U.S. vaccine panel to discuss waning effectiveness, new shots
NEW YORK » Two years ago, George Green got stabbing pain and bad blisters around his right arm. It was the worst case of shingles his doctor had ever seen.
“I said, ‘Wait a minute, I had the vaccine! How come I got this?’” recalled Green, a 68-year-old engineer in Austell, Georgia, who got the shot seven years earlier.
His doctor at Emory University, Dr. Sharon Bergquist, said about 10 percent of the patients she’s given the shingles shot have come back with the disease years later.
No vaccine is perfect, and it can take many years to find out how well a new vaccine works and how long it lasts. Sometimes, health officials have called for an additional dose when it became clear the first round wasn’t cutting it. But disappointing performance is also prompting drugmakers to pursue new vaccines for older patients, using new additives to boost effectiveness.
The issue of waning protection is expected to be discussed when the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices meets in Atlanta. The two-day meeting opens Wednesday. The federal panel of experts recommends what vaccines children and adults should receive and when. of weaker immune systems. Some doctors wonder whether those seniors who get a shot in September need another dose in January to protect them through the flu season — a question that hasn’t been well studied, said Dr. William Schaffner, a Vanderbilt University vaccine expert who works with the committee. There’s a relatively new vaccine for over 65 that includes an immune-boosting additive, but it hasn’t been around long enough to know exactly how well works.
The vaccine panel will hear an update about a nasal-spray version of flu vaccine that it stopped recommending after health officials said it wasn’t working in U.S. kids. widely available in the 1980s and were later included in childhood shots. It is spread through contact with blood or other bodily fluids, and the vaccine is also recommended for some adults. Experts have noted signs of faltering protection, particularly in diabetics and older adults. Outbreaks in nursing homes and assisted living facilities have been a recurring problem.
Dynavax Technologies Corp. has developed an adult vaccine called Heplisav-B, which also uses a new additive. The shot showed impressive levels of protection in studies, but the Food and Drug Administration is seeking more information before deciding whether to approve it. The vaccine panel is expected to discuss it but doesn’t take a recommendation vote until a vaccine is licensed.