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Article doesn't mention that flu shots are always against previous year virus, not current. Developing a vaccine is a time consuming process (even one year is a
by deepsun 9y ago
Article doesn't mention that flu shots are always against previous year virus, not current. Developing a vaccine is a time consuming process (even one year is already a huge achievement).
So I'm still not convinced about flu shots. Other vaccines, like measles, are clear win, of course.
- doitLP 9y agoHuge point. I agree. The flu virus has mutated over loads of generations before it arrives again (it circles the globe with the seasons). The vaccine is a total crap shoot.
- geomark 9y agoMore like a coin flip since it's about 50% effective.
- AlexandrB 9y agoAs another comment pointed out the effectiveness hovers around 50% - which is better than ~0% from doing nothing. And there's no cost if you live in glorious socialist Canada. America's crazy healthcare system alters this calculus of course.
- onychomys 9y agoThat's not true, and it's not true in a totally fascinating way. The flu shot is aimed towards a projected virus, based in part on last year's viruses, but also on a host of other things. The nitty-gritty on it can be highly technical (and highly interesting, if you're into that sort of thing!), but here's a nice overview that should give the lay-person a broad idea of how it's done: https://www.cdc.gov/flu/professionals/laboratory/genetic-characterization.htm https://www.cdc.gov/flu/professionals/laboratory/genetic-cha...