But researchers at the Center for Vaccine Development at Saint Louis University are conducting a study to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of a candidate vaccine in the form of a nasal spray for healthy working adults. This figure does not include what is lost in terms of worker productivity. Current influenza vaccine recommendations emphasize yearly administration of an injection, or shot, to high risk populations where the health and economic benefits of vaccination have been well established. However, studies in healthy working adults have not been a major focus.
Influenza accounts for millions of days lost from work each year.
Due to the cost of absenteeism from work and medical care, plus the growing number of dual career and single parent families, it has been questioned whether an influenza vaccine should be administered to healthy adults. The test vaccine stimulates immunity that is similar to natural infection. It is a live, attenuated, influenza virus vaccine. Since this candidate vaccine enters the body via the respiratory tract, it is possible that the live virus vaccine is at least as effective or more so in either preventing influenza disease or in decreasing its severity than the inactivated vaccine given as a shot. Volunteers are needed for this study.