In a recent discovery, the process of growing the components of an influenza vaccine in chicken eggs disrupts the major antibody target site on the surface of the virus, thus causing the vaccine to be less effective in humans. The vaccine is injected into the eggs, allowing for replication and then purification of the fluids to extract the virus. However, as the prevalence of the H3N2 virus increases, only 33% of flu vaccines are effective against it. When H3N2 is grown in eggs a specific mutation named LI94P disrupts the region on the protein that is usually recognized by the immune system. Because of this, a vaccine with the mutated protein cannot generate an efficient immune response. Researchers are still further studying the virus and its response, they are also hoping for a substitute in egg base vaccine inoculation.
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