Are you presently faced with the question, “Which of these technological advances has improved flu vaccines?” This post is for you.
Flu vaccines are one of the most important medical advances of the last century. They’ve saved millions of lives and helped to keep many people healthy during flu season. As with all medical advances, though, they’re not perfect.
The flu vaccine is constantly being improved upon by researchers to make it safer, more effective, and easier to administer. Here, we will discuss in detail everything you need to know about recent technological advances improving flu vaccines.
A Quick Answer!
Most times, when people ask this question, they are often faced with a couple of options, including viral culturing, the internet, antiviral drugs, and MRI scans. If you are in the same situation and your options are also as stated, then this is a section for you. Let’s give a quick answer to the question.
The answer here is virus culturing. This is a laboratory technique usually used to grow the virus in the lab to test for its ability to replicate in different cell lines.
This simple technique has opened the world of flu vaccines to a host of possibilities. It has brought a lot of advancement to the field. Many more infections can now be prevented because of virus culturing. But that’s not the only advancement that has happened to flu vaccines – there are some others.
In the following sections of this post, we will do a better breakdown of this topic to help you understand what flu vaccines are and how the field is advancing.
What Are Flu Vaccines?
Flu vaccines or influenza vaccines are a type of vaccine that protects against the flu. They are made from dead or weakened viruses, which helps your body build up resistance to the virus in case you come into contact with it.
Flu vaccines contain proteins from the outer coat of the virus, as well as chemicals called adjuvants that trigger your immune system to respond to them. These ingredients are injected into muscle tissue, like your arm or thigh, instead of being delivered through mucous membranes (like your nose).
How Does the Flu Vaccine Work?
The flu vaccine works by containing a small amount of the virus or pieces of it, called antigens. When you get a shot, your body’s immune system is stimulated to produce antibodies against those antigens. Then if you come into contact with the real thing later on, your body recognizes that virus and quickly releases antibodies to destroy it before it has a chance to make you sick.
What Are the Different Types of Flu Vaccines?
There are four different types of flu vaccines available: the injectable flu shot, the nasal spray flu vaccine, a cell-based vaccine, and the recombinant vaccine.
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Injectable shot
The injectable flu shot is a small needle that goes into your skin. It contains an inactive form of the virus that helps your body develop antibodies against it, so if you get the real virus later on, your body will already know how to fight it off.
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Nasal spray
The nasal spray flu vaccine contains the same inactive virus as the injectable version, but instead of going under your skin, it goes up your nose. The virus is sprayed into both nostrils at once, and sometimes this can cause some irritation or sneezing for up to 24 hours after getting vaccinated.
This type of vaccine is recommended for people who can’t get an injectable vaccine because of allergies or other health concerns.
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Cell-based flu vaccine
A cell-based flu vaccine uses actual human cells infected with the influenza virus instead of an inactive form of it. These cells are grown in a lab and then used as a vaccine that contains live but weakened viruses. These are similar to those found in nature during seasonal outbreaks each year (but not enough to cause symptoms).
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Recombinant vaccines
Recombinant vaccines are made from the same material as the flu virus, but they don’t contain living or dead viruses. They’re made using genetic engineering. Recombinant vaccines contain virus-like particles (VLPs) that are designed to look like a virus’s surface proteins.
These VLPs trigger an immune response similar to that caused by a real-life infection, but without causing illness.
What Are Some Recent Technological Advances Improving Flu Vaccines?
#1: Improvement in the manufacturing process
Newer manufacturing methods allow for greater scale and automation, which can help reduce costs and increase the speed at which vaccines are produced.
#2: Improvement in antigenic match
The influenza virus mutates rapidly, but by using modern molecular biology techniques like reverse genetics and other approaches, scientists can identify the most common strains of vaccine-relevant viruses early on in the flu season. That way, they are able to design an effective vaccine against them as quickly as possible.
#3: Improvement in delivery method
These days, many vaccines are delivered via nasal mist rather than injection (the most common type of flu shot). This allows patients to receive their shot without feeling pain or needing to get pricked with a needle!
#4: The use of adjuvants
Adjuvants are chemicals that are often added to vaccine preparations to help increase their effectiveness. This is a great technological advancement in the flu vaccine production field because it now makes flu vaccines more effective, hence protecting more people against the virus.
Availability of the Flu Vaccine Has Improved with Recent Processing Advances
Flu vaccine is now available in a nasal spray form
This form of the flu vaccine, called FluMist, is made from live influenza viruses that have been weakened so that they cannot cause illness. The virus is sprayed into the nose of children ages 2 to 8 years old and into one nostril of adults and older children.
In some cases, people who have a strong reaction to egg protein may not be able to use this type of vaccine. However, there are no other known restrictions on who can receive it.
Flu vaccine is now available in a needle-free injection form
This needle-free injection delivers the same weakened live virus used in the nasal spray version but via a microjet high-pressure delivery system instead of through spraying into your nostrils.
It also comes with fewer side effects than traditional flu vaccines because it does not contain any adjuvants or preservatives that can cause reactions or irritations at the site where you get your shot.
Conclusion
We’re excited to see what the future holds for vaccines and other innovations in healthcare. As we’ve seen with advances like the flu shot, technological advancements can make a huge difference in how we live our lives and interact with our environment.
The flu vaccine may not be the most exciting topic, but it can save lives – and that’s what really matters. So, we believe we have been able to help you answer the question, ‘which of these technological advances has improved flu vaccines.’ If you are still not sure, take a moment to scroll up to read each section again!
