Children and Young Adults Should be Vaccinated Against H2N2 Influenza Virus

According to a vaccine researcher at the US National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, Gary Nabel, the Government should begin vaccinating children and young adults against a strain of influenza virus- H2N2. This virus had killed about 1-4million people between the years 1957-1968. The H2N2 virus is now circulating among birds and pigs. They could easily pass on this virus to humans under 50years of age who have little or no immunity. A pre-emptive vaccination campaign could help to avert a major pandemic.

Dr. Nabel said, "Governments, regulatory agencies and industry should develop a pre-emptive vaccination program for H2N2. Waiting until an outbreak occurs risks making the same kind of mistakes made over the H1N1 pandemic." Scientists believe that this would be a comparatively cheaper option than stockpiling the vaccine or waiting for a pandemic to strike.


Source-Medindia