SLU Researchers to Test Nasal Flu Vaccine on Young Kids

Babies and toddlers could soon benefit from a painless method of receiving flu vaccine. Researchers at Saint Louis University’s Center for Vaccine Development are going to be testing the FluMist nasal spray on children between 6 and 35 months of age. The University’s Doctor Elizabeth Babusis, the principal investigator, says the Food and Drug Administration has already approved this spray vaccine for people in the 5-to-49 age bracket, but it wants more testing before it aproves the vaccine for younger kids. Doctor Babusis says some evidence exists that the nasal spray has greater benefits because it is administered at the virus’s point of entry – the nose.