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Is it better to go Live?

Live virus vaccines better mimic the natural course of infection and so generate superior immunity to killed or inactivated virus. Yet uptake of the Live-attenuated influenza vaccine (LAIV) has been low, due to fears over the safety of the vaccine and the ability of the attenuated virus to transmit from person-to-person.

Now a review from the Mayo Clinic hopes to dispel these myths and promote wider acceptance of the vaccine. If more people were given LAIV over the inactivated virus it would give greater protection within the community, generating so-called ‘herd immunity’. With that in mind – would you go live?

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