This year, help keep flu away with a gentle spray

FluMist^® offers needle-free flu vaccination — 48 per cent more effective in children ages two to 17 than the traditional flu shot across all strains¹

MISSISSAUGA, ON, Nov. 26, 2014 /CNW/ - This flu season, why not take the fear out of the flu shot? FluMist^®, Canada's only needle-free vaccine, is available for vaccination against flu for Canadians aged two to 59.² Administered by healthcare professionals, FluMist^® is a gentle mist sprayed into the nose and provides a needle-free way to receive the flu vaccine.

Recommended by Canada's National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI), FluMist^® is the preferred vaccine for children aged two to 17.³ NACI also notes that FluMist^® more closely mimics natural infection due to entering the body nasally, which contributes to its superior efficacy when compared to the flu shot.⁴

Each year, flu accounts for an estimated average of 12,200 hospitalizations in Canada.⁵ According to Health Canada, young children and seniors are more susceptible to complications associated with the flu⁶ and recommends that all members of the family, health professionals and caregivers get the flu vaccine to better protect those at high risk.⁷

FluMist^® reduces the incidence and burden of influenza in children and adolescents and is the preferred method of vaccination for children over the flu shot from both a societal and a health care perspective.⁸ In addition, studies show that there are 62 per cent fewer cases of flu in the four to eight months following vaccination with FluMist^® than with the flu shot in children ages two to 17⁹ and that it reduces the number of influenza cases and the number of hospitalizations, emergency room visits, outpatient visits, and parents' days lost from work.¹⁰

To help protect against seasonal influenza, Canadians can receive the FluMist^® vaccine this season at their doctor's office and some pharmacies. To find a location where FluMist^® is available, Canadians can visit the FluMist website www.flumistcanada.ca, and search using their postal code on the 'Where to get FluMist^®' page. For more information about FluMist^®, patient eligibility and pharmacies that offer administration, please visit www.flumistcanada.ca.

FluMist^® is available without a prescription across all Canadian provinces and territories with the exception of Quebec where a prescription is needed.

FluMist^® is a registered trademark of MedImmune licensed to AstraZeneca.

About AstraZeneca:
AstraZeneca is a global, innovation-driven biopharmaceutical business with a primary focus on the discovery, development and commercialization of prescription medicines for gastrointestinal, cardiovascular, neuroscience, respiratory and inflammation, oncology and infectious disease. AstraZeneca operates in over 100 countries and its innovative medicines are used by millions of patients worldwide. AstraZeneca's Canadian headquarters are located in Mississauga, Ontario. For more information, please visit the company's website at www.astrazeneca.ca.

References

¹ Ambrose CS, Wu X, Knuf M, Wutzler P. The efficacy of intranasal live attenuated influenza vaccine in children 2 through 17 years of age: a meta-analysis of 8 randomized controlled studies. Vaccine. 2012;30(5):886-92.
² FluMist Product Monograph 2014
³ Public Health Agency of Canada. Canada Communicable Disease Report CCDR. Revised Wording to the National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI) Recommendation for Live Attenuated Influenza Vaccine (LAIV) in Healthy Children and Adolescents 2-17 Years of Age. Nov. 14, 2013. Available at www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/publicat/ccdr-rmtc/13vol39/acs-dcc-4/rev-eng.php Accessed August 16, 2014
⁴ Ibid.
⁵ Public Health Agency of Canada. Influenza. Seasonal Influenza. Jan. 3, 2014. Available at http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/influenza/index-eng.php . Accessed August 16, 2014
⁶ Public Health Agency of Canada. Fightflu.ca. Who is more at risk of complications from the flu? Oct. 21, 2013. Available http://www.fightflu.ca/risk-risque-eng.php . Accessed Aug. 14, 2014
⁷ Ibid.
⁸ Tarride JE, Burke N, Von keyserlingk C, O'Reilly D, Xie F, Goeree R. Cost-effectiveness analysis of intranasal live attenuated vaccine (LAIV) versus injectable inactivated influenza vaccine (TIV) for Canadian children and adolescents. Clinicoecon Outcomes Res. 2012; 4:287-98
⁹ Ambrose CS, Wu X, Belshe RB. The efficacy of live attenuated and inactivated influenza vaccines in children as a function of time post vaccination. Pediatr Infect Dis J. 2010;29(9):806-11.
¹⁰ Tarride JE, Burke N, Von keyserlingk C, O'reilly D, Xie F, Goeree R. Cost-effectiveness analysis of intranasal live attenuated vaccine (LAIV) versus injectable inactivated influenza vaccine (TIV) for Canadian children and adolescents. Clinicoecon Outcomes Res. 2012; 4:287-98

Image with caption: "FluMist® is the preferred vaccine for children aged two to 17 according to the Canadian National Advisory Committee on Immunization (CNW Group/AstraZeneca Canada Inc.)". Image available at: http://photos.newswire.ca/images/download/20141126_C8224_PHOTO_EN_8455.jpg

SOURCE: AstraZeneca Canada Inc.

For further information: Courtney McNamara, Edelman, Tel: [phone], [e-mail]; Teresa Paviln, AstraZeneca Canada, Tel: [phone], [e-mail]