[SaneVax: During the last year, the FDA approved four new influenza vaccines. The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) chose to postpone discussing new evidence indicating flu vaccine effectiveness may not last an entire flu season. They also postponed discussions on how medical professionals should choose which new flu vaccine to use. The only decision they made was to add all four new flu vaccines to those recommended for use during the next flu season. What is wrong with this picture?]
ACIP: Four Vaccines Added for the Next Flu Season
By Todd Neale, Senior Staff Writer, MedPage Today
Four newly approved influenza vaccines were added to the guidance for the 2013-2014 season following a meeting of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP).
At one of the committee’s regular meetings at CDC headquarters in Atlanta, ACIP members unanimously approved the addition of two quadrivalent vaccines, a cell culture-based vaccine, and a recombinant hemagglutinin vaccine produced using insect cell cultures. The additions were accompanied by new abbreviations that reflected the increasing variety of vaccine types beyond trivalent inactivated vaccine (TIV) and live-attenuated influenza vaccine (LAIV).
The new vaccines, all approved within the last year, are:
- Flucelvax by Novartis — a trivalent, cell culture-based inactivated influenza vaccine (ccIIV3) approved for use in individuals 18 and older.
- Flublok by Protein Sciences Corporation — a trivalent, recombinant hemagglutinin vaccine (RIV3) approved for use in adults ages 18 to 49
- FluMist Quadrivalent by MedImmune — a quadrivalent LAIV approved for healthy, nonpregnant individuals ages 2 to 49 (all FluMist will protect against two A strains and two B strains for the upcoming season)
- Fluarix Quadrivalent by GlaxoSmithKline — a quadrivalent, inactivated influenza vaccine (IIV4) approved for individuals ages 3 and older
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