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In order to select virus strains for the manufacture of Influenza Vaccine for 2002 Season, a meeting of the Australian Influenza Vaccine Committee (AIVC) on Influenza Vaccines was convened on 11 October 2001.

Having considered the information on international surveillance by WHO and up-to-date epidemiology and strain characterisation presented at the meeting, the Committee considered that the WHO recommendations on the composition of vaccines for 2002 Southern Hemisphere Season should be followed:

H1N1 strain:	an A/New Caledonia/20/99 (H1N1)-like strain A/New Caledonia/20/99 (IVR-116) is recommended as a suitable vaccine strain.	15 µg HA per dose.
H3N2 strain:	an A/Moscow/10/99 (H3N2)-like strain A/Panama/2007/99 (RESVIR-17) is recommended as a suitable vaccine strain.	15 µg HA per dose.
B Strain:	A B/Sichuan/379/99-like strain B/Johannesburg/5/99, B/Victoria/504/00 or B/Guangdong/120/2000 are recommended as the suitable vaccine strain.	15 µg HA per dose.

The SRID reagents for testing the potency of influenza vaccines for A/New Caledonia/20/99 (IVR-116) and A/Panama/2007/99 (RESVIR-17) are available from NIBSC and CBER/FDA.


This article was published in Communicable Diseases Intelligence Volume 26, No 1, March 2002