Document Type
Journal Article
Publication Date
2015
Journal
Scientific Reports
Volume
5
Inclusive Pages
17214
DOI
10.1038/srep17214
Abstract
Both the Northern and the Southern Hemisphere annual WHO influenza vaccine recommendations are designed to ensure vaccine delivery before the winter-time peak of viral circulation in each hemisphere. However, influenza seasonal patterns are highly diverse in tropical countries and may be out of phase with the WHO recommendations for their respective hemisphere. We modelled the peak timing of influenza activity for 125 countries using laboratory-based surveillance data from the WHO’s FLUNET database and compared it with the influenza hemispheric recommendations in place. Influenza vaccine recommendations for respectively 25% and 39% of the Northern and Southern Hemisphere countries were out of phase with peak influenza circulation in their corresponding hemisphere (62% and 53%, respectively, when the analysis was limited to the 52 countries in the tropical belt). These results indicate that routine influenza immunization efforts should be closely tailored to local patterns of viral circulation, rather than a country’s hemispheric position.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
APA Citation
Alonso, W.J., Yu, C., Viboud, C., Richard, S.A., Schuck-Paim, C., Simonsen, L....Miller, M.A. (2015). A global map of hemispheric influenza vaccine recommendations based on local patterns of viral circulation. Scientific Reports, 5:17214. doi:10.1038/srep17214
Peer Reviewed
1
Open Access
1
Included in
Influenza Humans Commons, Influenza Virus Vaccines Commons, International Public Health Commons
Comments
Reproduced with permission of Macmillan Publishers, Ltd. Scientific Reports.