Flu Jab

[rov1200]

Will the current Flu Jab protect you from the flu epidemic going the rounds. My Doctors surgery was completely full with patients wanting a cure for their flu.

[Bathsheba]

Dunno rov- but if those people managed to make it to the doc's, they didn't have flu x

[yogasun]

I believe that it protects against one of the strains doing the rounds (supposedly) but agree with Bathsheba, those with genuine flu would be in bed not able to move a muscle and wishing to die.

[sqad617]

Bit of a guessing game as to which flu virus it is....BUT:
The present vaccine is 70-80% effective againsr 2 strains of influenza A and one strain of influenza B. Now the virus has a party trick of occasionally changing it's antigenic structure and it has done this in the past, in which case, this vaccine would be useless.

Fingers crossed eh!

[Eve]

The vaccine is for proper flu, most of the people in the doctors probably just had a bad cold or some other virus.

[rov1200]

I was told they are in the process of making a flu jab that will deal with all strains of flu rather than a hit or miss affair as at present.

Whether those patients were suffering from Flu or not they all certainly coughed and wheezed a lot. Make me feel ill especially when the flu jab is not fully effective for about 10 days!

[sqad617]

rov1200....you can only make a vaccine against an influenza virus if you knpw it's antigenic (genetic/DNA) structure. As my above answer indicates, it has had a habit in the past of changing this structure, which would have to be then worked out before a vaccine could be made.

It is not hit or miss at the moment, vaccine is made for the influenza viruses whose structue we know. BUT watch out for a new strain fir which there is no vaccine.

[rov1200]

I'm only repeating what I was told by the nurse. Without knowing the latest trends in medical research I assumed there was something general in every flu DNA that the vaccine can latch onto.

[rov1200]

Could this be it?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/7577501.stm

Hope so as it will do away with the annual jab.

[sqad617]

rov1200....thanks, that was quite interesting....the nurse was quite correct......I didn't know that. Instead of targetting the DNA, the vaccins is to target a specific protein in the nucleus common to ALL flu viruses. Pity it won't be for 5-10yrs.

Thanks again rov.

[rov1200]

If it works on the volunteers currently under test I predict that the acceleration of the vaccine will jump over all the hoops and be here within a year or two. There is a lot at stake and hope a British company will get the rewards from it. But do we ever?