Perhaps there's a silver lining to last year's H1N1 pandemic flu outbreak: those who were infected and survived appear to have developed 'super flu' antibodies that may help researchers develop an influenza inoculation that could be effective for a lifetime.
One reason health officials recommend a yearly flu shot, rather than an occasional booster as we do with many other infectious diseases such as measles, pertussis, or hepatitis, is because circulating flu strains vary significantly each year, requiring us to build new and different antibodies to protect ourselves against infection.
Monday, January 10, 2011
One Stop Flu Shot: Hope for a Universal Influenza Vaccine - TIME Healthland
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment