Flu vaccine: Needles or nasal spray?
- July 14, 2010 2:41 PM |
- By POV
Many Canadians will now have the option of taking a flu vaccination by needle or nasal spray. (Kin Cheung/Associated Press)
By CBC News
A nasal spray version of the flu vaccine has been approved for use in Canada, the vaccine maker says.
AstraZeneca Canada announced Wednesday that its FluMist vaccine has received Health Canada's approval.
The mist is sprayed into a nostril with no need for needles.
FluMist is administered annually, and is approved for the prevention of seasonal influenza in Canadians two to 59 years of age, the company said.
The spray has been used in the U.S. since 2003.
Because FluMist is made from a live virus, certain groups of people should not take it, including people with chronic pulmonary or cardiovascular problems, pregnant women, and health-care workers in contact with patients with severely weakened immune systems, according to the U.S. Immunization Action Coalition.
Read more.
For those able to take the FluMist vaccine, would you choose the spray or the needle? Will having a spray option make you more likely to get vaccinated? Let us know.
(This is not a scientific poll. It is based on readers' responses.)
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