Feb 17, 2008 4:56 pm US/Central
Flu Vaccine Not Stopping Surprise Flu Strains
(WCCO)
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Every year the CDC designs a vaccine to fight the flu strains it predicts are coming, but medical scientists have been surprised by the strains that have swept across the U.S from the West and Southwest.
CBS
Minnesota is fighting the flu better than most states, at least for the time being. The Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta says in much of the country, it's vaccines are only 40 percent effective against this years flu.
However, the vaccines are working at a 90 percent rate in Minnesota.
"A big part of that is a matter of luck," said Dr. Joshua White, Assistant Medical Director at Unity Hospital in Fridley. "The strains of influenza we're seeing here in Minnesota happen to match the ones that were chosen for the vaccine."
Every year the CDC designs a vaccine to fight the flu strains it predicts are coming. Medical scientists have been surprised by the strains that have swept across the U.S from the West and Southwest.
"That doesn't mean we're not going to see the other strains that the rest of the country is seeing," said White. "They may not just be here yet."
Nationally, the situation is deteriorating. Two weeks ago the CDC said the vaccines were working against 50 percent of flu strains. On Friday, they said the number dropped to 40 percent.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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