How's the Flu Hitting You?

"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
Well, here is from the AP, in today's Gannett-owned rag:

"About 2/3s of people with confirmed flu have a strain called 'A/Fujian'
The strain doesn't grow readily in fertilized chicken eggs, which made it
virtually impossible to include in the vaccine for this year's epidemic".

In other words, you're pretty much own with this particular strain...

Not quite, Jay. From the article: " "With a vaccine with a less optimal
match, you have to say it might not work at all," said Dr. Scott Harper, a
CDC epidemiologist. "That's very unlikely. Probably it will not be 90
percent effective. But we just have no good sense of how it will work in
humans. Biology is messy."

"The mismatch occurred when experts decided to include a strain called
A-Panama in this year's shot, the same as last year. It turns out that the
dominant virus this fall has been A-Fujian, which has two genetic mutations
that make it different. "

--
Jim Fisher