You may not have to roll up your sleeve for this year's flu vaccine. The Food and Drug Administration just approved FluMist, a needleless vaccine delivered by a squirt in the nose. Any healthy person between the ages of 5 and 49 is eligible to receive FluMist.
"This vaccine is a major breakthrough in the effort to immunize children against influenza without the fear and pain of a shot," says Dr. James King, a pediatrician at the University of Maryland Medical Hospital for Children.
In the 1990s, the University of Maryland was one of several institutions studying the effectiveness of FluMist. The vaccine study enrolled 1,602 healthy children ranging in age from 15 months to 6 years old.
At the University of Maryland Medical Center, 110 children took part in the study. Two-thirds of the children received the nasal flu vaccine, and one-third received a placebo. "Children who received the vaccine had 93 percent fewer cases of influenza than the children who received a placebo," King said.
Michael Cummings, 9, was a study participant. He called the vaccine "convenient" and he was especially pleased that the vaccine did not hurt.
Only 1 percent of the 1,070 children who received the vaccine developed culture-confirmed influenza during last year's flu season, compared to 18 percent of 532 children the same age who received a placebo. The researchers also found that the nasal flu vaccinations reduced the incidence of influenza-related complications, such as ear infections accompanied by fever. There was also a decreased use of antibiotics in the group that was vaccinated, which is important because of concern over the emergence of bacteria resistant to antibiotics.
The new vaccine is made from a weakened influenza virus. While it cannot cause influenza, it is designed to stimulate antibodies in the nasal passage that protect against naturally acquired infection. The new nasal spray vaccine contains two strains of influenza A and one strain of influenza B.
Children ages 5 to 9 who receive FluMist for the first time will need two doses at least four weeks apart to ensure they are protected. Otherwise, one dose is enough. FluMist has not been approved for use in toddlers and adults over 50.
The vaccine is expected to cost $46 a dose.
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