Influenza News

On Wednesday, Feb. 21, the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices voted 12-2 in support of influenza vaccination using nasal spray for the 2018-2019 influenza season.

Next season’s influenza vaccine will likely include a different H3N2 component.

The nasal spray influenza vaccine will be available to patients in the United States again.

Influenza and acellular pertussis vaccinations during pregnancy were not associated with hospitalization or death of infants in the first 6 months of life, according to recently published study results in Pediatrics.

Four U.S. senators called for $1 billion in federal funding to develop a better influenza vaccine that would provide longer lasting and wider protection than current seasonal vaccines.

Early estimates published by the CDC today show that the influenza vaccine has been only 36% effective overall in the United States this season, and only 25% effective against the predominant circulating strain.

Additional steps are necessary to protect children with leukemia against influenza, as these patients were found to be just as likely as unvaccinated children to develop the virus.

Influenza and pneumonia killed around 10% of the people who died in the United States during the most recent week with available data — one of several grim statistics underscoring what health officials say is an historically bad influenza season.

The 2017-2018 influenza season continues to take an unusually strong toll, with CDC attributing 53 pediatric deaths to influenza.

An age cohort’s first influenza A(H1N1) exposure may have greatly dulled the effectiveness of a recent vaccine, according to researchers.