Species of Hyalomma ticks are widely distributed across western Africa, and although reports of CCHF are limited to a few countries, CCHFV is most likely circulating undetected in vast areas of this region.
Based on which viruses they believe will most likely be circulating, the experts select 3 strains for inclusion in the upcoming season's vaccine.
Reliable prediction of the strains most likely to circulate in the upcoming season, and particularly the ability to predict antigenic change, would be transformative to the vaccine strain selection process.
Trivalent vaccine contains influenza A/H1N1 pdm09, A/H3N2, and B strains, whereas quadrivalent vaccine contains two influenza B virus strains considered to be the most likely to circulate in the upcoming influenza season in addition to influenza A virus strains.
A virus neutralization test of 20 samples from both reindeer and caribou showed that ELISA positive samples always neutralized CvHV2 to a greater extent than BoHV1 or elk herpesvirus (ElkHV), indicating that CvHv2 is the most likely virus circulating.
The only influenza vaccine currently licensed for persons >50 years of age is the killed trivalent influenza vaccine (TIV), which is annually constituted to contain the two type A strains and one type B strain thought most likely to circulate in the next influenza season.
But, they say, the effectiveness of the flu shots, which are reformulated every year in an attempt to match the strains most likely to be circulating that season, varies depending on the population being inoculated and the year.
Each year the World Health Organisation selects the three viruses they believe will be most likely to be circulating the upcoming winter season in the northern or southern hemisphere.
He added: "The vaccine offers excellent protection against those types of flu virus that are most likely to be circulating each winter, protecting your child from a nasty illness that could end up with them having treatment in hospital.
The problem here is that we're so entrenched in social media echo chambers that fake news stories are most likely to be circulated in social circles who will assume they're true because they already agree with their beliefs.
