good years, the
vaccine can fend off 70-90% of flu bugs.
Each
year’s vaccine contains protection against two
varieties of the harsher Type A flu — subtypes
known as H1N1 and H3N2 — and one from the more
benign Type B family, according to Associated
Press. Seldom are more than one or two strains
swapped out from one year to the next. But in a
highly unusual move, next year’s flu vaccines will
consist of a completely revamped recipe due to
three new influenza strains.
The
panel recommended that vaccines to be used in the
2008-2009 influenza season in the US contain the
following:
-
an
A/Brisbane/59/2007 (H1N1)-like virus;
-
an
A/Brisbane/10/2007 (H3N2)-like virus; and
-
a
B/Florida/4/2006-like virus.
CDC and
international authorities expect Brisbane/10, a
current southern hemisphere vaccine virus, to still
be present next year. They predict a second new
Type A strain, known as H1N1/Brisbane/59, to also
hit, along with a newer Type B/Florida strain,
prompting Thursday’s decision to put all three in
next year’s vaccine.
Advisers
to the Food and Drug Administration unanimously
backed the new recipe, echoing an earlier decision
by the World Health Organization. Now the question
is whether vaccine manufacturers can make such a
big change in time to produce more than 100 million
doses by the fall.
“It’s
going to be a really busy spring and summer, and of
course we're always looking for fallback positions
just in case things don’t work out well,”
said Dr. Nancy Cox, flu director at the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention. "There’s a lot of
work that will be going on...to try and make sure
that everything comes together in such a way that
there will be plenty of vaccine.”
Related Links:
RedOrbit Article
FDA Article
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