Top infectious disease doctor calls for new flu vaccines
Believes Australia's record flu season will be echoed here
WASHINGTON, D.C. (WPVI) -- One of the nation's top infectious disease experts is adding his voice to concerns about the severity of this year's flu season.
And he's calling for an overhaul of the flu vaccine system.
Doctor Anthony Fauci of the National Institutes of Health has been closely following flu trends for years.
He agrees that Australia's record-high flu season could signal for problems for the U-S.
Fauci says part of the problem is that the current vaccine was only 10-percent effective against the dominant flu strain circulating there.
The current method of making flu vaccines in eggs requires starting them so far ahead of time that the virus has time to mutate.
Doctor Fauci is calling for a faster way to make vaccines... either a universal vaccine, or a cell-based version.
Still, right NOW, he says getting vaccinated this year is your best protection.
