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This year’s flu vaccine to be used in Europe will be trivalent including protection against the strain connected to the 2009 swine flu epidemic.
The European Union (EU) recommendations, which were issued by the European Medicines Agency (EMA), say that the trivalent vaccines for the 2012/2013 season should contain virus strains: A/California/7/2009 (H1N1)pdm09-like virus; A/Victoria/361/2011 (H3N2)-like virus; and B/Wisconsin/1/2010-like virus.
Quadrivalent vaccines containing two influenza B viruses should also include a B/Brisbane/60/2008-like virus.
The EU recommendation was issued by the Biologics Working Party’s Ad-hoc Influenza Working Group on the basis observations by the World Health Organisation (WHO). The Agency’s Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use adopted the recommendations on 15 March 2012.
Further information on the suitable candidate vaccine virus strains for the A/Victoria/361/2011 (H3N2)-like and B/Wisconsin/1/2010-like viruses will be published in April 2012.
The Agency recommends that marketing-authorisation holder submit applications to change the composition of centrally authorised seasonal flu vaccines by 11 June 2012.
