CNN —When the World Health Organization recommended on Friday which influenza viruses to target in vaccines for next year, it removed a family of viruses that hasn’t been seen since the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic. Although flu has rebounded, the family of viruses known as influenza B/Yamagata did not, suggesting it may have been driven to extinction. Quadrivalent vaccines, which target four types of flu, can still target a B/Yamagata lineage component. WHO advisers emphasized that flu vaccines are safe and effective, no matter which formulation a country uses. The FDA’s vaccine advisory committee is scheduled to meet October 5 to discuss recommendations for flu vaccines to be offered in the Southern Hemisphere in 2024.

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Persons: Yamagata, That’s, ” David Wentworth, ”, Kanta Subbarao, Peter Doherty, Dr, Sanjay Gupta, Wentworth, it’s Organizations: CNN, World Health Organization, Southern, WHO, Surveillance, US Centers for Disease Control, Northern, Reference, Research, Influenza, Peter, Peter Doherty Institute for, Get CNN, CNN Health, Food and Drug Administration, Southern Hemisphere Locations: Victoria, Yamagata, Australia, United States