I have been blogging about Pandemic Flu since November 2006. You can find my old blogs at this Archival Blogsite.
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I have been blogging about Pandemic Flu since November 2006. You can find my old blogs at this Archival Blogsite.
Am searching for a blog on MF59 adjuvant. Or an answer to the question: has it been improved since 1997? I am not a health care professional and am finding it difficult to understand the facts regarding this addition to vaccines. I understand it is in the flu vaccine rec. for seniors. Any help is greatly appreciated.
dinah, MF59 is currently not in any flu vaccine in the US. There is no evidence that MF59 has caused any harm to anyone. It has been given to millions of people in Europe. There, it has been given to the elderly in flu vaccines. This is helpful because the older you are, the weaker your immune response. Without some sort of extra boost, “regular” flu vaccine has relatively low effectiveness in the elderly.
Next year, a new flu vaccine (Fluzone) will be available to the elderly (over 65) in the US. This vaccine will *not* be adjuvanted, but will have a higher concentration of antigen than the regular vaccine.
Hope this answers your question.
Reference
US Clears High-Dose Sanofi Pasteur (SASY.PA) (JOBS) Flu Vaccine for Elderly
http://www.biospace.com/news_story.aspx?NewsEntityId=166392
MF59-adjuvanted vaccine: a safe and useful tool to enhance and broaden protection against seasonal influenza viruses in subjects at risk.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20218923