"Doctors said that the surge in flu cases is largely related to a new mutation of the influenza A virus called "subclade K" - a strain that is not well covered by this year's flu vaccine. Each year, scientists have to try and predict in the spring what strains to include in the coming season's flu vaccine. Sometimes they make a good match, but other times, like this year, the virus develops an unexpected mutation that helps it elude the vaccine's protection."
"Although this year's flu vaccine doesn't protect as well against the dominant subclade K strain, doctors still say that getting vaccinated is worthwhile. It can prevent severe disease and death and protects against other strains of the flu that are circulating."
"The vaccine formula has to be decided far ahead of the fall flu season so there is time for manufacturing and distribution. "We do all that we can to predict which strains will predominate, but occasionally, strains emerge that are more divergent from what we predicted," said Dr."
U.S. influenza cases surged over the holidays, with weekly hospitalizations rising from under 7,000 in early December to over 33,000 by the last week of the year. The CDC estimates more than 11 million infections and over 5,000 deaths so far this season. The dominant driver is an influenza A mutation labeled subclade K that is poorly matched by this season's vaccine because strain selection occurs months earlier and mutations can emerge afterward. Vaccination still reduces the risk of severe disease and death and provides protection against other circulating strains despite lower effectiveness versus subclade K.
Read at Poynter
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]