Flu Vaccine May Not Be Effective Enough To Combat Global Outbreak.

Coverage of a study finding that the flu vaccine appears to be about 60% effective for adults made it to two of the network newscasts as well as USA Today and other major paper blogs. ABC World News (10/25, story 2, 1:25, Sawyer) reported, "A new study suggests that the flu shot is not a perfect answer." ABC's Chief Health and Medical Editor Dr. Richard Besser said, "A big study" that was conducted "at University of Minnesota" examined "all the flu vaccine studies in the past 44 years. The flu shot in adults 18 to 65 is only 60% effective," the flu nasal spray is 80% effective "in children younger than seven. The elderly, we just don't know how well it works." Besser said the 60% effectiveness may be due to "a bad fit for that strain" or "other years it just isn't the right vaccine." He said that "even though it's not the best vaccine," it is "the best we have and it's worth getting."

        NBC Nightly News (10/25, story 2, 2:00, Williams) also reported, "New research is suggesting it may not be as effective in warding off the flu as a lot of people have been led to think. Especially for the people most at risk." Michael Osterholm, from the University of Minnesota said, "We don't have the data we need to support the kind of influenza programs in the elderly that we currently have. There are no randomized trials of the vaccine in people 65 or older, and the best observation is that the flu vaccine reduces hospitalizations in that group by 8.5% and deaths by 4.6%." The Centers for Disease Control "does not disagree with the latest findings, but points out the vaccine is the only one we've got; that it is safe and does save lives," said Dr. Anne Schuchat of the CDC. Osterholm said, "We need new and better vaccines and fast."

        USA Today  (10/26, Szabo) reports, "Seasonal flu shots prevent only about 59% of infections in adults - and that's not effective enough to protect people in a global outbreak, says a new analysis that may help accelerate research on an improved vaccine."

        MedPage Today  (10/26, Smith) reports, "In a meta-analysis, the trivalent inactivated vaccine (TIV) -- the most widely prescribed type of vaccine in the US -- had a pooled efficacy of 59% in people 18 through 64, according to Michael Osterholm, PhD, of the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, and colleagues." Meanwhile, "the live attenuated vaccine (LAIV) was highly effective in children ages 6 months to 7 years, but there were no good data for older children or adults." Study  results are reported online in the Lancet Infectious Diseases.

        HealthDay  (10/26, Gardner) reports, "The vaccine for the pandemic H1N1 flu was about 69 percent effective, which the study authors said was 'not adequate for a pandemic setting.'" Dr. Joseph Bresee, chief of the epidemiology and prevention branch in the influenza division of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said, "The findings are in line with other recent reviews and don't mean that people shouldn't get their annual flu shot."

        The Washington Post  (10/26, Stein) "The Checkup" blog writes, "The newer nasal spray flu vaccine is about 83 percent effective in children ages six months to seven years."