Content about Influenza vaccine

HARRISBURG, Pa. — "Numerous" physicians in Pennsylvania are supporting a bill that would expand the range of immunizations that pharmacists can provide, a state pharmacy group said Thursday.

The Pennsylvania Pharmacists Association said doctors around the state were urging legislators to support House Bill 776 in letters to the House Professional Licensure Committee, urging that members support the bill and vote it out of committee soon. The bill would expand the immunizations pharmacists can provide to children older than 7 years.

NEW YORK — According to a study by the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, text-message reminders do not increase the likelihood an expecting mother will receive a flu shot, Reuters reported this week.

ATLANTA — An early look at this season’s reports indicates that about 90% of flu-related pediatric deaths occurred in children who had not received a flu vaccination this season, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Friday. 

The number of influenza-associated pediatric deaths reported to the CDC during the current season surpassed 100 as an additional 6 deaths were reported in FluView last week. To date, this brings the total number of influenza-associated pediatric deaths reported to the CDC to 105 for the 2012-2013 season.

NEW YORK — The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last week set the stage for the first quadrivalent influenza vaccine to be introduced in the 2013-2014 flu season, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal. 

Quadrivalent vaccines will contain two A strains and two B strains of flu. The triumvirate vaccines in use today contain two A strains and one B strain of flu. 

ATLANTA — This year's triumvirate influenza vaccine was less effective in seniors as compared to the general population, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's "Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report" published Friday. Overall effectiveness of the vaccine was 56%, similar to an earlier interim estimate of 62%. 

The adjusted, age-stratified vaccine effectiveness point estimates were 58% for children, 46% for adults younger than 50, 50% for men and women between the ages of 50 years and 64 years and 9% for seniors. 

BOSTON — According to research published Thursday in the New England Journal of Medicine, not all respiratory ailments that generate influenza-like symptoms can be attributed to the flu. The human metapneumovirus — which is not a strain of influenza, is impervious to antiviral medicines like Tamiflu and does not have an available vaccine according to reports — causes just as many hospitalizations and outpatient visits among children as does the flu. 

MISSISSAUGA, Ontario — The team of pharmacists at Rexall Pharma Plus administered 190,000 of the more than 200,000 flu shots provided by pharmacists in Ontario this flu season, the Canadian retailer announced on Thursday.

Rexall Pharma Plus offered flu shots at all of its more than 250 Ontario pharmacies any time, with no appointment necessary. Rexall is Katz Group Canada’s flagship national chain.

Good, but it could be better.

I’m talking about the results of a nationwide survey of Americans who were vaccinated against influenza for the 2012-2013 flu season. Based on an online poll of nearly 1,100 adults in mid-January, researchers for Ipsos Public Affairs found a solid majority of Americans still rely on their family physician for their flu shots, but that retail pharmacies and walk-in clinics are making significant progress in their campaign to shift the center of gravity for immunizations away from the doctor’s office.

CAMP HILL, Pa. — Rite Aid reported a 0.3% increase in comps for the month of January, the retail pharmacy chain said Thursday.

The increase included a 4.2% increase in front-end comps, 2.4% of which came from sales of OTC flu products. Pharmacy comps decreased by 1.4%, while same-store prescription count increased 5%, 3.4% of which came from flu-related prescriptions and flu shots. Total store sales for the four-week period, which ended Saturday, decreased 0.5% to $1.91 billion.

ATLANTA — If the flu were a storm cloud, the influenza virus is hovering over America's Bread Basket on its way to the Southwest, according to data provided through the U.S. Outpatient Influenza-like Illness Surveillance Network. 

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday reported that 4.3% of patient visits reported through ILINet were due to influenza-like illness, above the national baseline of 2.2%. But as the map indicates, influenza rates are declining up and down the East Coast and is most virulent in Texas and states west.

For the week ended Jan. 19, flu incidence was predominant in the central United States and picking up across the West Coast. According to data provided through the U.S. Outpatient Influenza-like Illness Surveillance Network, 4.3% of patient visits reported through the network were due to influenza-like illness, above the national baseline of 2.2%. 

SILVER SPRING, Md. — The Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday approved Protein Sciences' Flublok, the first trivalent influenza vaccine made using an insect virus (baculovirus) expression system and recombinant DNA technology.