How Long Did It Take To Make Flu Vaccine

Concerns About Side Effects

If the side effect following immunisation is unexpected, persistent, or severe, or if you are worried about yourself or your childs condition after a vaccination, see your doctor or immunisation nurse as soon as possible or go directly to a hospital.

Immunisation side effects may be reported to the SAEFVAC, the central reporting service in Victoria on 1300 882 924 .

You can discuss how to report problems in other states or territories with your immunisation provider.

The symptoms of COVID-19 and flu can be similar.

If you are unwell with flu-like symptoms, contact the COVID-19 hotline on 1800 675 398 or your GP to check if you require COVID-19 testing.

Have There Been Any Recent Updates To The Way Flu Vaccines Are Developed

Tran: Before the pandemic began, the government already was trying to develop a universal flu vaccine that would work on many different influenza strains. It’s an exciting time in the development of vaccines. Because of the pandemic, scientists are finding new ways to develop vaccines more efficiently, which will help us in the future.

How Is The Flu Shot Different From The Covid

Tran: They’re similar in that they both have the same goal of preventing severe illness and death, and they both teach your immune system to recognize and attack a virus. But the two vaccines are very different.

The COVID-19 vaccine targets one version of the coronavirus that causes that disease, whereas the flu vaccine always targets multiple influenza viruses. They are also different types of vaccines produced in different ways. The flu shots are either egg-based vaccines or cell-based vaccines, or they’re made using recombinant technology. The Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines use messenger RNA to teach your cells how to make the protein that your immune system will target. And the Johnson & Johnson vaccine uses a harmless virus that teaches your body’s cells to make that target protein.

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The Thirties: Virus Isolation And The Firstexperimental Vaccines

During the 1918-1919 pandemic, some scientists began to suspect that bacteria were not the real agent of influenza disease. One of these was the scholar Richard Edwin Shope , who deeply investigated swine flu in 1920. However, it was only in 1932-1933 that the English scientists Wilson Smith , Sir Christopher Andrewes and Sir Patrick Laidlaw , working at the Medical Research Council at Mill Hill, first isolated the influenza A virus from nasal secretions of infected patients, thereby demonstrating the intranasal human transmission of this virus . A few years later, the American virologist and epidemiologist Thomas Francis Junior and Smith, in England, were able to transmit the virus to mice . Subsequently, in 1935, Sir Frank Macfarlane Burnet and Smith separately discovered that the flu virus could be grown on the chorio-allantoid membrane of embryonated hens’ eggs , and in 1936 the first neutralized antibodies generated by infection by human influenza virus were isolated .

In the next five years, important developments took place: the demonstration that the virus inactivated by formalin was immunogenic in humans, purification of the virus by means of high-speed centrifugation, and the discovery that the influenza virus grew easily in fertilized hen eggs, a procedure that is still used today to manufacture most influenza vaccines .

The first clinical trials of influenza vaccines were conducted in the mid-1930s .

How Long The Flu Shot Lasts

Your bodys immunity to the flu decreases over time. This is true whether youve had a vaccination or a flu infection.

Additionally, influenza viruses are constantly changing. Because of this, a vaccine from the previous flu season may not protect you through an upcoming flu season.

Generally speaking, receiving the seasonal influenza vaccine should help to protect you for the duration of the current flu season.

Youll need to receive a seasonal influenza vaccine every year in order to have the best protection against influenza viruses.

The flu vaccine is produced by a number of private manufacturers and typically begins to ship to healthcare providers in August. However, theres some evidence that it may not be advantageous to receive your vaccine this early.

A indicated that maximum immunity is achieved shortly following vaccination and decreases with each passing month. Therefore, if you get your vaccine in August, you may be more susceptible to infection late in the flu season, around February or March.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends getting the flu vaccine before influenza activity begins to pick up within your community, ideally by the end of October.

If you receive your vaccine later, dont worry. Late vaccination can still provide adequate protection, as influenza can circulate within your community through March or even later.

Side effects from the flu shot are typically mild and only last a few days.

Flu vaccine side effects can include:

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No Prevention And No Treatment For The 1918 Pandemic Virus

In 1918, as scientists had not yet discovered flu viruses, there were no laboratory tests to detect, or characterize these viruses. There were no vaccines to help prevent flu infection, no antiviral drugs to treat flu illness, and no antibiotics to treat secondary bacterial infections that can be associated with flu infections. Available tools to control the spread of flu were largely limited to non-pharmaceutical interventions such as isolation, quarantine, good personal hygiene, use of disinfectants, and limits on public gatherings, which were used in many cities. The science behind these was very young, and applied inconsistently. City residents were advised to avoid crowds, and instructed to pay particular attention to personal hygiene. In some cities, dance halls were closed. Some streetcar conductors were ordered to keep the windows of their cars open in all but rainy weather. Some municipalities moved court cases outside. Many physicians and nurses were instructed to wear gauze masks when with flu patients.

Annual Vaccination Is Recommended

Annual vaccination before the onset of each flu season is recommended. In most parts of Australia, this occurs from June to September.

Immunisation from April provides protection before the peak season. While the flu continues to circulate, it is never too late to vaccinate.

The flu vaccine cannot give you influenza because it does not contain live virus. Some people may still contract the flu because the vaccine may not always protect against all strains of the flu virus circulating in the community.

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Historic Dates And Events Related To Vaccines And Immunization

When The Us Government Tried To Fast

More than a quarter of the nation was inoculated in 1976 for a pandemic that never materialized.

After Private David Lewis collapsed and died during a basic training exercise at New Jerseys Fort Dix on February 4, 1976, an investigation into the 19-year-olds premature death identified a long-dormant, but notorious killer as the cause.

Blood tests conducted at the Center for Disease Control revealed that Lewis had contracted a type of swine flu thought at the time to be genetically close to the 1918 influenza mislabeled the Spanish flu, which claimed the lives of more than 650,000 Americans and as many as 50 million around the globe. Eleven other soldiers at Fort Dix tested positive for swine flu, but recoveredwhile hundreds more at the base tested positive for swine flu antibodies. TheNew York Timesreported on its front page that the virus that caused the greatest world epidemic of influenza in modern historythe pandemic of 1918-19may have returned.

With the swine flu expected to resurface later that fall, federal officials feared an even deadlier pandemic than that of nearly 60 years earlier. U.S. Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare F. David Mathews projected 1 million Americans would die in the 1976 flu season unless action was taken. Citing the strong possibility of a swine flu pandemic, CDC Director David Sencer recommended an unprecedented plan: a mass vaccination of U.S. citizens.

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Will There Be Flu Along With Covid

• While its not possible to say with certainty what will happen in the fall and winter, CDC believes its likely that flu viruses and the virus that causes COVID-19 will both be spreading. In this context, getting a flu vaccine will be more important than ever. CDC recommends that all people 6 months and older get a yearly flu vaccine.

The Vaccine And The Future

The current conventional flu vaccine and its potential to protect people and save lives is constantly being developed, and work is far from complete. The effectiveness of the vaccine varies enormously each year, from just 3% up to 70%.

In 2009, the world saw the first outbreak of a Pandemic Influenza virus this century. Such new viruses occur when the virus juggles its genes with those of another virus in a different animal, and then humans are exposed to a virus never seen before.

Each year, however, the virus also changes slowly. Unlike a Pandemic Influenza virus that appears from nowhere, these yearly viruses are caused by slow and subtle changes. Because of these viruses that drift each year, we need to have a new vaccine.

This year, with Aussie Flu, we have seen that influenza can catch us unprepared. We know that the virus has drifted slightly from that which is in the vaccine. The yearly vaccine is not perfect, it relies on a judgement that locks down the vaccine, but in the months that follow the virus can change.

In addition, we have had Japanese Flu this was a B virus. In many countries, the yearly vaccine did not contain a killed virus that protected against that strain, hence we now read many reports of Japanese Flu.

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When Should I Have The Flu Jab

The best time to have a flu vaccine is in the autumn, before flu starts circulating. If you’ve missed this time, you can have the flu vaccine later in the winter although it’s best to get it earlier.

Do not worry if you find that you’re pregnant later in the flu season you can have the vaccine then if you have not already had it.

The Flu Shot And Covid

An important update regarding timing between receiving the flu and COVID-19 vaccines for all Victorians including those most vulnerable in our community.

The original recommended timing between receipt of the 2 vaccines was a preferred minimum interval of 2 weeks .

Based on the latest medical advice the preferred minimum interval between vaccinations for COVID-19 and the flu is now 7 days.

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Can I Have Flu And Covid

• Yes. It is possible to have flu, as well as other respiratory illnesses, and COVID-19 at the same time. Health experts are still studying how common this can be.

• Some of the symptoms of flu and COVID-19 are similar, making it hard to tell the difference between them based on symptoms alone. Diagnostic testing can help determine if you are sick with flu or COVID-19.

How Is The Flu Shot Made

Tran: Vaccine developers use three different types of processes to make flu shots.

Currently, most influenza vaccines are made using an egg-based process. Manufacturers use a fertilized chicken egg to grow whichever four strains of the virus the U.S. Food and Drug Administration decides will be dominant during the upcoming flu season. Manufacturers incubate the egg, allowing the virus to replicate, harvest the virus and then deactivate or weaken it before adding it to a mass-produced injection. A second method uses an animal cell instead of egg cells.

The third process isolates the genes that have the instructions for making the target protein that your body’s immune system must identify. Those genes are combined with a different virus that infects invertebrates, such as worms and helps pass the genetic instructions to a host cell. These proteins are grown in bulk, purified and become so-called recombinant vaccines.

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The Forties: Inactivated Influenzavaccines

Influenza vaccination had two main objectives: to protect against disease, and to achieve a high vaccination rate in order to ensure protection in unvaccinated people. The first vaccine was an inactivated, monovalent preparation which only contained a subtype of the influenza A virus .

In December 1942, large studies were begun to be conducted on the first influenza virus vaccines these provided the first official proof that inactivated influenza vaccines could yield effective protection against flu epidemics .

The efficacy and safety of inactivated vaccines were first studied between 1942 and 1945 in the meantime, a new strain of flu virus was discovered, the influenza virus type B, which is the main cause of seasonal epidemics, as was the phenomenon of so-called “influenza mismatch”. Influenza mismatch is caused by major and minor mutations of circulating viruses. As a result, the virus contained in the vaccine does not match the circulating strain, determining a reduction in the effectiveness of subtype A influenza vaccines.

A new route of influenza immunization was tested in December 1942, with the subcutaneous inactivated bivalent vaccine containing viruses of type A and type B. The following years, the first bivalent vaccine was licensed in the United States and became available for use in the general population .

Does A Flu Vaccine Increase Your Risk Of Getting Covid

• There is no evidence that getting a flu vaccine increases your risk of getting sick from a coronavirus, like the one that causes COVID-19.

• You may have heard about a study published in January 2020 that reported an association between flu vaccination and risk of four commonly circulating seasonal coronaviruses, but not the one that causes COVID-19. This report was later found to be incorrect.

• The results from that initial study led researchers in Canada to look at their data to see if they could find similar results in their population. The results from Canadas study showed that flu vaccination did not increase risk for these seasonal coronaviruses. The Canadian findings highlighted the protective benefits of flu vaccination.

• The Canadian researchers also identified a flaw in the methods of the first study, noting that it violated the part of study design that compares vaccination rates among patients with and without flu . This flaw led to the incorrect association between flu vaccination and seasonal coronavirus risk. When these researchers reexamined data from the first study using correct methods, they found that flu vaccination did not increase risk for infection with other respiratory viruses, including seasonal coronaviruses.

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Where Can I Get The Flu Vaccination

Many people will receive their flu vaccination at a GP surgery as usual. Others may go to a pharmacy or another location in their community. School-aged children will receive their vaccination from a trained health professional at school or in their community. Health professionals will also visit care homes to vaccinate residents on-site.

Thursday 29 March 2018

Have you been wondering if you should bother getting vaccinated? Did you know that the influenza vaccine isnt the same every year? Or that getting vaccinated each year provides the best protection against the flu?

Read on to learn what the flu is, how the vaccine works and why you should think about getting vaccinated this year.

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Who Should Be Immunised Against Flu

Immunisation for the flu is recommended for everyone aged 6 months and over.

Some people are more at risk of complications from influenza and are eligible for free vaccination.

People with an underlying medical condition or reduced immunity are most at risk and should be immunised against influenza. They include:

• anyone aged 65 years and older
• pregnant women
• all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people aged from 6 months and over
• people 6 months or older with:

Some workplaces run annual immunisation programs for staff.

How The Seasonal Flu Jab Is Made

Radio 4 You and Yours Reporter

It sounds unlikely, but you can’t make a flu vaccine without breaking a few eggs.

The only manufacturer of the flu jab in the UK is Novartis, based Liverpool – which makes 30 million of the jabs a year for the global market.

Chickens play a crucial role in the process.

Hens’ eggs began to be used to grow the flu virus in the 1940’s because they provided the right conditions and nutrients.

Five drug companies now manufacture the world’s flu vaccines and 70 years later all of them use eggs to grow the vaccine.

The NHS buys nearly 16 million doses a year.

He said: “Twelve times a day we get a delivery of 12 trolleys full of eggs. Each trolley has 5,500 eggs, so half a million each day. They stay in a warm room which is kept at constant temperature of 20 degrees Celsius.”

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A Brief History Of The Flu Vaccine

Every year, three to five million people catch the seasonal flu, according to the World Health Organization , and between 290,000 and 650,000 people die from it worldwide. Still, thanks to the flu vaccine, this is only a fraction of how many people it used to kill. During the last major flu pandemic of 1918-1919, it killed between 50 and 100 million people around the world.

For a long time, scientists had thought that the flu was caused by a bacteria called Haemophilus influenzae, but after the 1918-19 pandemic, they started to suspect it was caused by a virus instead. However, it wouldnt be until the 1930s that they would confirm that. In 1933, three scientists isolated the Influenza A virus in ferrets one of the three types of flu and in 1936, it was discovered that the virus could be grown inside embryonated chicken eggs, a key step towards making a vaccine.

Just two years later, in 1938, Jonas Salk and Thomas Francis developed the first vaccine using fertilized chicken eggs and an inactivated strain of the Influenza A virus.

This new vaccine was first used to help protect soldiers fighting in World War II it wouldnt be approved for civilians until 1946. According to a 1944 study of the new vaccine, it helped reduce illness that was accompanied by a temperature above 99 degrees Fahrenheit.

Know your flu risk. Check out the Flu Tracker on The Weather Channel App.