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life of h1n1 shot and booster-
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Anonymous
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Hi- does the h1n1 shot have a life to it like the seasonal? So if this supposed third wave hits in March/April, are we still covered?
Also, for kids under 9, now they are saying good luck finding boosters. How is this protecting anyone? I know apparently some is better than none, but I know many many kids who have come down with h1n1 after the shot ..thx |
Anonymous
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What do you mean life to it?
The seasonal does not run out of effectiveness in 6 months, the flu strains change from year to year which is why they reconfigure the seasonal vaccine every year to combat what they think is going to be the prevalent flu(s) the next season. If you received the H1N1 shot and your children received the shot and a booster (if necessary), you/they should be protected against H1N1 next spring or next summer if it is still around. |
Anonymous
| The shots do have a life to them -- somewhere around 90-120 days (mist lasts longer) that is why some years many people who got the shot very early (like Aug or Sept) were coming down with the flu in Feb and March. Our ped told my friend this and that is why she suggested mist for her kids (this is for seasonal) in case the season lasts longer |
Anonymous
Hmm...maybe that's why my son got the flu in late March last year. If I had realized, I wouldn't have gotten our flu shots in early September. |
Anonymous
| If vaccines only build immunity for a few months then I would want my children vaccinated yearly for polio, chicken pox, mmr and the rest. I think you misunderstood your ped or they are wrong. Where did they go to school? I always want to know where my doctor was educated so I know where they got their information. That is the only way to know if it is credible. |
Anonymous
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http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/cidrap/content/influenza/panflu/news/sep2909seasonal-br.html
It seems as if the antibodies do decrease (esp. in the elderly), but that most experts think protection will last through flu season and possibly beyond. We got the seasonal flu vax in September so I hope so. We had the flu last year after vax, but I think that was due to strain mismatch and not waning immunity. |
Anonymous
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This isn't my ped, I have no idea. I'm sure they went to a perfectly fine medical school.
It is interesting how whenever something is brought up on this site that a poster doesn't agree with, they question the doctor's medical school or if they were the "lowest" in their class. Here is a link that talks about it http://www.cdcfoundation.org/healththreats/influenza.aspx from that site: The best time to get vaccinated against influenza is from October through November. Avoid getting a flu shot too early, because protection can begin to decline within a few months after getting the shot. You can still benefit from getting a flu shot after November though, even if there’s an influenza outbreak in your community. It takes about two weeks to develop protective immunity after the shot. |
Anonymous
No, that would not help. You did the right thing by vaccinating as quickly as possible. The reason that there is a "life" to the seasonal influenza vaccine is because new strains show up and old ones change through a process called antigenic drift. Each year, scientists try to predict which virus strains will hit the U.S. and then they generate that year's influenza vaccine. The vaccine is good for many years' worth of protection against those strains, but unfortunately the influenza viruses change so quickly that one vaccine does not have much practical benefit after a certain amount of time. Usually that's one flu season, but it could be shorter or possibly longer. Whether you got the shot in September or January, the shot would have been the same, however, because we only formulate one per year. |
Anonymous
Wait, I stand corrected. I see the post above from the CDC contradicts what I understood. Although maybe they meant not to get the vaccine in March or April, which would effectively be last year's vaccine. You learn something every day. |
Anonymous
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NP here. And then, somewhat contradictory, we have data like this, showing that some people who received the 76 vax have some immunity to this virus. Unexpected, as they're actually very different -- but the group who just received the seasonal immunizations did not display the same. So, essentially, SOME immunity from that influenza vaccine has lasted over 30 years.
http://content.nejm.org/cgi/reprint/NEJMoa0906453v1.pdf |
Anonymous
| gah, not sure why it now says needs a subscription. It didn't before. Let me see if I can find another link.. |
Anonymous
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Here we are. Sorry about that.
http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/full/NEJMoa0906453 |
Anonymous
The CDC itself contradicts this statement. http://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/qa/vaccineeffect.htm Why do I need to get a seasonal flu vaccine every year? Flu viruses change from year to year, which means two things. First, you can get the flu more than once during your lifetime. The immunity (natural protection that develops against a disease after a person has had that disease) that is built up from having the flu caused by one flu virus strain doesn't always provide protection against newer strains of the flu. Second, a seasonal flu vaccine made against flu viruses going around last year may not protect against the newer viruses. That is why the flu vaccine is updated to include current viruses every year. Because of these reasons, a new seasonal flu vaccine is needed each year. Does getting a seasonal flu vaccine early in the season mean that I will not be protected later in the season? Flu vaccination provides protection against the influenza strains contained in the vaccine that will last for the whole season. Vaccination can begin as soon as vaccine is available. Studies do not show a benefit of receiving more than one dose of vaccine during a flu season, even among elderly persons with weakened immune systems. |