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Influenza Vaccine
About Influenza Vaccine
The first influenza vaccine was developed by Thomas Francis and Jonas Salk at the University of Michigan during World War II. The US military funded the research to prevent influenza epidemics among troops. The vaccine was licensed for civilian use in 1945. Flu vaccines must be updated annually because influenza viruses mutate rapidly. The World Health Organization recommends the viral strains for each seasons vaccine based on global surveillance. Flu vaccine effectiveness varies considerably from season to season, depending largely on how well the vaccine strains match circulating viruses. Roughly half of the US population receives a flu vaccine in a typical season. The vaccine prevents millions of illnesses and tens of thousands of hospitalizations each year. Universal flu vaccine research aims to target conserved viral proteins that do not mutate.
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