Does the shingles vaccine contain a live virus?

Answer 1

Hello there fellow user!

Firstly, pertussis or whooping cough is caused by a bacterium called Bordetella pertussis, not a virus. It is a highly contagious cough and a pretty bad one too.

Secondly, the vaccine against this disease is given in a combination with Diptheria and tetanus called the DPT vaccine. It includes toxoid proteins of Diptheria and tetanus bacteria, and either pertussis antigen proteins or the whole killed bacteria responsible for pertussis in combination.

Hope this helped you plenty! 😄

Answer 2

The vaccines for the Swine Flu virus are made both ways. The nasal spray type of swine flu vaccinations contain the live, but weakened, virus and are usually not used by those who have immuno-suppression through disease, disorders or medications. The injected vaccines in the flu shots contain inactivated "dead" virus particles.

Answer 3

One type is. There are now flu vaccines made for 3 administrative routes. The nasal spray version (intranasal) is the one made with live virus, but it is weakened so that it can not make an otherwise healthy person sick. The injection versions do not have live virus, those particles are inactivated/"dead". These injected vaccines are made for either the usual type of flu shot (intramuscular) and now also a new intradermal vaccine for injection between the layers of the skin. This type comes ready to administer in a micro-injection system made specifically for administering this way using a tiny needle.

See the related questions below for more information.

Answer 4

The pertussis vaccine contains killed cells of the virus. Until the 1990s, the vaccine contained the whole cell of the virus, but there were numerous incidents of adverse reactions, and so in recent years the whole cell vaccine has been gradually replaced by an acellular pertussis vaccine. The safety issue still remains, however.

Answer 5

Yes, the MedImmune vaccine which was approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the pandemic A-H1N1/09 influenza and prepared for intranasal delivery is made with an attenuated (weakened) live virus. It is weakened so that is not able to make you sick if you are otherwise healthy. It is approved for use by healthy people ages 2 - 49. See related questions for more information.

Answer 6

In the US there are formulations of the seasonal flu vaccine that are made either way. The nasal spray vaccine uses a live attenuated* influenza virus as the antigen and the injectable types, intramuscular (IM) and the new intradermal (ID) are both made using inactivated/"dead" virus particles. Other countries also have these types of formulations, but perhaps not all of them.

*To put it simply, "attenuated" means weakened. The virus used as the antigen in the live vaccine is chemically treated to render it unable to give people with healthy immune systems the flu, but still active/"alive" enough to give your immune system a really good "look" at the virus that it needs to learn how to fight.

See the related questions for more information.

Answer 7

In some types of the vaccines, yes.

The H3N2 vaccine is included in the seasonal flu vaccinations available now in the US for the 2010-2011 flu season. This year's vaccine provides protection against A/H1N1 (pandemic) influenza and two other influenza viruses - influenza A/H3N2 and influenza B.

There are two types of vaccines again this year, one is for injection (flu shot/jab) and one is made to be inhaled as an intranasal mist.

The virus in the vaccine for injection has been inactivated ("killed"), but the virus in the nasal mist vaccine is called "live attenuated", which means still "alive"/active but weakened so that it can not make you sick. The attenuated virus in the vaccine will only be strong enough to cause the immune response that provides the protection from the flu viruses, but not strong enough to cause you to have the flu.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) gives the following information about the H3N2 vaccine included in the seasonal flu vaccination.

Antigenic characterization of the influenza A (H3) viruses received at CDC are pending. However, based on hemagglutinin gene sequencing data from four viruses isolated from July specimens, these viruses are expected to be antigenically similar to A/Perth/16/2009-like H3N2 viruses. An A/Perth/16/2009-like H3N2 virus is included in the 2010-11 seasonal influenza vaccine. Perth-like H3N2 viruses were first identified in early 2009, but have not yet circulated widely in the United States. Past influenza vaccines did not contain this strain, so vaccination with last year's seasonal vaccine would not be expected to provide substantial protection against this H3N2 Perth-like strain.

Be sure to be protected. Get your flu vaccination now for the seasonal flu.

Answer 8

In the US the most recent flu vaccines for seasonal flu were made in three formulations. Two are for injection (IM and ID) and were made from virus particles that were inactivated/"dead." The other vaccine was formulated for an intra-nasal spray, which was made from weakened* viruses that are not able to make people with healthy immune systems sick. They are not to be used for infants or others with undeveloped or suppressed immune system function.

*also called "attenuated"

Answer 9

Yes. The shingles vaccine has the same live attenuated varicella virus as in the chickenpox vaccine. The only difference between the two is that the Shingles vaccine has more live viral counts (more than 10 times) than the varicella vaccine.

Answer 10

The injected vaccine does not contain any live virus material.
However, the inhaled version, called Flumist, contains a live, attenuated virus.