Right now, the CDC recommendation against inhaled flu vaccine makes sense, reports the University of Pittsburgh, but that could change if the vaccine becomes more effective in the future.

The findings, published online and scheduled for a coming issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, indicate that close surveillance will be needed to ensure that the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommendation against the nasal vaccine–called the live attenuated influenza vaccine, or LAIV–continues to do more good than harm.

“The CDC is being appropriately cautious and doing the right thing based on available data,” said lead author Kenneth J. Smith, MD, MS, professor of medicine and clinical and translational science in Pitt’s School of Medicine. “However, our study finds that it would take only relatively small changes to tip the scales back in favor of offering the LAIV, so close monitoring is very important.”

Read more at www.eurekalert.org