The vaccine study enrolled 1,602 children from 15 months to 6 years old. Researchers targeted healthy young children because they experience the highest incidence of influenza and are a major source of its spread. The new vaccine is made from a weakened influenza virus. While it cannot cause influenza, it is designed to stimulate antibodies in the nasal passage that protect against naturally acquired infection. The flu affects up to 50 million people a year in the United States.
Epidemics usually occur between late fall and early spring.
More than 20,000 people die from influenza and its complications each year. Calif. The company has named the new product FluMist. Scientists at the University of Michigan, NIH and Aviron developed the new vaccine.