Well, you know it’s must be summer when the pharmacies are trying to give you the flu shot. You might be asking yourself, “Isn’t flu season in the winter?” And you would be correct.
I hope your summer has been treating you well. It has been a hot one, particularly these last three weeks. All kidding aside, the pharmacies are trying to give you your flu shot a little premature. The reason is they get money to do this. I was picking up a medication for a friend and it felt like I was at a restaurant and the waitress or waiter (pharmacist) was asking for my order. “Have you had your flu shot yet? How about your Covid shot? Did you get your shingles shot? You might want to ask your doctor about the new pneumonia shot? RSV for anybody?”
If anything can be learned from the Covid vaccine or any vaccine that is short acting for that matter, is you want it to coincide with the season, the particular virus typically presents itself. For the flu (Influenza), that is usually, at the earliest, in November and at the latest in March. So if you were to receive a flu vaccine in July or August, the vaccines protection would be tapering off before the season even hit. I recommend that you think about the flu vaccine when the Fresno fair is in town, which is typically early October and I prefer getting it the first week of November or at least before Thanksgiving. That is the first gathering a family from all over the country for some people and that’s when the spread can begin.
It appears that one of my predictions from years ago has come true. When messenger RNA vaccines for Covid first came about I predicted that it would soon be how we receive our flu vaccine and here we are. Moderna has come up with a messenger RNA based flu vaccine called InFlusiva, which was approved August 5th of this year and indicated for individuals age 50 to 64. It’s also approved for high risk individuals greater than 65. My concern, as it was with the Covid vaccine, is this is not been studied for an appropriate amount of time. The studies only go over the efficacy and short term side effects. This is not a traditional vaccine. It is genomic medicine and will be inserted in every gene of every cell in your body. It is being hyped as being 27% more effective than the traditional flu vaccine. That sounds like quite a bit but when you look at absolute numbers, if you do not get vaccinated for the flu, your risk of getting the flu in a year is approximately 5 to 6%. If you get the traditional flu vaccine that risk drops to 2.8%. If you get the new vaccine, InFlusiva, that wrist drops to approximately 2%. So according to their studies, you are getting an additional .8% decreased risk. And I have yet to see the studies. So, unfortunately, I can’t confidently recommend this vaccine yet. Don’t get me wrong, I think the messenger RNA technology is a magical feat especially when it comes to cancer treatments now and in the future.
Merck and Moderna combined on developing a treatment for Stage IIB-IV melanoma. It is a personalized mRNA vaccine that, when combined with Mercks biologic, Keytruda (pembrolizamab), increased the recurrence-free survival and distant metastasis-free survival. After 5 years, the combination, reduced the risk of recurrence or death by 49% compared to Keytruda alone. it also reduce the risk of distant metastasis or death by 59%. It is a personalized therapeutic vaccine, not a preventative one. After melanoma surgery, the tumor is sequenced to identify unique mutations. Up to 34 of these sequences are encoded in an mRNA construct, which typically takes about 6 to 8 weeks. The mRNA instruction, program the patient’s cells to produce the neo-antigens training the immune system to recognize and attack residual melanoma cells. This is where mRNA technology works best. I would just like to see a little more time and therefore a little more evidence before I recommend it for something like the flu. As always you, the patient, are the ultimate boss and can decide what you feel is best for your situation. I can only give you the information and recommendations.
We will have a limited amount of flu vaccine at the office and it will not be available until mid October. So if you’re wanting it, I would just get it through your pharmacy because I typically saved the office flu vaccine for individuals where it is difficult to get to the pharmacy. For those of you who typically like to get it at the office, just give us a call during the season. I believe, more important than the vaccine is being more preventative with your health. If you’re sick, stay home until you feel better. Wash your hands on a regular basis. Exercise regularly, get good sleep and eat healthy, whole foods. Keeping your immune system primed and in shape is probably a better option than the vaccine by itself. “There is no vaccine for stupidity.”-Albert Einstein. Stay healthy my friends.
Doug
