FDA issues flu vaccine recommendations for 2025-26 season

IN THE FORECAST. WELL, WE ARE IN THE MIDST OF ONE OF THE WORST FLU SEASONS IN OVER A DECADE, WITH DOCTOR VISITS FOR FLU SYMPTOMS NOW AT A 15 YEAR HIGH. NATIONWIDE, MORE THAN 50,000 PEOPLE WERE ADMITTED TO THE HOSPITAL WITH THE FLU. 46 JURISDICTIONS ARE REPORTING HIGH OR VERY HIGH FLU LEVELS. THAT INCLUDES HERE IN MARYLAND. SO JOINING US NOW IS DOCTOR LAWANDA STEVENS WITH PATIENT FIRST. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR COMING IN THIS MORNING. SO WHAT ARE YOU GUYS SEEING AT PATIENT FIRST. WELL DURING THIS SEASON WE’RE SEEING ABNORMALLY HIGH LEVELS OF PEOPLE WITH HIGH FEVERS. LOTS OF THE NORMAL FLU SEASON SYMPTOMS, DRY COUGH, MUSCLE ACHES. AND A LOT OF THIS IS AFFECTING OUR CHILDREN AS WELL. YEAH. SO WHAT DO YOU SAY TO PEOPLE THAT MAYBE THEY HAVEN’T CAUGHT IT. A LOT OF PEOPLE HAVE. I KNOW IT RAN THROUGH MY HOUSE ABOUT A MONTH AGO. HOW CAN YOU PROTECT YOURSELF FROM THE FLU IF YOU’VE MANAGED TO AVOID IT SO FAR? THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IS HAND WASHING. AVOIDING SICK CONTACTS IF POSSIBLE. AND ALSO IF YOU HAPPEN TO BE SICK, MAKING SURE THAT YOU ISOLATE YOURSELF AWAY FROM OTHER FAMILY MEMBERS AND CONTACTS. AND YOU SAID IT’S NOT TOO LATE TO GET THE FLU SHOT IF YOU HAVEN’T GOT IT. ABSOLUTELY NOT. I ENCOURAGE EVERYONE WHO’S NOW UNVACCINATED TO GO IN AND GET THEIR FLU SHOT. IT WILL TAKE ABOUT TWO WEEKS FOR PROTECTION TO KICK IN, BUT FLU SEASON DOES NOT FINISH UNTIL ABOUT MAY, AND THAT COULD BE A LOT OF PEOPLE THINKING. ONCE THE WEATHER SHIFTS, THEY MIGHT BE IN THE CLEAR AND WE’RE SEEING THE MAP AND HOW BAD IT IS RIGHT NOW. AND THE NUMBERS AND OVER 30%, NEARLY 35% OF FLU TESTS HAVE BEEN POSITIVE IN MARYLAND LAST WEEK. IN THE MOST RECENT DATA. LET’S SAY YOU DO COME DOWN WITH IT, UNFORTUNATELY. WHAT DO YOU DO? HOW DO YOU RECOVER? HOW DO YOU HOW DO YOU MAKE IT THROUGH IT? BEST THING. HYDRATE. KEEP YOURSELF ISOLATED. ALL COUGHING AND SNEEZING. MAKE SURE YOU USE TISSUES. TRY TO AVOID OTHER SICK CONTACTS. BED REST IS VERY IMPORTANT, SO I ENCOURAGE EVERYONE TO TAKE THE TIME THEY NEED TO REST, HYDRATE AND GET THEMSELVES BETTER. AND I GUESS IT’S IMPORTANT TO IF YOU ARE SICK, STAY HOME, DON’T INFECT OTHER PEOPLE. YES, MOST PEOPLE WILL CATCH THE FLU FROM A CLOSE CONTACT, BUT IF YOU CAN PUT YOURSELF OUT INTO ISOLATION, EVEN FOR THE FEW DAYS, UNTIL YOU ARE FEVER FREE FOR AT LEAST 24 HOURS OFF MEDICATIONS, THIS CAN PREVENT THE SPREAD OF FLU TO OTHERS. ALL RIGHT, DOCTOR LAWANDA STEVENS, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR COMING IN. WE KNOW THE FLU SEASON. WE’RE STILL I

The Food and Drug Administration on Thursday issued recommendations for the composition of influenza shots for the upcoming respiratory virus season, but without input from its independent vaccine advisers.The FDA’s Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee had been scheduled to meet Thursday to weigh in on the composition of the flu shots, but that session was canceled without explanation in late February.Instead, experts from within the FDA, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Department of Defense gathered Thursday to go over surveillance data from the U.S. and around the world about flu viruses that are currently circulating.The FDA is recommending that flu vaccines for the 2025-26 season be trivalent, protecting against two strains of influenza A and one of influenza B.“The FDA anticipates that there will be an adequate and diverse supply of approved trivalent seasonal influenza vaccines�� for the upcoming virus season, it said in a statement.There are several ways to make flu vaccines, but the most common is to grow the selected candidate viruses in chicken eggs, a painstaking operation that takes months to finish.For that reason, selection of the strains that will be included in flu vaccines is carefully orchestrated to be sure manufacturers can deliver the shots to doctors�� offices and pharmacies in time.In order for flu vaccines to be sold in the U.S., they must contain strains that are officially selected by the FDA.That decision typically comes after a meeting of the World Health Organization’s Global Influenza Surveillance and Response System, a network of seven collaborating centers and four essential regulatory labs, which are based in the U.S., UK, Japan, China, Russia and Australia. Both the CDC and the FDA are members.These experts meet twice a year �� in the fall and spring �� to choose strains for countries in the Southern and Northern Hemispheres. WHO’s own vaccine recommendations for 2025-26 generally parallel those of the FDA.Typically, the 17-member FDA vaccine committee would meet next and publicly discuss the recommendation and make its own endorsement, and then the agency would make its final decision.The cancellation of the committee meeting had prompted concerns about the timing of and access to flu shots for this fall. “I’m glad that they’ve come out with the influenza recommendation in a timely manner,�� Dr. Paul Offit, a member of the independent advisory committee and director of the Vaccine Education Center at the Philadelphia Children’s Hospital, said Thursday.The 2024-25 flu season �� the worst in the U.S. in more than a decade �� is believed to have peaked in early February. The CDC estimated in early March that there had been at least 40 million illnesses, 520,000 hospitalizations and 22,000 deaths caused by flu this season.CNN’s Meg Tirrell contributed to this report.

WASHINGTON —

The Food and Drug Administration on Thursday issued for the composition of influenza shots for the upcoming respiratory virus season, but without input from its independent vaccine advisers.

The FDA’s Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee had been scheduled to meet Thursday to weigh in on the composition of the flu shots, but that session was canceled without explanation in late February.

Instead, experts from within the FDA, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Department of Defense gathered Thursday to go over surveillance data from the U.S. and around the world about flu viruses that are currently circulating.

The FDA is recommending that flu vaccines for the 2025-26 season be trivalent, protecting against two strains of influenza A and one of influenza B.

“The FDA anticipates that there will be an adequate and diverse supply of approved trivalent seasonal influenza vaccines�� for the upcoming virus season, it said in a statement.

There are several ways to make flu vaccines, but is to grow the selected candidate viruses in chicken eggs, a painstaking operation that takes months to finish.

For that reason, selection of the strains that will be included in flu vaccines is carefully orchestrated to be sure manufacturers can deliver the shots to doctors�� offices and pharmacies in time.

In order for flu vaccines to be sold in the U.S., they must contain strains that are officially selected by the FDA.

That decision typically comes after a meeting of the World Health Organization’s Global Influenza Surveillance and Response System, seven collaborating centers and four essential regulatory labs, which are based in the U.S., UK, Japan, China, Russia and Australia. Both the CDC and the FDA are members.

These experts meet twice a year �� in the fall and spring �� to choose strains for countries in the Southern and Northern Hemispheres. WHO’s own for 2025-26 generally parallel those of the FDA.

Typically, the 17-member FDA vaccine committee would meet next and publicly discuss the recommendation and make its own endorsement, and then the agency would make its final decision.

The cancellation of the committee meeting had prompted concerns about the timing of and access to flu shots for this fall. “I’m glad that they’ve come out with the influenza recommendation in a timely manner,�� Dr. Paul Offit, a member of the independent advisory committee and director of the Vaccine Education Center at the Philadelphia Children’s Hospital, said Thursday.

The 2024-25 flu season �� the worst in the U.S. in more than a decade �� is believed to have peaked in early February. The CDC in early March that there had been at least 40 million illnesses, 520,000 hospitalizations and 22,000 deaths caused by flu this season.

CNN’s Meg Tirrell contributed to this report.

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FDA issues flu vaccine recommendations for 2025-26 season

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