Heat Blamed for Spray Vaccine’s Failure Against Swine Flu

By, Mike Stobbe, Associated Press

ATLANTA (AP) — The makers of the nasal spray version of the flu vaccine say now they know why it has failed to protect young U.S. children against swine flu — fragile doses got too warm.

The AstraZeneca FluMist vaccine works well for most flu strains, but small studies found it didn’t work very well against the swine flu bug that first emerged in 2009. Swine flu has returned each year since but wasn’t a big player this flu season.

The problem first came to light last year, when swine flu was behind most illnesses. At a medical meeting Thursday, (Read More)