Justin,
Good answer. I am an immunologist and would have said pretty much the same
thing.
Joe
Justin Cobb <jacobb at uiuc.edu> wrote in message
news:b_kP4.13130$nb2.272255 at vixen.cso.uiuc.edu...
> Changing the flu vaccine isn't necessarily an admission that the vaccine
> used for this past flu season did not have the right types. The CDC
changes
> the flu vaccine every year. This is done because, as you said, the
> influenza virus mutates frequently. According to my microbiology
professor,
> they find the three or so most frequent strains for a season and use
> attenuated viruses of these strains to produce the vaccine. This doesn't
> mean that they will always have the right strains when the flu season does
> come around, but this is probably the best they can do in order to have a
> vaccine prepared when it is time for people to get their flu vaccination.
>> Also, I'm no expert in immunology, but from the basic concepts that I do
> know, I would say that it is probably unlikely that a vaccine containing
the
> "wrong" strains would weaken the immune response to the "right" strain.
> Specific antibodies are produced by a B-cell line that is specific for the
> antigen targeted by the antibodies (clonal expansion) so the introduction
of
> a different strain of the virus would simply induce the production of a
new
> line of B-cells specific for that strain.
>> Again, I'm no immunology expert, but I hope this helps to answer your
> questions.
>> --
> Justin Cobb
> Sophomore, Biology-General
> University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
> School of Life Sciences
> <RSAMSON18 at cs.com> wrote in message news:43.426f893.263eef46 at cs.com...> > The CDC is changing the flu vaccine for the next season. Without
> > specifically saying
> > so, I believe it is an admission that the vaccine used for the season
just
> > ending did
> > not have the right types, which explains the extensive outbreak among
> those
> > who
> > were vaccinated. Because of the ability of the flu virus just to change
> even
> > slightly
> > and thus render the vaccine ineffective, I wonder if people who have a
> strong
> > immune
> > system should avoid the vaccine since the vaccine may weaken the immune
> system
> > response to a strain which is only slightly different than one that the
> > vaccine was
> > intended for. Something to think about. This would not apply to
vaccines
> > for viruses
> > that do not mutate so readily.
> > Ralph L. Samson
> >
> > ---
>>
