WHO changes 1 strain for egg-based Southern Hemisphere 2019 flu vaccines

World Health Organization (WHO) flu vaccine advisors met in Atlanta to recommend the seasonal influenza strains to include in the Southern Hemisphere’s 2019 vaccine and recommended swapping out the H3N2 component in egg-based vaccines. The group also reviewed the latest information about zoonotic flu viruses and recommended three new candidate vaccine viruses for pandemic preparedness. H3N2 switch for egg-based vaccines According to a report released at the end of the meeting, the WHO recommends the following for the Southern Hemisphere’s egg-based quadrivalent (four-strain) vaccines: For H1N1, an A/Michigan/45/2015-like virus For H3N2, an A/Switzerland/8060/2017)-like virus For B Victoria, a B/Colorado/06/2017-like virus For B Yamagata, a B/Phuket/3073/2013-like virus For egg-based trivalent versions that have only one B strain, the experts recommended including the Victoria lineage vaccine virus (B/Colorado/06/2017-like). And for non-egg based vaccines, they recommended the same H3N2 component used during the Southern Hemisphere’s 2018 vaccine and the Northern Hemisphere’s 2018-2019 vaccine—an A/Singapore/INFIMH-16-0019/2016-like virus. In deciding what strains to recommend, the...