Flu needle or inhaler?
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Summer isn’t over yet, but now is the time to start thinking about flu vaccinations for your kids. There are two options, the flu shot and a nasal spray vaccine, but the Centres for Disease Control, says they are no longer recommending the spray because it doesn’t do a good job protecting people. However, a study by McMaster University researchers found that contrary to those recent reports, the flu nasal spray provides the same protection as a standard shot.
The trial was conducted over a three year period by researchers from McMaster and what they found directly challenges recommendations from the Centres for Disease Control. Dr. Mark Loeb and his team travelled to Hutterite colonies in Western Canada. They randomly assigned nearly 1200 children with either the spray or the shot. The results are not consistent with the CDC’s findings.
“In contrast to what had been previously reported, they both were pretty equal. In other words, the nasal spray protected not better and not worse than the shot in the arm.”
Dr. Loeb says their results will be passed along to the Centre for Disease Control and the findings will be used to help make future decisions on influenza vaccinations.
“They said their recommendation not to use the nasal spray was interim so they are going to be looking at data from all over the world including our trial.”
But at least until the fall of 2017, the CDC will maintain their stance against a needle-free vaccination program.
