Just when you thought it was safe . . .

[niemeyjt]

Apparently, the flu vaccine this year didn't get it quite right. Mind you, I am still trying to persuade Mrs N to get it.

Next up will be the next variant of Covid from China opening up.

What a cheery start to 2023!

[Pathca]

There’s a lot ,and I mean a lot ,of influenza A around plus a few influenza B ,it’s adding another dimension to finding bed in hospital for patients as there are now three things cannot be mixed

[Blaze]

pparently, the flu vaccine this year didn't get it quite right.

It's hit and miss as I believe they have to decide well ahead which strain they think will hit us next. Best to avoid crowds and children, and wear a mask !

It's a sorry state of affairs that today hospitals can't cope, it's similar in parts of France : the problems with staff and bed shortages are patly due to decisions made by governments 10 to 20 years ago that have now come back to bite us. That said, medical personnel who refused to be vaccinated lost their jobs and hospitals won't ask them back for fear of strikes by those who were vaccinated ....

[Pathca]

Several years ago there were severe issues with a flu strain that the epidemiologists hadn’t predicted,the following year they put that strain in the vaccine,and there were hardly any cases it’s a best guess kind of thing

[niemeyjt]

Are they still using trivalent vaccines in the UK? I think the trivalent only targets one A variant whereas the tetravalent targets two - another issue a year or two back.

edit - trivalent protects against two A strains and one B. I am sure there was an issue with the "missing" B a while back.

edit 2 - https://www.telegraph.co.uk/global-heal ... iller-flu/ - from 2018

The new flu jab will leave pensioners unprotected against the so-called Japanese flu that claimed thousands of lives last winter, health officials have said.

Public Health England (PHE) confirmed on Tuesday night that the latest vaccine will offer no direct protection against the B/Yamagata strain, thought to have been responsible for six in 10 ­influenza-related hospital admissions in January.

[Pathca]

https://www.gov.uk/government/publicati ... 023-season
I think there was something a couple of years ago when one age group got a Trivalent,and another a Bivalent with an adjuvant

[niemeyjt]

Just looked - I got "Vaxigrip Tetra" - so it seems like the Swiss use different producers to the UK. Here my company buys and pays - not my health insurance.

[exile]

pparently, the flu vaccine this year didn't get it quite right.

It's hit and miss as I believe they have to decide well ahead which strain they think will hit us next. Best to avoid crowds and children, and wear a mask !

It is a bit better than hit and miss. They look at winter flu in Oz and NZ and which strain(s) are dominant. The vaccines are then based on these. They have to take a view fairly early on regarding the antipodean strains, since the vaccine has to be made, distributed and started to be put into arms before the Southern climes have finished their winter season.

Inevitably some years something new develops after the vaccine strains are fixed. We all remember these awful "mistakes" but somehow never remember the 4 years in 5 (or probably better) when they get it right.

[niemeyjt]

For detailed analysis - https://cdn.who.int/media/docs/default- ... nload=true

Interesting that egg-based vaccines differ from cell-cultured.

[niemeyjt]

Now the next Covid strain is doing the rounds in the US - an omicron variant so hopefully those with the appropriate vaccination will have some protection.

source: https://news.sky.com/story/new-covid-va ... s-12778334

Meanwhile, what will next come out of China?