Here Comes That GMO Flu Shot
"Getting a flu shot is a personal choice, although most healthcare experts recommend it. But now there's a new vaccine in town. You know that flu vaccine you're hearing about? The one that's made using an insect virus? About 150,000 doses of FluBlok are expected to hit the market at the tail end of the 2013 flu season. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the vaccine for use for 18- to 49-year-olds, saying it is different than other flu vaccines on the market because it isn't grown using eggs. This allows for much faster manufacturing. The approval came after a clinical trial of 2,300 people found FluBlok prevented the flu in about 45 percent of cases and was effective against all circulating flu viruses, not just the strains included in the vaccine. According to Protein Sciences Corporation, the Connecticut-based manufacturer, Flublok does not contain the controversial mercury-containing preservative thimerosal. "This approval represents a technolo...