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Colds and flu Archive

Vaccines and immunizations

Flu vaccination: Win some, lose some

Updated August 6, 2015

If you got the flu shot last year and it didn't work, don't reject vaccination.

During last year's battle of The People vs. Influenza, the virus gained the upper hand. Early in the 2014–15 flu season, a new strain of the virus emerged against which the existing vaccine offered virtually no protection. Hospitalizations for flu in older adults spiked to the highest level in a decade.

Howard E. LeWine, MD

This year’s flu vaccine “disappointing” against main flu virus

Published February 27, 2015

Some years the flu vaccine works quite well. Other years it doesn’t. It has done a particularly poor job this year against the main flu virus. The CDC reported yesterday that this year’s flu vaccine has been just 18% effective. The estimate for children is even lower. And it looks like the nasal spray vaccine may not have worked at all among children. One reason for this year’s mismatch between virus and vaccine is that experts must decide months in advance which of the hundreds of flu viruses to include in the vaccine. What became the dominant flu virus this year, a new strain of H3N2 influenza A, wasn’t around last year when experts were determining this year’s vaccine.

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