Viruses Selected for the 2012-2013 Flu Vaccine

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA)'s Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee (VRBPAC) met in Silver Spring, Md. on Feb. 28, 2012, to select the influenza viruses for the composition of the influenza vaccine for the 2012-2013 U.S. influenza season.

During this meeting, the advisory committee reviewed and evaluated the surveillance data related to epidemiology and antigenic characteristics of recent influenza isolates, serological responses to 2011-2012 vaccines, and the availability of candidate strains and reagents.

The committee recommended that the trivalent formulation influenza vaccines for the U.S. 2012-2013 influenza season contain the following:
- an A/California/7/2009 (H1N1)-like virus
- an A/Victoria /361/2011 (H3N2)-like virus
- a B/Wisconsin /1/2010-like virus

The committee also recommended the following additional B strain for inclusion with the three strains included in the trivalent formulation for quadrivalent formulation influenza vaccines:
- a B/Brisbane/60/2008-like virus

A quadrivalent influenza vaccine will not be available for the 2012-2013 influenza season.