New flu vaccine approved for UK use

The Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency has cleared the adjuvanted trivalent influenza vaccine Fluad for use in people aged 65 years or older. Fluad, which is manufactured by CSL company Seqirus, has been available in Europe since 1997 but has only now been launched in the UK. According to the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), adjuvanted trivalent influenza vaccine (aTIV) studies indicate a “higher vaccine immunogenicity and effectiveness for the adjuvanted vaccine in comparison with non-adjuvanted vaccines”, and could “potentially be used in the [influenza] programme from the 2018/19 season”.