It’s flu season, and we know there are different strains of the illness, including H3N2, influenza B, and a decendent of the swine flu, an H1 subtype. But problems are now arriving because the current vaccines don’t work with a particular strain, one that is spreading. In this case, a new H3 subtype will be tough to treat.
Federal officials said Thursday that the current vaccine, unfortunately, isn’t a good match for what’s circulating now.
“Flu is unpredictable, but what we’ve seen thus far is concerning,” said Dr. Thomas R. Frieden, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
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Years in which H3 subtypes are more common than H1 subtypes tend to lead to more hospitalizations and deaths, he added. Moreover, about half of those H3 subtypes — or about 45 percent of all the samples tested so far — are of a new H3 subtype that this season’s flu vaccine does not protect well against. The new subtype first appeared overseas in March, Dr. Frieden said. Because it was not found in many samples in the United States until September, it is too late to change the vaccine, he said.
It is still recommended, however, that people get the flu shot in order to help fight off the other strains. And people with asthma, lung and heart problems and diabetes should definitely see a doctor at the first sign of symptoms so they can be prescribed antivirals like Tamifly or Relenza.
As Dr. Frieden said, those are “not miracle drugs,” usually they just might shorten the duration of the illness by a day. But for particularly vulnerable patients, it could be a difference of life or death.
