Infuenza Specialist Group

Southern Hemisphere/Australia

The formulation of influenza vaccines for use in Australia is determined each year by the Australian Influenza Vaccine Committee based on information and recommendations from the WHO.

Following recommendations from the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the Australian Influenza Vaccine Committee (AIVC), the influenza vaccine for the Australian 2008 influenza season contains the following three virus strains:^{1, 2}

• A (H1N1): an A/Solomon Island/3/2006 - like strain
• A (H3N2): an A/Brisbane/10/2007 - like strain
• B: a B/Florida/4/2006 - like strain

1. World Health Organisation Recommended composition of influenza virus vaccines for use in the 2008 southern hemisphere influenza season Accessed at: http://www.who.int/csr/disease/
influenza/recommendations2008south/en/index.html

2. Therapeutic Good Administration, Australian Influenza Vaccine Committee (AIVC) AIVC recommendations for the composition of influenza vaccine for 2008  Accessed at: http://www.tga.gov.au/committee/aivc.htm

Content Updated ( Thursday, 20 March 2008 )