Severe Flu Outbreak Feared by Next Fall; New Vaccine Urged
ATLANTA — After the mildest flu season in a decade, federal health officials Thursday recommended a new vaccine to protect against possibly severe flu outbreaks next fall and winter.
The recommendation of a new vaccine follows detection of a more virulent flu virus in the United States at the end of March, after the flu season began to wane, the federal Centers for Disease Control said.
The detection of the new virus, known as H3N2 A-Beijing, suggests that the virus could be the predominant flu strain in the country during the next flu season, said Dr. Louisa Chapman, a CDC epidemiologist.
“If that’s the case,” she said, “it may suggest that the next season will be an influenza year which tends to be associated with more severe disease.”
CDC virologists have begun monitoring all cases of H3N2 virus reported to the health agency to make certain the nation would not be surprised by a totally different flu virus next winter.
H3N2 strains were responsible for pandemics in 1957 and 1958 and again in 1967 and 1968 that claimed thousands of lives.
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