Flu Crisis Prompts Broadest Vaccine Redesign Since 1981

With the worst flu outbreak since 2009 gripping the U.S., vaccine makers are determined to do better next season. They’re developing powerful vaccines that hold the promise of cutting incidences of flu by the thousands.

The new immunizations represent the broadest flu treatment update in three decades, while more than 200,000 American are hospitalized yearly with the disease, according to U.S. health officials. Health officials were caught off-guard last month when the flu season started earlier than in past years, with 48 states now reporting widespread disease, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said today.