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Medical Author:

Charles Patrick Davis, MD, PhD

Charles Patrick Davis, MD, PhD

Dr. Charles "Pat" Davis, MD, PhD, is a board certified Emergency Medicine doctor who currently practices as a consultant and staff member for hospitals. He has a PhD in Microbiology (UT at Austin), and the MD (Univ. Texas Medical Branch, Galveston). He is a Clinical Professor (retired) in the Division of Emergency Medicine, UT Health Science Center at San Antonio, and has been the Chief of Emergency Medicine at UT Medical Branch and at UTHSCSA with over 250 publications.

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Medical Editor:

Melissa Conrad Stöppler, MD, Chief Medical Editor

Melissa Conrad Stöppler, MD, Chief Medical Editor

Melissa Conrad Stöppler, MD, is a U.S. board-certified Anatomic Pathologist with subspecialty training in the fields of Experimental and Molecular Pathology. Dr. Stöppler's educational background includes a BA with Highest Distinction from the University of Virginia and an MD from the University of North Carolina. She completed residency training in Anatomic Pathology at Georgetown University followed by subspecialty fellowship training in molecular diagnostics and experimental pathology.

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Seasonal vaccines are usually available at most physician offices, urgent care clinics, and in the past few years, from some pharmacies (usually associated with pharmacy chains and grocery stores). Availability for the new flu seasonal vaccine starts in the late summer or early fall and if demand is normal, supplies are available well into the spring of the following year. This is not the situation for pandemic flu. As seen with the 2009 H1N1 pandemic, vaccine was not readily available and was rationed out to specific distribution sites that were tasked to vaccinate the most susceptible individuals initially until vaccine production was adequate to allow broad distribution. It is possible such circumstances could reoccur.

In fact, another influenza A H3N2v strain has been noted in 2012 to be transmitted from pigs to humans. Fortunately, it causes symptoms similar to the seasonal flu, but there is no current vaccine available (August 2012) against this strain. The CDC is closely monitoring this strain to see if it may develop into a strain that becomes easily transmitted from person to person.

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