FDA Approves Personalized Flu Vaccines

First Posted: Dec 05, 2013 10:17 AM EST
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The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved three new personalized flu vaccines designed for children and elderly people.

Everybody above six months of age is advised to take the vaccine doses, but the advice is not taken seriously by a majority of people. The previous year only about 45 percent of U.S. citizens took the vaccine before the flu season, according to media sources. This resulted in hospitalization of a number of people, mainly those above 65.

Flu is a communicable viral disease, it is also known as influenza which infects our nose, throat, and lungs. Headache, fever, fatigue, sore throat, cough, nasal congestion and body aches are the basic symptoms of the disease. The vaccine for this respiratory disease is usually given every year around October, but the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) advises that the flu shots period be extended till the month of January, as the risk is high till this period.

It was observed that 90 percent of the deaths because of flu occur in people aged 65 and above.  Pregnant women, infants aged below 2, and Alaskans are said to be very prone to the severe complications of the disease. Keeping their susceptibility to the disease in mind, different versions of the vaccines have been produced.

The new personalized vaccines launched for this flu season comprise of Flumist from AstraZeneca, which is a nasal spray, not an injection, Medical Daily reported. This medicine is recommended for children and adults till the age of 49; the other vaccine is called Fluzone, which is manufactured by Sanofi.

Two new version of the vaccine are named Fluzone Intradermal, which is for people aged between 18 and 64. The other version called Fluzone High-Dose is specifically made for people above the age of 65

Another medicine called FluBlok is made for people with allergies and for the age group of 18 to 49. It is an eggless vaccine, which does not contain live influenza virus, antibiotics, latex or thimerosal.

Each of the vaccines is produced keeping the age and susceptibility in mind, the CDC advises people to take the vaccine recommended for their age group.

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