The latest bird flu vaccine works, but there is a problem.
Dr. John Treanor at the University of Rochester Medical Center was the lead investigator in the largest bird flu vaccine study so far. More than 450 healthy adults ages 18 to 64 received two shots in the arm, one month apart.
Of those who received the largest dose — a dose six times the amount of the regular flu shot — more than half were adequately protected against the bird flu virus.
Treanor said, that it is going to be a challenge to make enough of the vaccine to supply the entire U.S. and the world. The bird flu vaccine comes from chicken eggs, just like regular flu shots. And it’s tough to get enough of those shots made each year. Treanor said they’re now on to the next generation of vaccines.
The focus is now on stretching the vaccine by adding stimulants, getting a booster shot, or giving the vaccine directly into the skin rather than the muscle.
The study appears in the latest New England Journal of Medicine.
link [news10now.com/content/health/healthy_living/?ArID=63571]
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