Bird flu vaccine: what you need to know

Although a Candidate avian influenza vaccine It is not yet commercially available, medical experts advise people to get it as soon as it is available.

Dr. Linda Yancey, an infectious disease and internal medicine expert at Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center in Houston, told FOX Business that the vaccine will be crucial in protecting people and those around them from highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) A (the H5N1 virus, also known as bird flu .

“The US government is working to develop vaccines against avian influenza A(H5N1) viruses in case they are needed,” the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said.

According to the CDC, human infections with HPAI A (H5N1) virus are rare, but unprotected exposure to any infected animal or to an environment in which infected birds or other animals are present increases the risk of infection.

Avian influenza virus in wild birds has caused outbreaks among commercial poultry and backyard flocks, and has spread to wild and domestic mammals, according to the CDC. Since 1997, sporadic human infections have occurred in 23 countries, with a mortality rate of more than 50%. But only a few human cases have been reported since 2022. Most infections occur after close contact with infected or dead poultry or exposure to dairy cows during the ongoing H5N1 outbreak.

Egg production declines in the US as prices continue to rise with bird flu cases

Those most at risk of contracting bird flu — poultry workers, dairy farmers and livestock — are asked to wear protective clothing, including an N95 mask, gloves and eye protection, to reduce the likelihood of exposure.

Earlier this week, concerns about the virus increased when… A patient died in Louisiana After being hospitalized with the first human case of bird flu. Officials from the Louisiana Department of Health confirmed that the patient contracted the H5N1 virus after being exposed to a mixture of a non-commercial backyard flock and wild birds. This was the first death linked to bird flu.

Yancey said the virus is very concerning, given the high mortality rate and its already spread from birds to mammals.

“We know that we are only a few mutations away from being able to spread from person to person, which is why we went ahead and started developing a vaccine,” Yancey said. She believes this will either “fuse away because we are actively monitoring this…or it will mutate, it will spread, it will affect the population.”

New York City emergency room physician Dr. Robert Glatter told FOX Business that people need to be “vigilant.”

“As avian influenza spreads among birds and other mammals, including dairy cows and pigs, the potential for a ‘reassortment event’ increases the likelihood of genetic mutation occurring, which is a major problem,” he said.

A “reassortment event” occurs when two different viruses exchange genetic material, creating a new virus with a mix of traits from both. This often occurs in viruses such as influenza and can lead to new strains.

A patient with bird flu had viral mutations, raising concern about its spread between humans

Yancey said it wouldn’t take long to produce a new vaccine.

“All we have to do is use this new strain, which is something we do literally every flu season. Every flu season, we have a new flu vaccine for the strains circulating that season. So, all we have to do is do that,” she added. New breed.

In July 2024, Moderna received $176 million from the US government to develop an mRNA-based vaccine that could be used to treat avian influenza in humans.

Glatter said the development of bird flu vaccines is “essential at this time in light of recent deaths” and when they are approved, he believes the patients most at risk for adverse outcomes — those with lung and heart disease, chronic kidney disease, cancer patients and those with autoimmune diseases. – They must be the initial recipients. After that, it should be expanded to include lower-risk patients, he said.

Egg prices are high and will continue until 2025

Right now, the best way to protect themselves is to get the seasonal flu vaccine. Vaccination against seasonal influenza “reduces the chance that humans will become infected with avian and human influenza viruses. It also reduces the chance that human influenza strains will spread to animals such as pigs.”

This ultimately reduces the chances of a “reclassification event” occurring.