Winter May Bring Flu Outbreaks Resulting From 'Drift' In Virus
A major outbreak of influenza, against which current vaccines will have little effect, is impending in the United States.
The outbreak threatens despite a prediction by the Public Health Service earlier this year that little or no influenza was expected in this country, with the possible exception of the Pacific Coast.
The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices of the PHS has issued a warning and suggested priorities for conserving current vaccines until a new, specific vaccine is produced. The committee met with respiratory disease experts from the United States and Great Britain at the National Communicable Disease Center, Atlanta.
The warning stems from analysis of viruses isolated during influenza outbreaks in Hong Kong and Singapore. It was found the viruses are "a marked antigenic change" from previous strains, including the infamous A2 strain, cause of the 1957 "Asian flu"
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