Leaders at AstraZeneca recently gave an update on the group's FluMist Quadrivalent Vaccine for the 2016-17 influenza season in the U.S., stating that regulatory boards have given interim recommendation for FluMist use.
Officials of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), under the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), stated that FluMist Quadrivalent Live Attenuated Influenza Vaccine can be used in the U.S. during the 2016-17 influenza season.
The recommendations specify that the vaccine is not appropriate for every setting. This is founded on the CDC’s effectiveness data concerning vaccines during the past three influenza seasons. At that time, FluMist did not show that it had notable efficiency for children between two and 17 years old.
CDC data were taken from the 2015-16 influenza season, but studies from AstraZeneca show that the vaccine is effective. Other nations have also conducted preliminary independent studies with public health authorities, and they have found that FluMist is 46 to 58 percent effective in fighting the circulating influenza strains in the 2015-16 season.
Unfortunately, the effectiveness of the influenza vaccine can vary between seasons because the influenza virus is different each season. This is why the vaccine must go through annual observational studies to determine its effectiveness.
