A CDC advisory committee voted down the use of nasal spray flu vaccines – sometimes known as “flu mist” – for the 2016-2017 flu season.
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The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, changed its recommendations Wednesday on flu vaccines after the nasal flu vaccine was deemed relatively ineffective at preventing the virus over the past three flu seasons. “AstraZeneca is working with the CDC to better understand its data to help ensure eligible patients continue to receive the vaccine in future seasons in the US”, it said.
NEW YORK (AP) – The nasal spray version of the annual flu vaccine failed to protect kids again past year, the latest in a string of failures that has prompted an expert panel to recommend that doctors stop giving it to patients.
Health officials said FluMist didn’t work at all against the flu strain that made most people sick a year ago, while the traditional flu shot worked reasonably well.
The CDC said flu vaccine effectiveness can range widely from season to season, but it always recommends getting a yearly flu vaccine to reduce the chance of contracting the disease.
The American Academy of Pediatrics backed the CDC’s recommendation, while acknowledging that many parents and medical providers preferred to give children the nasal spray over a shot.
“The distribution and use of the vaccine in other countries are progressing as planned for the forthcoming influenza season, pending the annual release process from relevant regulatory authorities”, the board explained. The data indicated that the vaccine did not show statistically significant effectiveness in children (2-17 years). Dr. Dreyer stressed the need for continued immunization against influenza every year.
Medimmune had been expecting to provide 14 million doses of the vaccine this fall – about 8 percent of the nation’s flu vaccine supply.
Bresee added it remains unclear why the nasal spray didn’t work.
“It would really disrupt the vaccine supply”, said Dr. William Schaffner, a Vanderbilt University vaccine expert.
In fact, in 2014, the ACIP recommended FluMIst over needle-based flu vaccines for children, the AP noted.
But there’s no evidence of a jump in flu deaths among kids who were thought to have been protected by FluMist, Bresee said.
Each February, an FDA committee makes the final decision about which virus strains will go into vaccines sold in America for the coming season.
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The flu vaccines on the market deliver a cocktail to protect against three or four strains of flu.
