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After flu vaccine mismatch, calls for delayed selection intensify

Nature Medicine volume 21, pages 297–298 (2015)Cite this article

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When a World Health Organization panel met in late February to select the strains for the 2015–2016 influenza vaccine for the Northern Hemisphere, the annual gathering took place about a week later than usual. The difference was small, but it was symbolic: global flu experts had asked for a little more time to collect data on circulating flu strains in the wake of a vaccine mismatch this past year.

The first signs of trouble had emerged just weeks after the WHO had settled on its strain selections for the Northern Hemisphere last year: tests indicated that one of the circulating influenza virus strains had genetic changes that produced small but significant differences in its surface proteins. Such mutations can affect whether the body's immune system can recognize and thwart the flu. By May, the drifted strain made up 17% of circulating influenza A (H3N2) viruses, one common subtype that causes illness. The drifted strain began to predominate in the summer and caused more than half of the illness in this past flu season.

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References

  1. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Situation update: summary of weekly FluView. http://www.cdc.gov/flu/weekly/summary.htm.

  2. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. CDC presents updated estimates of flu vaccine effectiveness for the 2014–2015 season. 2 March 2015. http://www.cdc.gov/flu/news/updated-vaccine-effectiveness-2014-15.htm.

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  1. Michele Cohen Marill
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Marill, M. After flu vaccine mismatch, calls for delayed selection intensify. Nat Med 21, 297–298 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1038/nm0415-297

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