Sunday, February 17, 2008

Flu season expected to get worse



Vaccine doesn't match most circulation viruses, health officials say.


The flu season is getting worse, and U.S. health officials say it's partly because the flu vaccine doesn't protect against most of the spreading flu bugs.

The flu shot is a good match for only about 40 percent of this year's flu viruses, officials at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday.

That's worse than last week's report when the CDC said the vaccine was protective against roughly half the circulating strains. In good years, the vaccine can fend off 70 to 90 percent...

...H3N2 strains are treatable by Tamiflu and other antiviral drugs, but the other, H1N1 Type A strains are more resistant. Of all flu samples tested this year, 4.6 percent have been resistant to antiviral medications. That's up from less than 1 percent last year...

Read full article - MSNBC: Flu shot doesn't protect from most viruses (with video)

Related Post - 10 Tips On How To Prevent The Flu

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