 |
Dec.12 - Dec.19, 2004 |
Influenza Vaccine Saves Lives
Italian-Canadian experts Victor Fornasier and Ralph Masi offer opinions on flu shots
By Niccolò Marras
Originally Published: 2004-10-31
With winter approaching, flu and flu shots return to the forefront. This is a real problem for Canada, where flu kills thousands each year. As usual, people talk about vaccine stocks and of the usefulness of getting the shot.
The issue, about how advanced vaccination science is, was discussed with two university doctors.
We interviewed a researcher, Professor Victor Fornasier and a family physician, Doctor Ralph Masi. These two Italian-Canadian experts possess great theoretical and practical expertise. They agree in remarking that the vaccine is useful, even indispensable, for several categories.
Dr. Masi underscored the severity of flu epidemics. "We got scared by SARS, that caused 44 victims. Well, influenza is much worse: every year, in Canada, it kills about 6,700 people. Add to them the 70,000 more people who get hospitalized for severe symptoms, and the picture is clear."
Beating the flu requires a vaccine, but flu shots aren't 100 percent effective.
Victor Fornasier, biologist, laboratory physician and virologist at St. Michael's Hospital, explains the complexities of manufacturing flu vaccines. "Each year's vaccine is based on previous year's virus. To obtain the vaccine, we inoculate the virus in animals that start producing antibodies. These antibodies are then processed to prepare the vaccine. The whole process," continues Fornasier, "takes 3-4 weeks. This production delay is the problem. When the flu arrives, we normally have to deal with a strain that is different from the previous year; it resembles its predecessor somewhat, but it is not the same. However, when the flu begins to strike there's no time to produce a vaccine from the current strain, and we must use the one we have, which gives us 50-60 percent protection."
Doctor Masi, born in Amato (near Catanzaro), works at the University of Toronto in the departments of Family and Community Medicine and Public Health Sciences. He adds a note of optimism, saying, "By getting regularly vaccinated each year, after 4 or 5 years our organism is protected from at least 80 percent of flu viruses. It is true that the strains mutate every year, but they remain similar, and we can accumulate antibodies that boost our defences."
Page 1/...Page 2
|
| Home / Back to Top |
|
|
 |
|
|
</ td>
