Red17
Guru
- Location
- South London
The flu jab is based on a best guess of the anticipated flu strains each year, but I was just wondering whether the health service actually says whether they got the right strains, or they prefer us not to know.
Flu jab effective?
- Thread starter Red17
- Start date
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Drago
Legendary Member
- Location
- Suburban Poshshire
They do state which strains they're targeting. It's not difficult to hit Google 6 month later and see what the prevalent strains turned out to be.
Punkawallah
Über Member
It will be 50/50, regardless. It’ll either work, or it won’t.
fossyant
Ride It Like You Stole It!
- Location
- South Manchester
It's a gamble, may or may not work. May make symptoms less etc. Worth doing if you are or have vulnerable people in your family that you can't avoid if ill. I haven't bothered with either since the covid jabs stopped for us mid 50's. MrsF and my parents have had them.
Touch wood, I've not had anything in the last few years, despite working in a Uni. I'm not often out mixing in pubs etc.
Touch wood, I've not had anything in the last few years, despite working in a Uni. I'm not often out mixing in pubs etc.
Vantage
Carbon fibre... LMAO!!!
- Location
- Behind everyone else, Bolton
Same.
Regular.Cyclist
Über Member
- Location
- South West Scotland 🏴
It’s probably statistically better than 50/50 as they monitor the flu season in other parts of the world so have a reasonably good idea of what is prevalent and therefore likely to head our way..
lazybloke
Ginger biscuits and cheddar
- Location
- Leafy Surrey
Survivors of the 1918 Spanish flu were believed to have residual resistance/immunity to the Swine flu pandemic.
On that basis, building up a catalogue of slightly different flu vaccinations each year seems like there might be a cumulative benefit to all of the included strains. Maybe.
And they are effective: I've looked previously at UK winter flu stats, and recall a fairly significant fall in the numbers when the seasonal flu jab was introduced.
On that basis, building up a catalogue of slightly different flu vaccinations each year seems like there might be a cumulative benefit to all of the included strains. Maybe.
And they are effective: I've looked previously at UK winter flu stats, and recall a fairly significant fall in the numbers when the seasonal flu jab was introduced.
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Ming the Merciless
There is no mercy
- Location
- Inside my skull
It ant least as effective than no jab.
lazybloke
Ginger biscuits and cheddar
- Location
- Leafy Surrey
I'm enjoying the mulled wine too!
figbat
Slippery scientist
- Location
- South Oxfordshire, UK
This is not evidence of effectiveness though. You have no idea if the jab helped you fend off a flu infection or if you simply haven’t been exposed to it.
Ming the Merciless
There is no mercy
- Location
- Inside my skull
(I'm not a medic but) my understanding is that live attenuated and tri-valent vaccinces will give a degree of protection even against those variants is is not targetted for. Max benefits for the designed variants but reduced risk for others (depending on variant, etc.)
Ian
Ian
Vantage
Carbon fibre... LMAO!!!
- Location
- Behind everyone else, Bolton
Some say the same about the MMR and COVID vaccines.
Personally I'll take my chances with the belief that the meds will save my ass.
The Workd Health Organisation models the likely strains each year. We have the advantage in the northern hemisphere of seeing which are the prevalent strains in the southern hemisphere and as we did last year, can change the strains involved in the vaccines.
The current vaccine is quadrivalent type - 4 different types targeted in the one vaccine. (The one for 65 and over is adjuvented - aQIV - which is effectively enhanced to make it more effective)
The guidance for 25/26 is that we will move to a trivalent (TIV) which will be more effective in targeting the current strains.
