The influenza vaccine formulation for the 2011-2012 vaccine was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Monday, reports Yahoo! News.
Influenza is a contagious respiratory disease caused by influenza virus strains.
The release stated that the vaccine will be used by the six manufacturers licensed to produce and distribute influenza vaccine for the United States.
The brand names and the manufacturers for the 2011-2012 season include: Afluria, CSL Limited; Fluarix, GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals; FluLaval, ID Biomedical Corporation; FluMist, MedImmune Vaccines Inc.; Fluvirin, Novartis Vaccines and Diagnostics Limited; and Fluzone, Fluzone High-Dose and Fluzone Intradermal, Sanofi Pasteur Inc.
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, between five and 20 percent of the U.S. population develops influenza each year, which leads to more than 200,000 hospitalizations from related complications. Although influenza-related deaths vary each year, they can range anywhere from 3,000 to 49,000.
In terms of preventing influenza, vaccination is the foundation. The vaccine formulation protects against the three virus strains that research indicates will be the most common during the upcoming season.
Karen Midthun, M.D., director of FDA's Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, said in the release to Yahoo!, “Vaccines to prevent seasonal influenza have a long and successful track record of safety and effectiveness in the United States. It is important to get vaccinated every year, even if the strains in the vaccine do not change, because the protection received the previous year will diminish over time and may be too low to provide protection into the next year.”
