Polyvalent influenza vaccine

Polyvalent influenza vaccine is a type of influenza vaccine that provides immunity against more than one type of antigen.[1] In the second week after receiving the flu shot, the body's immune system is triggered by the antigens so the body starts producing antibodies. These antibodies help fight against influenza viruses. Influenza symptoms and deaths can be prevented by getting an influenza vaccine every year.[2] Currently circulating influenza strains that can cause seasonal epidemics include influenza A viruses, which can be further divided into subtype A(H1N1) and A(H3N2), and influenza B viruses.[3]

Figure 1 shows the trivalent flu vaccine named Fluzone Intra-dermal within the 2011-2012 flu season. Since the 2015-2016 flu season, one more B-strain lineage virus has been added, and the vaccine became quadrivalent.

Influenza viruses were first identified in 1933 when a group of scientists, Wilson Smith, P.P. Laidlaw, and C.H. Andrewes, discovered that there was no bacteria infection from the throat samples of patients infected by influenza. They concluded that a virus caused the disease. After that, the researchers Thomas Francis and Jonas Salk developed the first influenza vaccine at the University of Michigan. The vaccine was tested for safety and effectiveness in the United States Army. It was afterward licensed for use. However, researchers had suspected that there was more than one viral strain of influenza as some patients did not develop antibodies to the strain discovered in 1933. By undergoing many investigations, the researchers discovered the influenza B virus. Thus, the influenza B virus was added to the vaccines and packaged as a bivalent vaccine in 1942.[4]

There are multiple types of polyvalent influenza vaccines available in the market, including egg-based, cell-based, and recombinant influenza vaccines. The World Health Organisation (WHO) will announce the viral strains to be included in flu vaccines annually. Starting from 2021/2022, all influenza vaccines are quadrivalent, containing two influenza A and two influenza B antigens.[5] These are called quadrivalent influenza vaccines (QIVs). Vaccination may also cause a range of adverse effects on patients, from fever, injection site pain to anaphylaxis, which is a severe allergic reaction.

  1. ^ Schlingmann B, Castiglia KR, Stobart CC, Moore ML (April 2018). "Polyvalent vaccines: High-maintenance heroes". PLOS Pathogens. 14 (4): e1006904. doi:10.1371/journal.ppat.1006904. PMC 5886581. PMID 29621336.
  2. ^ Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (2023-02-08). "Flu Vaccines". FDA.
  3. ^ "Influenza (Seasonal)". www.who.int. Retrieved 2023-03-15.
  4. ^ "History of influenza vaccination". www.who.int. Retrieved 2023-04-11.
  5. ^ Khalil N, Bernstein DI (April 2022). "Influenza vaccines: where we are, where we are going". Current Opinion in Pediatrics. 34 (2): 119–125. doi:10.1097/MOP.0000000000001103. PMID 35034078. S2CID 246001015.