WHO puts forward new recommendations for influenza vaccines for 2023

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has announced the recommended viral composition of influenza vaccines (both quadrivalent and trivalent) for the 2023 southern hemisphere influenza season. The recommendations issued will be used by national vaccine regulatory agencies and pharmaceutical companies to develop, produce, and licence influenza vaccines for the following influenza season.

The periodic update of viruses contained in influenza vaccines is necessary for the vaccines to be effective due to the constantly evolving nature of influenza viruses. The recommendation is based on the advice of a group of experts from WHO Collaborating Centres and WHO Essential Regulatory Laboratories that analyse virus surveillance data generated by the WHO Global Influenza Surveillance and Response System (or GISRS). Around a billion people get seasonal influenza every year and the threat of an influenza pandemic is ever-present. For this reason, the need to monitor circulating respiratory viruses, including influenza, continues to be critical. This monitoring informs the vaccine composition recommendations that WHO issues twice a year.