The Center for Disease Control (CDC) announced that the strain of influenza virus chosen as the basis of this year's vaccine does not match the common strains of flu virus now circulating.

The CDC also warned of the severity of the strains of the flu this season.
 
"While flu vaccines are usually about 60 percent effective, this season it could be 40 percent." CBS Evening News
 
Here Is Why
In the process of developing the flu shot there is a delay between when the flu vaccine has to be manufactured and when it is actually administered. During this time, the flu virus has ample opportunity to mutate or drift. Manufacturing begins four to six months before the flu season takes off, meaning scientists must guess or predict which virus strain will be dominant. Los Angeles Times (12/5, Morin)
 
The makers of the flu shot "guessed wrong" in their selection of the virus to base the shot on. "Between the time they selected the strain for the vaccine in February and now, the flu strain in the community mutated. So, the vaccine no longer provides protection," Dr. Richard Besser explained. "The shot is not going to work the way a flu vaccine normally works. But it should provide some level of protection and some protection is better than none."   ABC World News
    
The strains of this flu this season are particularly severe
 
While the H3N2 flu strain is the dominant variety, three other strains are also circulating, according to USA Today (12/5, Szabo). The H3N2 strain "has doubled rates of hospitalizations and deaths in the past, especially among older people, very young children and people with chronic health conditions."
 
What You Can Do:
At the first signs of flu call the WorldClinic hotline immediately.

Symptoms consistent with acute influenza:
- High fever
- Headache
- Severe aches
- Cough

If you are diagnosed with acute influenza you will be prescribed Tamiflu immediately. The key is to call early because you must start Tamiflu within the first 48 hours of symptoms.
 
"It's too late to make a new vaccine for this season, so people who think they may be getting the flu should see their doctor right away," adding that "the most effective anti viral drugs work best in the first 48 hours of getting sick." Dr Nancy Snyderman NBC Nightly News
 
Dr. Thomas Frieden of the CDC noted that only one of every six people suffering from the flu get antivirals, saying those drugs "aren't a substitute for vaccine. Vaccine prevents flu, but anti-virals are an important second line of defense ... and this year treatment with anti-viral drugs is especially important."
 
If you are concerned or have any questions, please feel free to contact us. We are closely monitoring the situation and should any developments occur that require immediate action, we will,  of course, notify you.