AJ Robinson
A Bad Season
The United States is currently experiencing the worst flu season it has had in several years. According to a Healthline article, there have been over 12,000 deaths with over 9 million cases. Many of those cases were people who got their flu shot. The flu “season” takes place during the fall and winter, generally starting in October and finishing in March. As is such, we are likely swiftly approaching, or currently experiencing, the season’s peak, which can take place anywhere from December to February. But why do flu seasons vary in severity and why is this particular season worse than normal?
The Vaccine
Every year, the world’s best flu scientists meet to discuss what the composition of that year’s vaccine should be. However, there are many different strains of flu. There are types A, B, C, and D which all have special characteristics that set them apart from each other. For example, type A has a wider variety of host organisms while type B infects humans only, according to a McLaren article. To further complicate things, there are several subtypes for each main type. For example, the H1N1 strain differs greatly from the H3H2 strain (‘H’ designates the type of hemagglutinin antigen the virus has and ‘N’ designates the type of neuraminidase antigen the virus has. Thus, when scientists are deciding what strains the vaccine should resemble, they are faced with a pretty tough task. According to a CNN article, this vaccine conference can be summed up as a “guessing game”. This season, we are seeing more of the influenza B/Victoria strain, according to Healthline. As Dr. Marie-Lousie Landry tells Healthline, “58 percent of influenza B/Victoria strains and only 34 percent of influenza A/H3 tested matched the vaccine strains”. In other words, this years vaccine is not a great match for what is currently circulating. Nonetheless, everyone should still get their flu shot as it does offer some protection and may shorten your symptoms or even save your life if you contract the flu.
The Future
As shown by this year’s flu season, our current system for protecting ourselves against this deadly virus is imperfect at best. Scientists have to meet every Spring and give their best guess at what strains will be the most prominent many months later. This is because manufacturing the disease takes a long time, anywhere from six to nine months, according to a CNN bit. What’s more, the vaccine is made in chicken eggs, which, in addition to taking a long time to produce, actually can alter the original strain that was injected, thereby making much of the final product an even worse match to the circulating strains. But there is hope. Much research is being done to create a universal flu vaccine that protects its recipients from all strains of flu for life. According to CNN, there are already prototypes of this vaccine that have been used on many volunteers. But for now, it is important that everyone receives their flu shot as it may save their life.
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