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Where Does the Flu Shot Come From?

Once the World Health Organization predicts what strains of flu will occur in the winter, scientists begin to develop influenza vaccines. Manufacturers say the influenza vaccine takes at least six months to produce. Each year millions of people decide to get a flu shot, but surprisingly, most of the people who receive a flu shot don't know where the vaccine comes from or how it's produced.

  1. Virus Harvesting

    • Flu vaccines are made in a tedious and time-consuming process that involves eggs. Purified and fertilized chicken eggs are specifically used for the vaccines. Unfortunately, these eggs are difficult to come by which is why there can be a shortage of flu vaccines. According to Scientific America, more than 100 million eggs are used to produce vaccinations for U.S. citizens each year.

    The Process

    • Flu vaccines contain weakened or dead strains of influenza. In order for vaccine manufactures to replicate these strains, they need a host organism, which is typically chicken eggs. To produce vaccines, scientists first crack eggs enough to inject the influenza virus. The flu virus is then injected into fluid that surrounds the embryo of the egg. The egg is sealed and eventually becomes infected. The virus is then taken out of the egg and used in the vaccine.

    Egg-Free Vaccines

    • A June 30, 2009, article in the Times of India newspaper reported that Australian researchers have created an egg-free vaccine to fight swine flu. The Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology at the University of Queensland in Brisbane created the vaccine from cell cultures instead of eggs. If the vaccine is successful, influenza vaccines that normally take months to produce, would be available within weeks.

    Considerations

    • Using eggs can be a tedious process for flu manufacturers, and this slow process makes it difficult for manufacturers and pharmaceutical companies to effectively handle pandemics and emergencies. According to Scientific America, leading manufacturers are looking for better and more-efficient methods to produce vaccines. Some possibilities include using dogs or even humans to harvest the virus.

    African Green Monkeys

    • The National Institute of Health recognized that influenza A, in particular, needed advanced methods for vaccine creation because there are limits to producing effective vaccines by using eggs alone. The Department of Infectious Disease has been finding success with creating vaccines produced in the kidney cell line of African green monkeys since 1996, according to the Journal of Virology. Vaccines that are cultivated in African green monkeys are deemed to be more effective for epidemic or pandemic use.

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