Do Flu Vaccines Need to Worry About Pain Killers? (GSK, AZN, SNE, NVS)
There is an interesting release out today showing that research from the University of Rochester Medical Center shows an inverse relationship between some of the more common pain killers or relievers and the effectiveness of flu shots. While this does not impact the need for flu vaccines and while this probably won’t impact the sale of flu vaccines by any doses, it does highlight that flu vaccines might not be as effective under a very common circumstance. It also shows how these pain killers might inhibit some of the body’s defenses in general. The study shows that the use of common pain killers to the likes of Advil, Tylenol, and aspirin at the time of a flu shot injection may actually blunt the effect of the shot. It also noted a negative immune system response.
This has been studied for years by a Dr. Richard Phipps and the findings were presented at an international conference on inflammatory diseases. The study data also corresponds to a report in The Lancet from last month by researchers out of the Czech Republic.
The companies most tied to seasonal flu vaccines are large diversified international conglomerates GlaxoSmithKline Plc (NYSE:GSK), AstraZeneca Plc (NYSE: AZN) via MedImmune, and Sanofi-Aventis (NYSE: SNY). Novartis (NYSE: NVS) also recently said that the backlog Of Swine-Flu vaccine orders would be filled by January, but unfortunately that is after many flu contractions will have been seen. It is a flu vaccine supplier.
Again, this won’t likely have any impact on the sales of vaccines that are already in very short supply. But it is important to consider if you are taking a flu vaccine or if you are ill. Particularly so when you consider that many ill and not so ill people take these three pain relieves and pain killers routinely.
JON C. OGG
