Is The Flu Nasal Spray Effective

How Effective Is It

Flu vaccine effectiveness can change from year to year. At the time of writing this article, the 20202021 flu season is underway. In the coming months, scientists will begin to get estimates of the effectiveness of the 20202021 flu vaccine.

However, the does currently have information about the estimated effectiveness of the vaccines from past flu seasons.

The chart below shows the effectiveness of the flu vaccine for the previous five flu seasons.

When looking at vaccine effectiveness studies, its important to remember that the results can be influenced by several factors. These factors can include the population studied, the specific flu season, and how the study was conducted.

Flu Facts: Why You Should Protect Your Child

• On average, 8% of people in the U.S. come down with the flu each year.
• Children are most likely to get sick from the flu.
• Pneumonia is one of the most serious complications of an influenza infection.
• According to the CDC, 188 children died of influenza in the U.S. during the 2019-2020 flu season. The season prior, 144 pediatric deaths were reported.
• The best protection against the seasonal flu is the flu vaccine, and it’s encouraged for all people over 6 months of age.

How Effective Is Flumist Compared To Other Flu Vaccines

FluMist targets the same flu viruses as other flu vaccines this year. Because flu vaccines are based on a prediction of which flu viruses will be circulating, we wont have data on the effectiveness of this years flu vaccines until after the flu season is over. However, the CDC recommends that everyone 6 months of age or older get a flu vaccine. There is no preference for any of the flu vaccines that are currently available, as long as it has been approved for your age group.

The type of flu vaccine that is best for each individual will depend on their age and health. Talk to your provider if youre unsure which vaccine is right for you. Especially given that this years flu season will coincide with the COVID-19 pandemic, the most important thing is that you get a flu vaccine.

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The Cdc Announced That The Flu Nasal Spray Is Available For The 2021

If you are like many parents, the nasal spray flu vaccine sounds like an easy way to protect your child against the flu. You don’t have to worry about your child’s fear of needles or any tears or tantrums leading up to the shot.

However, in 2016, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced that the nasal mist flu vaccine was not as effective as the injectable flu vaccine, and physicians stopped offering it as an option. Then in 2018, the nasal flu vaccine came back on the market, and it’s now available again for the 2021-2022 flu season.

Learn more about the nasal flu vaccine and what pediatricians recommend as the most effective way to protect your child against the flu.

Is The Nasal Spray Flu Vaccine A Good Option This Flu Season

With flu season fast approaching, health experts have emphasized that this year, more than ever, it’s important to get vaccinated for the flu.

There are many vaccine options to choose from this season. But with the threat of a second wave of COVID-19 occurring at the same time as flu season, many wonder whether the nasal spray vaccinewhich hasn’t been recommended by public health officials in recent yearsis a good option this year.

Here’s what you need to know about the nasal spray vaccine.

Who should get the nasal spray vaccine?

The nasal spray vaccine is only recommended for people aged 2 to 49. There are some exceptions to who should get it, including pregnant women, children aged 2 to 4 who have asthma, and those who are immunocompromised.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends getting vaccinated by the end of October, to give your body time to build immunity before influenza begins widely spreading in the community.

Is the nasal spray vaccine as effective as the shot?

Flu vaccines vary in effectiveness every year. The CDC determines which flu strains go into the vaccine based on the types that circulated in winter seasons in other parts of the world.

Each year, the vaccine is anywhere from 40% to 60% effective, health experts say.

The nasal spray flu vaccine was found to be an effective vaccination option before 2009, when the H1N1, or swine flu, outbreak occurred.

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Who Shouldnt Get The Nasal Flu Vaccine

The CDC has a big list of people who should skip the nasal flu vaccine. That includes:

• Children younger than 2
• Adults 50 years and older
• People with a history of severe allergic reaction to any ingredient of the vaccine or to a previous dose of any flu vaccine
• Children 2 through 17 years old who are receiving aspirin- or salicylate-containing medications
• Children 2 through 4 years old who have asthma or who have had a history of wheezing in the past 12 months
• People with weakened immune systems from any cause
• People who care for severely immunocompromised persons who require a protected environment
• People without a spleen, or with a non-functioning spleen
• Pregnant people
• People with an active leak between the cerebrospinal fluid and the mouth, nose, ear, or other place within the skull
• People with cochlear implants
• People who have taken flu antiviral drugs within a certain amount of time.

The CDC also cautions against using the nasal flu vaccine for people with the following health conditions:

• Asthma
• Other underlying medical conditions that can put people at higher risk of serious flu complications, including lung disease, heart disease, kidney disease , kidney or liver disorders, neurologic/neuromuscular, or metabolic disorders
• Moderate or severe acute illness with or without fever
• Developing Guillain-Barré Syndrome within six weeks following a previous dose of flu vaccine

Side Effects In Children

Side effects in toddlers, children, and teenagers were very similar to side effects that occurred in adults. However, children also experienced fever higher than 100°F and belly pain.

Children younger than age 5 years with a history of wheezing or asthma may be at an increased risk of developing wheezing after receiving FluMist. So if your child has had asthma or wheezing that keeps returning, their doctor may recommend that they receive a flu shot instead of FluMist. Getting a flu shot shouldnt raise their risk of wheezing.

If your child does receive the FluMist vaccine, their doctor may monitor them afterward to treat any wheezing that occurs.

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How Long Do Side Effects From Flumist Last

It wasnt reported in clinical trials how long side effects from FluMist last. However, most side effects were reported within 10 to 14 days after FluMist vaccination.

If you receive FluMist and experience side effects that seem to last and dont improve, talk with your doctor. They can see if another condition may be causing your symptoms.

Why Its Important To Vaccinate Children

Independent experts are cheering the return of the nasal vaccine for the next flu season because of its potential to increase the vaccination rate among children.

I think it will promote even further immunization of children with influenza vaccine and thats just terribly, terribly important, said Schaffner.

Children are the great distributors of the influenza virus in our communities. When they get influenza, they produce more virus than adult virus and they produce it for longer periods of time, he said.

Kids also have a significant mortality risk from the flu. In recent weeks, 13 children have died from the disease in the United States, bringing the total to 97.

A new study published by the CDC in the journal Pediatrics also concluded that even healthy kids are vulnerable. Their data showed that half of flu-related deaths in individuals younger than 18 occurred in otherwise healthy children.

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Should The Nasal Spray Flu Vaccine Be Given To Patients With Chronic Diseases

Nasal spray flu vaccine is not recommended for use in people with some chronic health conditions because the safety and effectiveness of this vaccine in people with those conditions has not been established.

See Prevention and Control of Seasonal Influenza with Vaccines: Recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Immunization PracticesUnited States, 202021 Influenza Season for a list of contraindications and precautions for the nasal spray vaccine

No Flu Nasal Spray Next Season: Why Is This Vaccine Not Working

23 June 16

People who prefer to get the nasal spray version of the flu vaccine, as opposed to the flu shot, will be out of luck next season: Health officials say the nasal spray should not be used this coming fall and winter.

The decision was based on new data showing that the nasal spray was not very effective at preventing flu from 2013 to 2016, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In fact, last flu season , the nasal flu vaccine had no protective benefit for children ages 2 to 17. In contrast, children who got a flu shot were 63 percent less likely to catch the flu than people who weren’t vaccinated, the CDC said.

“We have to go with what the data says,” said Dr. Amesh Adalja, an infectious-disease specialist and a senior associate at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center’s Center for Health Security, who wasn’t involved with the CDC decision, but supports the recommendation. “This vaccine isn’t as effective as we need,” at least based on data from the past few flu seasons, Adalja said.

The nasal spray’s low effectiveness is somewhat surprising, experts say in earlier studies, the spray performed just as well as, and sometimes better than, the flu shot. The nasal spray contains live, weakened flu viruses, which, in theory, can produce a stronger immune response than the killed flu viruses that are in the flu shot, the CDC said.

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Flumist And Other Vaccines

Heres some information on whether FluMist can be given at the same time as other vaccines.

FluMist is a live vaccine. This means that FluMist has live flu viruses in it that have been changed so that they shouldnt infect you with the flu. Inactive vaccines, on the other hand, dont have live viruses in them.

FluMist and inactive vaccines

FluMist hasnt been studied when given with inactive vaccines.

Examples of inactive vaccines include:

• a shingles vaccine called Shingrix

If you plan to get FluMist and think you need an inactive vaccine, ask your doctor when the best time is to get them.

FluMist and other live vaccines

FluMist is a live vaccine. It has been studied when given with other live vaccines.

One study looked at children ages 12 to 15 months. They received FluMist alone or FluMist with the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine and chickenpox vaccines. There was no difference in how the childrens bodies reacted to the vaccines in either group. However, its important to note that FluMist isnt approved for use in children ages 12 to 15 months. The vaccine is approved to be used only in children and adults ages 2 through 49 years.

Examples of other live vaccines include:

Flu Shot More Effective Than Nasal Spray Against Drifted Influenza

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During a year in which the circulating strains of influenza showed genetic differences from the strains in vaccines, the traditional killed-virus flu shot was found to be effective in preventing influenza in healthy adults. The live attenuated-virus nasal spray vaccine also prevented illnesses but was less effective.

Both outcomes were determined by laboratory confirmation of flu infection, a U-M study found.

Earlier studies had suggested that the nasal spray, sold by MedImmune as FluMist, might offer better protection against drifted viruses that had genetically changed between vaccine formulation and annual influenza activity. The nasal spray, which is based on a live but weakened virus, was 86 percent protective in one study conducted in children during a major drift year. However, FluMist previously had not been studied head-to-head against the shot in adults with laboratory confirmation.

The killed-virus flu shot usually is billed as 70 to 90 percent effective against circulating strains that are well matched to vaccine strains. During the 2004-05 flu season, a U-M team found that the killed-virus flu shot was 75 percent effective against a moderately-drifted type A virus and two types of B virus. The standard formulation of both the flu shot and the nasal spray vaccine includes two types of A influenza and one B, but in the 2004-05 season, there were two B strains circulating and one type A.

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Live Vs Inactive Vaccine

FluMist is a live vaccine. This means that FluMist has live flu viruses in it that have been weakened so that they shouldnt infect you with the flu.

In comparison, flu shots are inactive vaccines that dont have live viruses in them. As a result, flu shots cant cause the flu.

Because FluMist is a live vaccine, you shouldnt get FluMist if you have certain conditions, such as a weakened immune system. If you have a weakened immune system and youre immunized with FluMist, you may become infected with the flu. This is because your immune system may not be strong enough to fight the flu viruses in the vaccine.

If you have any questions about the difference between the FluMist nasal spray and a flu shot, talk with your doctor. They can help you decide which is the best option for you.

Flu Shot Vs Nasal Spray: Which Vaccine Is Better This Year

The messaging couldnt be more clear: Everyone who is over the age of 6 months and able should get the flu vaccine this year. But while the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other public health officials have stressed the importance of getting vaccinated against the flu this fall, there hasnt been a lot of discussion about which kind to get.

There are several types of flu vaccines, but they can generally be grouped into two categories: the shot and the nasal spray. Each is slightly different, and its understandable to have questions about which is right for you. Heres what you need to know.

What is the difference between the flu shot and the nasal spray vaccine?

There are actually several. At a very basic level, the flu shot is given with a needle in your arm while the nasal spray vaccine is misted into your nose. But the differences dont end there.

The flu shot uses an inactivated version of the flu to stimulate your immune system, while the nasal spray vaccine uses an attenuated live virus, the CDC explains. While both vaccines may cause flu-like side effects, neither vaccine can actually give you the flu, Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious disease specialist and professor at the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, tells Yahoo Life.

There are different forms of the flu shot, but many people under the age of 65 will receive the quadrivalent flu shot. Thats designed to protect against the following strains, per the CDC:

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Does It Work Better Than The Flu Shot

Studies show that both the flu shot and nasal spray work. For adults, doctors found that the nasal spray works just as well as the flu shot. In 2009, they found that the nasal spray worked better in children. But later studies didnât show that it was any more effective than the shot. Whether you get the shot or spray is up to you.

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During the hearing, Dr. Chris Ambrose of MedImmune shared results from the companys 2015-16 influenza vaccine effectiveness study, which found the FluMist quadrivalent vaccine to be 46% effective, compared with the flu shots 65% effectiveness. However, Dr. Brendan Flannery of the CDC presented data indicating that FluMist had zero effectiveness against one strain of flu.

Acknowledging that FluMist offered advantages in the past, especially for children, Sun said the FDA would continue to work with MedImmune. At this point, were not ready to take a requirement for changing prescribing information, he said.

Wednesdays recommendation is an interim decision that could be reversed when the panel reconsiders it next year with additional data.

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Why Is Flu Vaccine Typically Less Effective Against Influenza A Viruses

There are a number of reasons why flu vaccine effectiveness against influenza A viruses may be lower.