A World Well being Group (WHO)-led advisory committee assembly to suggest the seasonal flu strains to incorporate within the Northern Hemisphere’s 2025-2026 flu season is slated to satisfy on February 28, nevertheless it’s unclear if US members will take part following an government order from President Trump that withdraws the nation from the WHO, a high WHO official stated yesterday throughout a WHO briefing on world well being points.
The session for the Northern Hemisphere takes place each February, and within the weeks main as much as the primary strain-selection assembly, the committee pores over flu virus knowledge from a community of 130 nationwide flu facilities, together with these in the US. Nation regulatory businesses use the suggestions in weighing their very own vaccine pressure selections, and flu vaccine producers use them to start the method of constructing vaccine for the upcoming flu season.
The advisory committee additionally recommends any new candidate zoonotic flu virus vaccine strains wanted for pandemic preparedness, a course of they repeat in September when making suggestions for Southern Hemisphere seasonal flu vaccines.
Maria Van Kerkhove, PhD, WHO’s director of epidemic and pandemic preparedness and prevention, stated the WHO has saved in contact with the US Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention (CDC) however has not heard again from them since January 24. She stated the CDC has not been reporting flu surveillance knowledge by means of the standard world channels, which incorporates the FluNet system.
US labs are amongst a number of WHO Collaborating Facilities which have been characterizing viruses, sharing samples and sequencing findings, and conducting threat assessments for the previous 73 years.
No interruption in US IHR reporting
Nevertheless, Van Kerkhove stated the US has been reporting human novel flu viruses circumstances resembling a latest variant H1N2 (H1N2v) case from Iowa and a latest H5 influenza case by means of the Worldwide Well being Rules (IHR) platform. She stated the WHO has additionally obtained the newest data on H5N1 viruses in US animals by means of routine US Division of Agriculture postings.
“We welcome lively technical trade with the US,” she stated.
For now, it is not identified if US officers will take part in a face-to-face assembly on February 28, however the assembly will go on, and the group will make its suggestions, regardless. Van Kerkhove stated there will not be a blind spot concerning viruses circulating in the US, including that the committee critiques flu virus characterization experiences from the previous 6 months, which can cowl many earlier virus samples from the US.
