11/19/2009

in

But only for a select age group, military study says.

Justin Key

Amid all the bad press for the H1N1 vaccine, a study presented Thursday at the 58th annual meeting of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygeine in Washington, D.C. showed that people who received the **seasonal** flu vaccine last year may have higher protection against the swine flu virus.  
  
"Overall, those that received a seasonal flu vaccine last year had a 45% less chance of developing swine flu compared to those who did not get the seasonal flu vaccine," says the author of the study, retired U.S. Army Col. Jose Sanchez.  
  
Sounds like there's no reason to get the H1N1 vaccine then, huh? Well, not quite. That same study, conducted by the Armed Forces Health Surveillance Center, suggests that the seasonal vaccine's protection is like a bell-curve: only the oldest and youngest are affected, while all others are still as open to H1N1.  
  
Bizarre? Sanchez doesn't think so. He explained that young adults did not experience viruses like H1N1 during their childhood (and consequently have a chance to build immunity) while other groups have.  
  
It's also notable that the seasonal flu had a greater effect on preventing severe reactions to swine flu as opposed to cases where people experience mild symptoms. The reason for this is unknown.  
  
The data for the study was drawn from the military community between April and Oct. 15 of this year. Making up the results are 1,205 people who had contracted H1N1 and 4,820 controls who remained healthy. Health experts still push for the swine flu vaccine as the best form of protection.