Who Is Laiv Available For In Europe
LAIV are only approved for protecting people between the ages of 2 and 17 years who do not have underlying medical conditions . The vaccine should not be given to pregnant women .
Children aged between two and eight years who have not previously had an influenza vaccine, it is recommended to give two doses, at least four weeks apart .
Weve met the different types of flu vaccine available in europe, and seen which age groups each is available for. Flu vaccines are safe and well-tolerated, but the flu can be severe. Have you had your flu vaccination?
References
Iv5 Additional Vaccine Safety Considerations
Influenza vaccine is safe and well tolerated. Contraindications, precautions, and common AEs are described in Section II. Additional information regarding egg-allergic individuals and GBS is provided below.
Egg-allergic individuals
After careful review of clinical and post-licensure safety data, NACI has concluded that egg-allergic individuals may be vaccinated against influenza using any influenza vaccine, including egg-based vaccines and LAIV, without prior influenza vaccine skin test and with the full dose, irrespective of a past severe reaction to egg and without any particular consideration, including vaccination setting. The amount of trace ovalbumin allowed in influenza vaccines that are authorized for use in Canada is associated with a low risk of AE. The observation period post-vaccination is as recommended in Vaccine Safety in Part 2 of the CIG. As with all vaccine administration, vaccine providers should be prepared with the necessary equipment, knowledge, and skills to respond to a vaccine emergency at all times.
Refer to the Statement on Seasonal Influenza Vaccine for 20182019 for safety data supporting this recommendation for IIV and LAIV.
Guillain-Barré syndrome
V Choice Of Seasonal Influenza Vaccine: Additional Information
With the recent availability of a number of new influenza vaccines, some of which are designed to enhance immunogenicity in specific age groups, the choice of product is now more complex. Section II.5 summarizes NACIs recommendations on the choice of currently authorized influenza vaccines. This section provides more details for these recommendations.
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How Long Is It Effective For
Generally speaking, a flu vaccine should protect you through the current flu season. Youll need to receive another flu vaccine for the next flu season. There are several reasons why a flu vaccine is only effective for one flu season.
First, influenza viruses change constantly. Because of this, the strains included in this years flu vaccine may not be the most common strains during next years flu season.
Second, the level of protection generated by the flu vaccine wanes over time.
For example, a found that, across seven flu seasons, every additional 28 days after vaccination was associated with a 16 percent increase in the likelihood of testing positive for flu.
Allergic Reactions To The Flu Vaccine
It’s very rare for anyone to have a serious allergic reaction to the flu vaccine. If this does happen, it usually happens within minutes.
The person who vaccinates you will be trained to deal with allergic reactions and treat them immediately.
Anyone can report a suspected side effect of a vaccine through the Yellow Card Scheme.
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What Kinds Of Flu Vaccines Are Available
CDC recommends use of any licensed, age-appropriate influenza vaccine during the 2021-2022 influenza season. Available influenza vaccines include quadrivalent inactivated influenza vaccine , recombinant influenza vaccine , or live attenuated influenza vaccine . No preference is expressed for any influenza vaccine over another.
Quadrivalent flu vaccines include:
Are any of the available flu vaccines recommended over others?
Yes, for some people. For the 2022-2023 flu season, there are three flu vaccines that are preferentially recommended for people 65 years and older. These are Fluzone High-DoseQuadrivalent vaccine, Flublok Quadrivalent recombinantflu vaccine or Fluad Quadrivalent adjuvanted flu vaccine. On June 22, 2022, CDCs Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices voted unanimously to preferentially recommend these vaccines overstandard-dose unadjuvanted flu vaccines. This recommendation was based on a review of available studies which suggests that, in this age group, these vaccines are potentially more effective than standard dose unadjuvanted flu vaccines. There is no preferential recommendation for people younger than 65 years.
What if a preferentially recommended flu vaccine is not available?
If one of the three preferentially recommended flu vaccines for people 65 and older is not available at the time of administration, people in this age group should get an age-appropriate standard-dose flu vaccine instead.
Who Should Vaccinate?
Where To Get A Flu Shot
Still, vaccine producers adjust the formula from year to year because the flu virus is always changing.
Basically, the virus is trying to change a little bit so it can continue to live, says Ann Philbrick, PharmD, an associate professor in the College of Pharmacy at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis. Thats why we have to change the composition of the vaccine every year.
To make sure each years formulation is as on target as possible, health centers around the world receive and test thousands of influenza virus samples from patients throughout the year, notes the CDC. Based on studies of these samples, researchers create what they hope will be the most effective inoculation for the season.
Flu vaccines, however, vary from year to year and they may not be as effective some years as in others, says Dean Winslow, MD, an infectious disease specialist and professor of medicine at Stanford University Medical Center in Palo Alto, California.
In general, the CDC says the flu vaccination reduces the risk of illness by between 40 and 60 percent. With the flu season just starting, the effectiveness of this years vaccine is still uncertain. But even if you get vaccinated and still get sick, the shot is worth getting symptoms can be far less severe for those who are immunized.
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Reasons To Consider Getting A Flu Vaccine
The flu vaccine significantly reduces the risk of contracting the flu. Consider the 20192020 season: People who had the vaccine were 39% less likely to get the flu than those who did not.
In addition to preventing illness, the flu vaccine also reduces the risk of hospitalization and death. Heres what researchers have found about the flu vaccine:
- Getting the vaccine reduces the risk of intensive-care unit hospitalization by 26% and the risk of death by 31%, according to a 2021 study.
- Among adults who are hospitalized for the flu, people who are vaccinated are 59% less likely to need intensive care unit care, according to a 2018 study.
- People with heart disease who get the vaccine are less likely to experience cardiac events.
- People with diabetes and chronic lung disease who get the vaccine are less likely to be hospitalized for those conditions.
- Pregnant people who get the vaccine are 40% less likely to be hospitalized for flu than pregnant people who did not get the vaccine.
In addition to protecting you, getting the flu vaccine can keep you from contracting the flu and passing it to others, including infants and the elderly, who are at higher risks for complications.
Pregnant people who get the vaccine help protect their baby from the flu , which can be valuable during the first six months of life when a child is not able to be vaccinated.
Iv4 Simultaneous Administration With Other Vaccines
In general, NACI recommends that two live parenteral vaccines be administered either on the same day or at least 4 weeks apartFootnote 186. This recommendation is based largely on a single study from 1965 that demonstrated immune interference between smallpox vaccine and measles vaccine administered 915 days apart. Subsequent studies have revealed conflicting results on immune interference between live vaccinesFootnote 187Footnote 188Footnote 189Footnote 190. No studies were found on potential immune interference between LAIV and other live attenuated vaccines administered within 4 weeks. A few studies on concomitant administration of LAIV3 with MMR, varicella, and oral polio vaccines did not find evidence of clinically significant immune interferenceFootnote 11Footnote 12Footnote 13. One study reported a statistically significant but not clinically meaningful decrease in seroresponse rates to rubella antigen when administered concomitantly with LAIV.
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Egg Versus Cell Culture
Egg-based vaccine production, although time tested, is a resource- and time-intensive process that is critically dependent on a continuous supply of eggs and the ability of viruses to grow on this substrate. The risk of contamination by avian pathogens in the egg supply or microbial contaminants during processing has previously jeopardized vaccine supplies . Furthermore, egg supply could be limited in the event of a pandemic, and egg-based vaccines may still pose a theoretical risk of anaphylactic responses in egg-allergic individuals. The ACIP recommends that TIVs be used under medical supervision for individuals with a severe allergy to egg proteins .
The future of cell culture platforms for influenza vaccines relies heavily on reproducibly providing vaccine yields at an acceptable cost without this, the commercial incentives to switch production systems are minimal.
I1 New Or Updated Information For 20212022
Guidance on the use of seasonal influenza vaccine in the presence of the novel coronavirus 2019 disease
In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, PHAC has developed additional guidance on seasonal influenza vaccination to support provincial and territorial vaccine programs and primary care providers offering influenza vaccine during the COVID-19 pandemic. Please refer to the Guidance on the use of influenza vaccine in the presence of COVID-19 webpage for the most recent PHAC guidance.
New egg-based quadrivalent influenza vaccine
Influvac® Tetra is a split virus quadrivalent inactivated influenza vaccine that was first authorized for use in Canada in adults on March 1, 2019 and subsequently in children 3 years of age and older on February 20, 2020. Based on a review of available pre-licensure clinical trial data and Health Canadas Clinical Review Reports, NACI has concluded that Influvac Tetra has a comparable safety and immunogenicity profile to already authorized quadrivalent inactivated influenza vaccines. Therefore, NACI recommends that Influvac Tetra may be considered among the quadrivalent inactivated influenza vaccines offered to adults and children 3 years of age and older .
Inclusion of mammalian cell culture-based quadrivalent influenza vaccine
New egg-based high dose quadrivalent influenza vaccine
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Why Do We Need The Flu Vaccine Every Year
Flu vaccines have an excellent safety record. They are the best protection we have against an unpredictable virus which can cause severe illness and deaths each year among at-risk groups. It is important to have a flu vaccine every year because the flu virus is very variable and changes over time. Each year there are different strains around, and a new vaccine has to be prepared to deal with them. Vaccination from previous years is not likely to protect people against current strains of flu.
Each years flu vaccine is made to give the best protection against the strains of flu that are expected to circulate in the coming season. The trivalent vaccine protects against three of the flu virus strains which are most likely to be around. The quadrivalent vaccine protects against four flu virus strains. However, decisions about what to put in the flu vaccine have to be made six months before the flu season starts.
Every February in the Northern Hemisphere, the World Health Organization reviews the types of flu that have been circulating in all parts of the world and chooses the ones which will go into the vaccine for the following autumn. This allows time for the vaccine to be made but it also gives the flu virus time to change before vaccination starts in the autumn. This means that sometimes the flu vaccine may not be a good match for all the strains of flu that are circulating. Read more about the WHO recommendations for the 2022-23 season.
Iii1 People At High Risk Of Influenza
All children 659 months of age
On the basis of existing data, NACI recommends the inclusion of all children 659 months of age among those for whom influenza vaccine is particularly recommended.
Refer to the Statement on Seasonal Influenza Vaccine for 20112012 for additional details on children 623 months of age and to the Statement on Seasonal Influenza Vaccine for 20122013 for children 2459 months of age.
Adults and children with chronic health conditions
A number of chronic health conditions, as noted in List 1, are associated with increased risk of influenza-related complications, and influenza can lead to exacerbation of the chronic disease. Influenza vaccination can induce protective antibody levels in a substantial proportion of adults and children with immune compromising conditions, including transplant recipients, those with proliferative diseases of the hematopoietic and lymphatic systems, and HIV-infected people. Vaccine effectiveness may be lower in people with immune compromising conditions than in healthy adults.
Neurologic or neurodevelopment conditions
All pregnant women
Refer to the Statement on Seasonal Influenza Vaccine for 20112012 and the Statement on Seasonal Influenza Vaccine for 20122013 for further details on influenza vaccination during pregnancy.
People of any age who are residents of nursing homes and other chronic care facilities
Adults 65 years of age and older
Indigenous peoples
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Individuals With Symptoms Of Covid
During the COVID-19 pandemic, individuals should postpone influenza vaccination until they have recovered if they have:
- acute symptoms of COVID-19
- any symptoms of acute respiratory infection, including minor symptoms such as sore throat or runny nose
This is because they can pose an unnecessary risk to others and healthcare providers if they have COVID-19. Individuals with COVID-19 symptoms should visit a healthcare professional or contact their local public health authority for information on getting tested.
Meet The Different Types Of Flu Vaccine
IIV are made with either inactivated flu viruses or with only a single protein from the flu virus . They do not contain any live flu viruses, so they cannot cause the flu, even in people with severely weakened immune systems . IIV are injected .
LAIV contain flu viruses that have been weakened so that they create a protective immune response but do not cause the flu in healthy people . LAIV is given as a nasal spray .
Traditionally, both IIV and LAIV influenza vaccines have been produced to protect against three different seasonal influenza viruses . However, recently vaccines that protect against four different viruses have become available in more and more European countries. While quadrivalent IIV are expected to replace the trivalent vaccines over time , all currently available LAIV are quadrivalent vaccines .
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Iv2 Live Attenuated Influenza Vaccine
LAIV contains standardized quantities of FFU of live attenuated influenza virus reassortants. The virus strains in LAIV are cold-adapted and temperature sensitive, so they replicate in the nasal mucosa rather than the lower respiratory tract, and they are attenuated, so they do not produce ILI. There have been no reported or documented cases, and no theoretical or scientific basis to suggest transmission of vaccine virus would occur to the individual administering LAIV. As a live replicating whole virus formulation administered intranasally, it elicits mucosal immunity, which may more closely mimic natural infection.
Vaccine currently authorized for use:
- FluMist® Quadrivalent
Efficacy and effectiveness
After careful review of the available Canadian and international LAIV VE data over many influenza seasons, NACI concluded that the current evidence is consistent with LAIV providing comparable protection against influenza to that afforded by IIV and does not support a recommendation for the preferential use of LAIV in children 217 years of age.
Refer to the Statement on Seasonal Influenza Vaccine for 20182019 for detailed information supporting this recommendation.
Immunogenicity
LAIV4 has shown non-inferiority based on immunogenicity compared to LAIV3 in both children and adults. The immune response to the B strain found only in the quadrivalent formulation was better in children who received the quadrivalent vaccineFootnote 177Footnote 178Footnote 179.
Safety
What Is Type A Flu Virus
Type A flu or influenza A viruses are capable of infecting animals, although it is more common for people to suffer the ailments associated with this type of flu. Wild birds commonly act as the hosts for this flu virus.
Type A flu virus is constantly changing and is generally responsible for the large flu epidemics. The influenza A2 virus is spread by people who are already infected. The most common flu hot spots are those surfaces that an infected person has touched and rooms where they have been recently, especially areas where they have been sneezing.
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The Standard Flu Shot Protects Against Four Strains
Most influenza vaccines in America today are created to fight off four different strains of flu virus, according to the CDC. In fact, the CDC says about 99 percent of the vaccine supply produced for the 20202021 flu season is quadrivalent . The quadrivalent immunizations protect against two A strains of the virus and two B strains .
The first flu vaccine, developed in the late 1930s, targeted a single strain of influenza A, according to an article published in September 2016 in the Journal of Preventive Medicine and Hygiene. Then, in 1942, scientists discovered influenza B viruses and created a bivalent immunization.
In 1978, a major mutation of the A flu virus, H1N1, swept the globe and spurred researchers to quickly formulate a trivalent vaccine. Trivalent vaccines became the primary type of influenza inoculation for decades. They would feature two A strains and one B strain. Then, in 2012, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Fluarix, the first quadrivalent vaccine in the United States.
It always puzzled me why, for whatever reason, the vaccine manufacturers had decided to only put one or the other B strain in , says James Conway, MD, a pediatric infectious disease specialist at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health in Madison. Companies gradually started shifting over to making quadrivalent vaccines where they would have two As and two Bs, and it became apparent that that was a wiser way to go.