FDA selects flu strains for next round of vaccines

The FDA has come up with a lineup of three all-new flu strains for this year's vaccine recipe. Typically, only one or two strains are changed, but health officials felt that following last season's ineffective vaccine jab a new approach was called for.

It's not easy getting the strains right. Most vaccines are consistently effective against their targets. But the steadily changing nature of influenza makes it a tough target to hit. Inevitably, there's always a guessing game about which strains will be circulating during an upcoming flu season.

This season's list of manufacturers and approved vaccines (by way of the Washington Post): CSL Limited, Afluria; GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals, Fluarix; ID Biomedical, FluLaval; MedImmune Vaccines, FluMist; Novartis Vaccines and Diagnostics, Fluvirin; and Sanofi Pasteur, Fluzone.

- read the story from the Washington Post

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