After decades with a single type of flu vaccine – the flu shot – there are now many different kinds of flu vaccines that many of us can choose from. And your choices are not just between the nasal spray flu vaccine vs a flu shot. There are also a lot of different kinds of flu shots available now.
Having choices is nice.
It would be also be nice to have a little more guidance on what to do with these choices.
Are any of the flu vaccines better than others?
Which Flu Vaccine Should You Get?
This year, we will have:
- quadrivalent flu shots – Afluria, Fluarix, FluLaval, Fluzone, Fluzone Pediatric Dose
- quadrivalent flu shots that are cell-culture based – Flucelvax
- quadrivalent flu shots that can be given intradermally – Fluzone Intradermal
- trivalent flu shots – Afluria
- trivalent flu shots that are adjuvanted – Fluad
- high dose trivalent flu shots – Fluzone High-Dose
- quadrivalent flu shots that are made with recombinant technology – Flublok
- nasal spray flu vaccine – Flumist
Which one should you get?
It is actually easy to start by asking which one you should get for your kids, as many of these flu vaccine options are only available for adults and seniors.
Flu Vaccine Options
Before you start thinking too long and hard about potential options, keep in mind that you might not have as many options as you think.
“Not all products are likely to be uniformly available in any practice setting or locality. Vaccination should not be delayed in order to obtain a specific product when an appropriate one is already available.”
Prevention and Control of Seasonal Influenza with Vaccines: Recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices—United States, 2018–19 Influenza Season
Doctors and clinics might not stock multiple brands or types of flu vaccines, so you might have to get whatever flu vaccine that they have available.
“Within these guidelines and approved indications, where more than one type of vaccine is appropriate and available, no preferential recommendation is made for use of any influenza vaccine product over another.”
Prevention and Control of Seasonal Influenza with Vaccines: Recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices—United States, 2018–19 Influenza Season
And that’s okay. In most cases, there haven’t been head to head studies showing that one flu vaccine is better than another.
Flu Vaccine Options for Kids
Still, since these options might be available to you, it is good to know about them.
This year, younger kids, between the ages of 6 months and 3 years, can either get:
- FluLaval Quadrilvalent
- Fluarix Quadrivalent
- Fluzone Quadrivalent Pediatric
While you are unlikely to notice a difference, both FluLaval and Fluarix are given at a 0.5ml dose containing 15 µg of HA per vaccine virus, while Fluzone is given at a 0.25ml dose containing 7.5 µg of HA per vaccine virus. Why the difference? “Safety and reactogenicity were similar between the two vaccines,” even at the different doses.
Basically, these are just different brands of the same type of flu shot.
There are even more options as your kids get older though, including Fluzone Quadrivalent (age three and above), Afluria Quadrivalent or Trivalent (age three and above), Flucelvax Quadrivalent (age four and above), FluLaval and Fluarix.
Of these, some folks wonder if Flucelvax, since it isn’t made in chicken eggs, might be more effective than the others. Remember, one of the things that are thought to make the flu vaccine less effective than most other vaccines is that they are made in eggs, leading to mutations. And there is actually some evidence that those flu vaccines that are not made in eggs might be more effective.
“And the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center is taking that a step further, saying it will only be buying the two egg-free vaccines on the market: Flucelvax and FluBlok. That’s because there is some evidence these two formulations may work better than the older vaccines grown in eggs, said Dr. Richard Zimmerman, who advises the UPMC Influenza Committee.”
Guidance on which flu vaccine to get: Shots for kids, maybe go egg-free
Again, remember that the CDC has made “no preferential recommendation” for one flu vaccine over another. Why not? We don’t have enough information to make that kind of recommendation.
Should parents only ask for Flucelvax? That would only work if they made enough doses for every kid to get vaccinated, which they didn’t. Should you hold out until you can find FluceIvax for your kids? No, since doing that might leave them unvaccinated once flu season hits.
What else should you know about your flu vaccine options? While over 80% of flu vaccines are now thimerosal free, most of these flu vaccines are still available in multi-dose vials with thimerosal.
Also thimerosal free, this year, Flumist is back as an option. It is available for healthy kids who are at least two years old. Although the AAP has issued a preference for flu shots this year, the ACIP says that kids can get either Flumist or a flu shot.
What about if your kids are allergic to eggs?
“Persons who report having had reactions to egg involving symptoms other than urticaria (hives), such as angioedema, respiratory distress, lightheadedness, or recurrent emesis; or who required epinephrine or another emergency medical intervention, may similarly receive any licensed, recommended, and age-appropriate influenza vaccine (i.e., any IIV, RIV4, or LAIV4) that is otherwise appropriate for their health status.”
Prevention and Control of Seasonal Influenza with Vaccines: Recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices—United States, 2018–19 Influenza Season
Unless they had a severe allergic reaction to a previous flu vaccine, they can get any available flu vaccine, especially if the previous reaction was only hives or they are able to eat eggs.
What if you want a flu vaccine without aluminum? Take your pick. While it would be safe it was, aluminum is not an ingredient in flu vaccines.
Flu Vaccine Options for Adults
In addition to all of the flu vaccines available for older kids, adults have a few more options:
- Afluria Quadrivalent or Trivalent can be given by jet injector to those between the ages of 18 and 64 years
- Flublok Quadrivalent – a recombinant flu shot that can be given to those who are at least 18 years old
- Fluzone High-Dose – a trivalent flu shot with a higher dose of flu virus antigens (4 times the amount of antigen as a regular flu shot) that is available for seniors who are at least 65 years old
- Fluad – a trivalent flu shot with an adjuvant that is available for seniors who are at least 65 years old
Why get a flu vaccine with a jet injector instead of a standard needle? High-pressure jet injectors don’t use needles!
Like FluceIvax, Flublok is not made in chicken eggs. The recombinant hemagglutinin(HA) proteins are made in insect cell lines. Does Flublok work better than egg based flu vaccines? That’s the theory, but again, there is no preference for one of these vaccines over another.
Seniors have even more choices.
Should they get Fluzone High-Dose, Fluad, or one of the other flu vaccines? Both have been shown to be more effective than standard flu vaccines in seniors, but they have not been compared against each other.
“In a Canadian observational study of 282 people aged 65 years and older conducted during the 2011-12 season, Fluad was 63% more effective than regular-dose unadjuvanted flu shots.”
CDC on People 65 Years and Older & Influenza
But neither Fluzone High-Dose nor Fluad are quadrivalent, so only protect against three flu virus strains.
Is there a quadrivalent flu shot for older adults that might work better than standard flu shots?
Yes. FluceIvax and Flublok are non-egg based quadrivalent flu shots that might be more effective than standard flu vaccines.
So are you more confused now that you know you have so many options? Just remember that for most people, the mistake isn’t about choosing the right flu vaccine, it is about not getting vaccinated.
What to Know About Your Flu Vaccine Options
While it might seem like you have a lot more options in a flu vaccine this year and that some might be more effective than others, keep in mind that availability will likely greatly limit these “options.”
And the best flu vaccine is the one that you actually get, as it will be the one that reduces your risk of getting the flu. Missing your chance to get vaccinated and protected because you are waiting for a specific brand or type of flu vaccine isn’t going to help keep the flu away.
More on Your Flu Vaccine Options
- MMWR – Prevention and Control of Seasonal Influenza with Vaccines: Recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices—United States, 2018–19 Influenza Season
- Influenza ACIP Vaccine Recommendations
- CDC – Influenza vaccines — United States, 2018–19 influenza season
- CDC – How Influenza (Flu) Vaccines Are Made
- CDC – Different Types of Flu Vaccines
- CDC – Seasonal Influenza Vaccine Supply for the U.S. 2018-2019 Influenza Season
- FDA – Influenza Virus Vaccine for the 2018-2019 Season
- FDA – Influenza Virus Vaccine Safety & Availability
- CDC – People 65 Years and Older & Influenza
- Influenza Vaccine Availability Tracking System — IVATS
- FDA – Statement from FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, M.D., on FDA’s ongoing efforts to help improve effectiveness of influenza vaccines
- Flu vaccine grown without eggs provided measurably better protection this season, FDA says
- CDC – Cell-Based Flu Vaccines
- Influenza Vaccination of People with a History of Egg Allergy
- Study – Efficacy of Recombinant Influenza Vaccine in Adults 50 Years of Age or Older
- Study – Efficacy of High-Dose versus Standard-Dose Influenza Vaccine in Older Adults
- Study – Effectiveness of Adjuvanted Influenza Vaccination in Elderly Subjects in Northern Italy
- Clinical Trial – FLUAD vs. Fluzone High-Dose Study