Rethink flu vaccine policy, says health expert

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From the "regular" press in Australia. Rethink flu vaccine policy, says health expertMarch 04, 2011<http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/rethink-flu-vaccine-policy-says-health-expert/story-e6frg6nf-1226015538824>synopsis: A leading flu expert has called for a rethink of flu vaccine policy, in the light of evidence suggesting people vaccinated against seasonal flu shortly before swine flu swept the globe had a greater risk of serious illness from the new strain. Collignon, professor of infectious diseases and microbiology at the Australian National University, said evidence was mounting to suggest that

instead of protecting people from dangerous new flu types, seasonal flu vaccines may increase the danger, at least for those not considered at high risk due to other conditions.Evidence from Canada, Hong Kong and some other countries suggested people who were infected with "normal" annual flu experienced a broader immunity over ensuing months than the protection conferred by vaccines.Although temporary, this broader immunity appears to have offered some protection against newer flu strains - a protection not felt by those who had not been infected with seasonal flu because they had previously had the

vaccine. While the effect seems to be temporary - possibly just months - Professor Collignon said the evidence was troubling enough to warrant a review."That's the opposite of what we expect vaccines to do - we expect vaccines to decrease your risk (of getting flu) by about 80 per cent, not increase it," he said."In the vast majority of people, (seasonal flu) gives a mild infection, or is even asymptomatic - which protects against other (flu) viruses much more broadly."To me, this is a red flag for saying we need to reassess the whole vaccine strategy, of vaccinating people without risk factors."Professor Collignon - who has been critical of Australia's response to swine flu - said a Canadian study had found people who received a seasonal flu vaccine in 2008 had double the risk of contracting swine flu when the pandemic swept the globe in 2009.Similar findings also emerged from a study in Hong Kong. Findings from had suggested that seasonal flu vaccine neither increased nor decreased the danger from swine flu.The theory that prior seasonal infection might protect against swine flu has also been raised by Melbourne University expert Mathews who, in a paper published in the journal Microbiology Australia, suggested young or middle-aged adults were "most susceptible to severe infection if they also lacked the short-lived, strain-transcending immune protection that would have been boosted by recent prior exposure to seasonal influenza".Previous incidents in Alaska, and the South Atlantic island of Tristan da Cunha, where flu outbreaks were more severe in populations long cut off from circulating seasonal flus, backed the theory, Professor Mathews said.Ian Barr, the deputy director of the WHO Collaborating Centre for Reference and Research on Influenza, said he had recently completed a study that showed seasonal vaccines did confer some protection.