CDC: says the Flu Shot was only 23% Effective Overall

[NACBA]

More than three-quarters of Americans who got this season’s flu shot could get the virus anyway, given a mismatch between the flu strains covered by the shot and those actually causing illness in people, U.S. officials said.

An interim CDC report found the shot was only 23 percent effective overall, a performance about in line with what the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention predicted last year, experts said. At the time, CDC warned that the predominant flu virus, influenza A (H3N2), had “drifted” or changed genetically since the shot was made.

https://www.yahoo.com/health/most-am...180871022.html

[Natural Citizen]

NACBA, sometimes you remind me of an old forum member from south of the border. Just sometimes, mind you.

[NACBA]

NACBA, sometimes you remind me of an old forum member from south of the border. Just sometimes, mind you.

I am Latino

[Lucille]

NACBA in no way resembles Eduardo.

[Ronin Truth]

FWIW, got the shot, no flu ....... so far. <shrug>

[angelatc]

FWIW, got the shot, no flu ....... so far. <shrug>

23% is still better than nothing.

[Zippyjuan]

It is impossible to get a flu vaccine to be 100% effective because there is not just a single flu virus out there. There are hundreds if not thousands. They try to pick the most common when they prepare the vaccine for the coming year (it has to be developed months in advance to be able to produce enough). There are always new versions coming along.

[angelatc]

It is impossible to get a flu vaccine to be 100% effective because there is not just a single flu virus out there. There are hundreds if not thousands. They try to pick the most common when they prepare the vaccine for the coming year (it has to be developed months in advance to be able to produce enough). There are always new versions coming along.

I don't think that there's any vaccine that is 100% effective. A lot of the genetic mapping efforts are geared towards tailoring medications to specific individuals, though. Once they start to master that, the effectiveness will start to climb.