Shiloh
Editor, Senior Moderator
Source: https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-perspective/2022/02/flu-scan-feb-25-2022
Flu Scan for Feb 25, 2022
Northern Hemisphere flu vaccine picks; H5N1 flu vaccine stockpile; US pediatric flu death
Filed Under:
Influenza Vaccines; Pandemic Influenza; Influenza, General
WHO advisors switch 2 strains for next Northern Hemisphere season
World Health Organization (WHO) flu vaccine strain selection advisors met this week to recommend the strains to include for the Northern Hemisphere's 2022-2023 flu season, swapping out the components for the H3N2 and influenza B Victoria lineage strains.
In an announcement today, the group recommends that flu shots use an A/Darwin/9/2021-like strain for the H3N2 component, rather than this season's A/Cambodia/e0926360/2020. And for the influenza B Victoria lineage component, the experts recommend using a B/Austria/ 1359417/2021-like strain instead of this season's B/Washington/02/2019.
The two swaps apply to egg-based, cell culture, and recombinant vaccines and for both quadrivalent (four-strain) and trivalent (three-strain) vaccines.
Today's recommendations for the Northern Hemisphere are nearly identical to the ones the group made last September for the Southern Hemisphere's 2022 flu season.
Feb 25 WHO Northern Hemisphere flu strain recommendations
Seqirus, BARDA renew contract for prepandemic H5N1 avian flu vaccine
Seqirus today announced that it and the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), part of the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), have renewed a 5-year agreement to provide flu vaccines and adjuvant for prepandemic stockpiling.
In a statement, Seqirus said the contract covers supplies of cell-based, monovalent H5N1 vaccine that contains the company's MF59 adjuvant. The vaccine, called Audenz, was approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 2020 for people ages 6 months and older in the event of an H5N1 flu pandemic.
The contract also includes a supply of the company's MF59 adjuvant, which can enhance and broaden the immune response to the vaccine and stretch the number of vaccine doses that can be produced from the antigen supply.
The vaccine is made at the company's Holly Springs, North Carolina, facility, which was established in 2009 with support from BARDA. The cell-based flu production system is designed to more quickly scale up production in the face of a pandemic threat. The company said it has the capacity to deliver up to 150 million doses for a flu pandemic response.
Feb 25 Seqirus press release
CDC: Flu sporadic but increasing in some spots; 6th child has died of flu
US flu levels are mostly sporadic but some areas are seeing increasing flu activity, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said in its weekly FluView update, which also included a report of the sixth child to die this season of flu.
Nationwide during the week ending on Feb 19, 1.5% of patient visits were for influenza-like illness (ILI), well below the national baseline. Just two states—Colorado and Oklahoma—reported moderate ILI activity, with all other states and territories reporting lower levels. The CDC did not specify which areas saw rising flu levels last week.
At least 1,420 patients were admitted to a hospital for flu last week, the third week in a row that flu hospitalizations have increased. The CDC estimates that so far this season there have been at least 2.4 million illnesses, 23,000 hospitalizations, and 1,400 deaths from flu.
Among the 1,807 respiratory samples assayed at clinical labs last week, 4.2% tested positive for influenza. Tests at public health labs last week confirmed influenza A in all but one sample, for a 99.7% positive rate, compared with 0.3% for influenza B. All influenza strains were H3N2, and so far this year 99.2% of viruses have been A strains. Of those, 99.9% have been H3N2.
The pediatric flu death occurred last week and involved an influenza A virus that wasn't subtyped.
The CDC says vaccination remains the best tool against flu, but vaccine uptake remains below last year's levels.
Feb 25 CDC FluView update
Flu Scan for Feb 25, 2022
Northern Hemisphere flu vaccine picks; H5N1 flu vaccine stockpile; US pediatric flu death
Filed Under:
Influenza Vaccines; Pandemic Influenza; Influenza, General
WHO advisors switch 2 strains for next Northern Hemisphere season
World Health Organization (WHO) flu vaccine strain selection advisors met this week to recommend the strains to include for the Northern Hemisphere's 2022-2023 flu season, swapping out the components for the H3N2 and influenza B Victoria lineage strains.
In an announcement today, the group recommends that flu shots use an A/Darwin/9/2021-like strain for the H3N2 component, rather than this season's A/Cambodia/e0926360/2020. And for the influenza B Victoria lineage component, the experts recommend using a B/Austria/ 1359417/2021-like strain instead of this season's B/Washington/02/2019.
The two swaps apply to egg-based, cell culture, and recombinant vaccines and for both quadrivalent (four-strain) and trivalent (three-strain) vaccines.
Today's recommendations for the Northern Hemisphere are nearly identical to the ones the group made last September for the Southern Hemisphere's 2022 flu season.
Feb 25 WHO Northern Hemisphere flu strain recommendations
Seqirus, BARDA renew contract for prepandemic H5N1 avian flu vaccine
Seqirus today announced that it and the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), part of the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), have renewed a 5-year agreement to provide flu vaccines and adjuvant for prepandemic stockpiling.
In a statement, Seqirus said the contract covers supplies of cell-based, monovalent H5N1 vaccine that contains the company's MF59 adjuvant. The vaccine, called Audenz, was approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 2020 for people ages 6 months and older in the event of an H5N1 flu pandemic.
The contract also includes a supply of the company's MF59 adjuvant, which can enhance and broaden the immune response to the vaccine and stretch the number of vaccine doses that can be produced from the antigen supply.
The vaccine is made at the company's Holly Springs, North Carolina, facility, which was established in 2009 with support from BARDA. The cell-based flu production system is designed to more quickly scale up production in the face of a pandemic threat. The company said it has the capacity to deliver up to 150 million doses for a flu pandemic response.
Feb 25 Seqirus press release
CDC: Flu sporadic but increasing in some spots; 6th child has died of flu
US flu levels are mostly sporadic but some areas are seeing increasing flu activity, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said in its weekly FluView update, which also included a report of the sixth child to die this season of flu.
Nationwide during the week ending on Feb 19, 1.5% of patient visits were for influenza-like illness (ILI), well below the national baseline. Just two states—Colorado and Oklahoma—reported moderate ILI activity, with all other states and territories reporting lower levels. The CDC did not specify which areas saw rising flu levels last week.
At least 1,420 patients were admitted to a hospital for flu last week, the third week in a row that flu hospitalizations have increased. The CDC estimates that so far this season there have been at least 2.4 million illnesses, 23,000 hospitalizations, and 1,400 deaths from flu.
Among the 1,807 respiratory samples assayed at clinical labs last week, 4.2% tested positive for influenza. Tests at public health labs last week confirmed influenza A in all but one sample, for a 99.7% positive rate, compared with 0.3% for influenza B. All influenza strains were H3N2, and so far this year 99.2% of viruses have been A strains. Of those, 99.9% have been H3N2.
The pediatric flu death occurred last week and involved an influenza A virus that wasn't subtyped.
The CDC says vaccination remains the best tool against flu, but vaccine uptake remains below last year's levels.
Feb 25 CDC FluView update
