Future flu vaccine may provide wider protection: US expert

Researchers are trying to develop new flu vaccines that may provide wider protection to people by including more of the virus strains in the vaccine, a US expert told Xinhua in an exclusive interview. The United States is currently experiencing a severe flu season, with 48 of its 50 states reporting widespread influenza activity. This season’s flu vaccine, which is recommended by officials and health experts as the most important step to fight the disease, is about 62 percent effective, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). “No vaccine is 100 percent effective, but vaccines are the best thing we have for many diseases,” Flor M. Munoz, assistant professor with the department of pediatrics-infectious disease at Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, said in a recent interview. Being 62 percent effective means “if you have the vaccine, you will decrease your chance of having an influenza that requires a visit...