The Nasal Flu Vaccine Is Set to Come Back Next Year. Here ’s What to Know About It

After a two-year hiatus, the nasal flu vaccine is set to return to doctors’ offices next year. The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) voted 12 to 2 on Wednesday to return the nasal spray to the CDC’s list of recommended vaccines for the 2018-2019 flu season. Pending final approval from the CDC director, the vote would greenlight the spray for widespread use and compel insurance companies to cover it. The committee stopped short of explicitly recommending the nasal spray, however, and will instead let providers and patients decide if they’ll use it instead of traditional flu shots. There is one catch. Even though this year’s flu season is still in full swing, many providers have already purchased their supplies for the next one, STAT reports — so it may be too late for the spray, which is sold under the brand name FluMist, to make much of an impact next year. Here’s what to know about the nasal flu vaccine. How does the nasal flu vaccine work? Unlike traditional flu shots, which do not contain live influenza virus, FluMist delivers a dose of influenza that helps the body mount an immune response, but is weakened to the point that it won’t cause infection, explains CDC Medical Officer Dr. Lisa Grohskopf. And because FluMist is administered nasally, it may cut off disease transmission at the source, Grohskopf says. “One of the main mechanisms through which flu is thought to be spread is though respiratory droplets...
Source: TIME: Health - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Uncategorized healthytime medicine onetime Source Type: news