FDA already working on next year's flu vaccine

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is already taking steps to improve the flu vaccine's effectiveness for the next flu season, agency Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, MD, wrote in a Feb. 26 statement.

As states set record numbers of flu hospitalizations this year, healthcare professionals can expect this year's flu season to continue into April, Dr. Gottlieb wrote.

To curb the high numbers of flu cases across the U.S. for next year, the FDA is teaming up with other public health agencies to produce next season's flu vaccines and better understand why this year's vaccines were not as effective against H3N2.

The agency is considering whether there should be greater investment in alternative processes, such as cell-based or recombinant approaches to vaccine development.

"By looking closely at the available data and applying the lessons we learn each flu season to the vaccine development process, we offer the greatest chance of developing vaccines that even more effectively prevent the flu in the future," Dr. Gottlieb wrote.

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