 The Food and Drug Administration approved a new flu shot in January 2013 called Flublok. With the CDC calling claiming the flu is 'at an epidemic level, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) advises American to get the a flu shot.' Flublok, made by Protein Sciences Corp., of Meriden, Connecticut, will be readily available for the 2013-2014 flu season. Natural remedies to build immunity still continue to be the best protection. Add vitamin D to your diet - see sources below for herbal and vitamin remedies to prevent and treat the flu. What is Flublok? The makers claim that this new vaccine has advantages over the old flu vaccine. The vaccine can be made very quickly, and this is seen as an advantage in case of an epidemic. The reason the vaccine can be made quickly is that Flublok does not need to be grown in chicken eggs as most other vaccines are. The current vaccine has been shown to only be 16 to 63 percent effective against the flu. Flublok contains three times the active ingredients in the regular flu shot, but no egg, so it is safer for those with egg allergies. It also contains no adjuvants or mercury, i.e. Thimerosol. While the elimination of egg and the elimination of mercury (themerisol) from the vaccine is good news for health advocates, many questions remain. For instance, Flublok is made in cells of insects grown in steel tanks.There is no research or information about possible problems this new technology could cause for humans. Ingredients in Flublok The influenza virus protein in Flublok, or hemagglutinin (HA), is manufactured in a lab, inside the cells of insects in steel tanks. This hemagglutinin (HA) is the same HA protein molecule that has been created for use in previous flu vaccines. However, Flublok contains this 'insect cell' version of HA rather than the type made with eggs. The director of the FDA's Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, Karen Midthun, M.D states: 'The new technology offers the potential for faster start-up of the vaccine manufacturing process in the event of a pandemic, because it is not dependent on an egg supply or on availability of the influenza virus.' According to the FDA, 'Flublok contains three, full-length, recombinant HA proteins to help protect against two influenza virus A strains, H1N1 and H3N2, and one influenza virus B strain.' In the research phase of this new drug, half of the 4,600 research subjects received Flublok and the other half, placebo. The tests showed 44.6 percent effectiveness of the Flublok. In tests with 195 participants, Flublock showed increased seroprotection rates, proposing that the higher rates of seroprotection would lead to higher immunity but that was only theorized. Learn more about natural flu remedies: http://www.selfnews.com http://www.selfnews.com http://www.selfnews.com/035516_natural_antibiotics_superbugs.html Sources: http://www.fda.gov http://www.huffingtonpost.com http://annals.org/article.aspx?articleid=1487780 About the author: Talya Dagan is a health advocate and health coach, trained in nutrition and gourmet health food cuisine, writing about natural remedies for disease and nutrition and herbal medicine. You can follow her blog at www.talyadagan.com 