FA16 Immunization Module’s Updates

Nasal Spray Flu Vaccinations, why aren't they more common?


Listening to Dr. Tapping's lecture on vaccines, I heard him mention a nasal spray vaccine. Why aren't those more common?! I imagine most people would choose the nasal spray over getting a shot.

Looking at the CDC's website, they are recommending that people not get the nasal spray vaccine (called LAIV4--Live, Attenuated Intranasal Vaccine Quadrivalent) "In light of concerns regarding low effectiveness against influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 in the United States during the 2013–14 and 2015–16 seasons." (Grohskopf et al., 2016). If anyone wants to comb through the most recently presented data (from 2015-2016), the CDC has the slides from it's meeting here:

http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/acip/meetings/slides-2016-06.html

I spent about 20 minutes looking through it and found a few graphs on the overall effectiveness of the LAIV4 vaccine this year (from http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/acip/meetings/downloads/slides-2016-06/influenza-06-ambrose.pdf). I've put one of them below.

I'm not sure if ~50% is a good overall effectiveness for a vaccine, but it seems reasonable? Another slide from the same presentation compares LAIV4 to a different flu vaccine, called IIV (Inactivated Influenza Vaccine). This graph shows that LAIV4 does have lower overall effectiveness than the IIV vaccine.

If anyone else knows more about this or wants to take this investigation further, that would be great. Don't despair about having to get a flu-shot for the rest of your life, the CDC's recommendation is just for 2016-2017, so there's always next year!

 

Grohskopf LA, Sokolow LZ, Broder KR, et al. Prevention and Control of Seasonal Influenza with Vaccines. MMWR Recomm Rep 2016;65(No. RR-5):1–54. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.rr6505a1.

  • Leah Patton
  • zheng Wang
  • Richard Tapping
  • Zachariah Adham