A line of the flu virus has been effectively wiped out, ironically thanks to COVID-19.
The Yamagata lineage is one of two varieties of Influenza B, which along with Influenza A subtypes, causes seasonal flu.
But no evidence of the Yamagata lineage has been detected globally since the outbreak of SARS-CoV-2 the virus that causes COVID-19 and the United States Food and Drug Administration has agreed with recommendations from the World Health Organization that it no longer be included in seasonal flu vaccines.
Yamagata was already in decline pre-pandemic, but none of its strains have been isolated since March 2020. Its believed containment measures introduced to prevent the spread of COVID-19 such as face masking and physical isolation may have helped to drive Yamagata to undetectable levels.
Last year, the WHO recommended only one Yamagata lineage be included in quadrivalent southern hemisphere seasonal flu vaccines. Its recent update for the 2024-25 northern hemisphere flu season said the inclusion of Yamagata-like viruses in trivalent jabs was no longer warranted.
Now, a meeting by the FDAs Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee on Tuesday (local time) has ratified that recommendation. In a statement, the FDA said:
In the interest of public health, FDA strongly recommended to influenza vaccine manufacturers the removal of the B/Yamagata lineage virus from seasonal influenza vaccines in the U.S. for the 2024-2025 influenza season. FDA and the manufacturers have been working together so that the move from quadrivalent to trivalent seasonal influenza vaccines occurs for the upcoming influenza season.
The United States next batch of flu vaccines will include components of two Influenza A viruses and one Victoria lineage Influenza B virus.
Before the WHO and FDA announced their new directions, the August meeting of Australias Advisory Committee on Vaccines discussed the potential for removing the Yamagata lineage from future inoculations.
Robert Booy, an infectious diseases paediatrician at The Childrens Hospital at Westmead, tells Cosmos Yamagata was highly unlikely to return, but that its disappearance merely emphasises the competition between respiratory viruses in the environment.
The high likelihood is that Yamagata is gone, Booy says.
The four years of non-appearance has only year-on-year reinforced the understanding that there are a lot of other viruses out there competing for the biological niche in humans and this one has lost its way.
While he agrees with the decision by the WHO, FDA, and likely Australias TGA, to adopt a three-pronged flu vaccine for the future, he says there could be an opportunity to stick with a four-antigen jab that gives greater protection against the most potent A subtypes.
Influenza H3N2, which first appeared more than 50 years ago from the Hong Kong pandemic in 1962, is the most predominant cause of influenza and it continues to mutate and evolve and change so that our vaccines, even though theyre decided upon in the 6-12 months before theyre introduced, still only provide 50-70% protection, Booy says.
Some people therefore think that if we go for two different variants of H3, we could prevent the most damaging and most virulent cause of influenza each winter.
See the article here:
A type of flu virus hasn't been seen in 4 years. It's disappeared due to COVID - Cosmos
- Booster dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech/BNT162b2 COVID19 vaccine | IDR - Dove Medical Press [Last Updated On: August 9th, 2022] [Originally Added On: August 9th, 2022]
- Monkeypox vaccines have arrived in Victoria. Here's how the rollout will work - ABC News [Last Updated On: August 9th, 2022] [Originally Added On: August 9th, 2022]
- UHD, H-E-B Offering Students Bacterial Meningitis Vaccine On Campus With Deferred Payment Option - UHD News [Last Updated On: August 9th, 2022] [Originally Added On: August 9th, 2022]
- Vaccine effectiveness of two-dose BNT162b2 against symptomatic and severe COVID-19 among adolescents in Brazil and Scotland over time: a test-negative... [Last Updated On: August 9th, 2022] [Originally Added On: August 9th, 2022]
- Japan plans booster shots of Omicron vaccine in October | The Asahi Shimbun: Breaking News, Japan News and Analysis - [Last Updated On: August 9th, 2022] [Originally Added On: August 9th, 2022]
- EyeGene to conduct vaccine projects with government support - KBR [Last Updated On: August 9th, 2022] [Originally Added On: August 9th, 2022]
- Monkeypox Vaccine: Where to Get It - countynewscenter.com [Last Updated On: August 9th, 2022] [Originally Added On: August 9th, 2022]
- Vaccines for Covid-19 arent required in schools this fall - Vox.com [Last Updated On: August 9th, 2022] [Originally Added On: August 9th, 2022]
- 600 in Wisconsin receive monkeypox vaccination, says health department - Green Bay Press Gazette [Last Updated On: August 11th, 2022] [Originally Added On: August 11th, 2022]
- Effectiveness of third vaccine dose for coronavirus disease 2019 during the Omicron variant pandemic: a prospective observational study in Japan |... [Last Updated On: August 11th, 2022] [Originally Added On: August 11th, 2022]
- Why Monkeypox Vaccine Shortage May Threaten the Immunocompromised - The New York Times [Last Updated On: August 11th, 2022] [Originally Added On: August 11th, 2022]
- UK will run out of monkeypox vaccine in 10 to 20 days - The Guardian [Last Updated On: August 11th, 2022] [Originally Added On: August 11th, 2022]
- New method of nasal vaccine delivery could lead to better vaccines for HIV and COVID-19 - UMN News [Last Updated On: August 11th, 2022] [Originally Added On: August 11th, 2022]
- Phillys monkeypox vaccine shortages arent solved yet as feds make move to increase access to the shots - The Philadelphia Inquirer [Last Updated On: August 11th, 2022] [Originally Added On: August 11th, 2022]
- Vaccines are now approved for children aged six months to five years, but what about newborn babies? - ABC News [Last Updated On: August 11th, 2022] [Originally Added On: August 11th, 2022]
- Bottling the monkeypox vaccine could take until early 2023 - POLITICO [Last Updated On: August 11th, 2022] [Originally Added On: August 11th, 2022]
- The Brazilian Scientists Inventing An mRNA Vaccine And Sharing The Recipe : Short Wave - NPR [Last Updated On: August 11th, 2022] [Originally Added On: August 11th, 2022]
- 2,000 Monkeypox Vaccine Appointments Are Available in Chicago This Weekend. Here's How to Get One - NBC Chicago [Last Updated On: August 11th, 2022] [Originally Added On: August 11th, 2022]
- 'Vaccine fatigue' could hit autumn Covid boosters | News | The Sunday Times - The Times [Last Updated On: August 28th, 2022] [Originally Added On: August 28th, 2022]
- Q&A: The new COVID vaccine booster is coming. Should you get it? - The Lawton Constitution [Last Updated On: August 28th, 2022] [Originally Added On: August 28th, 2022]
- Former CRH surgeon who survived polio disheartened by vaccination lapses - The Republic [Last Updated On: August 28th, 2022] [Originally Added On: August 28th, 2022]
- 'Only the beginning': Hundreds protest Western University vaccine mandate - CBC.ca [Last Updated On: August 28th, 2022] [Originally Added On: August 28th, 2022]
- Vaccine hesitancy and trust in health experts: Shifting the focus - Medical News Today [Last Updated On: August 28th, 2022] [Originally Added On: August 28th, 2022]
- I Was There When: AI helped create a vaccine - MIT Technology Review [Last Updated On: August 28th, 2022] [Originally Added On: August 28th, 2022]
- The USDA is sprinkling fish-flavored vaccines from the sky to fight rabies - CNN [Last Updated On: August 28th, 2022] [Originally Added On: August 28th, 2022]
- COVID-19 Vaccines | FDA [Last Updated On: August 28th, 2022] [Originally Added On: August 28th, 2022]
- Novavax COVID-19 vaccine available for ages 12 and up; CDC Community Level back at Low - Communications and Outreach - New Hanover County [Last Updated On: August 28th, 2022] [Originally Added On: August 28th, 2022]
- Vaccine Definition & Meaning - Merriam-Webster [Last Updated On: August 28th, 2022] [Originally Added On: August 28th, 2022]
- National health agency apologises over Covid vaccine ads it was ordered to remove - RNZ [Last Updated On: September 3rd, 2022] [Originally Added On: September 3rd, 2022]
- Editorial: How Jewish space lasers and vaccine nanobots seized the brains of GOP voters - St. Louis Post-Dispatch [Last Updated On: September 3rd, 2022] [Originally Added On: September 3rd, 2022]
- Novel HER2-hICD Vaccine to be Investigated for Treatment of HER2-Low Breast Cancer - Targeted Oncology [Last Updated On: September 3rd, 2022] [Originally Added On: September 3rd, 2022]
- Brazilian Covid vaccine to be tested in humans in 2023 - The Brazilian Report [Last Updated On: September 3rd, 2022] [Originally Added On: September 3rd, 2022]
- A Review on the Use of the HPV Vaccine in the Prevention of Cervical Cancer - Cureus [Last Updated On: September 3rd, 2022] [Originally Added On: September 3rd, 2022]
- City Offering Second Doses of Monkeypox Vaccine to New Yorkers and Begin Accepting Walk-In Appointments - nyc.gov [Last Updated On: September 3rd, 2022] [Originally Added On: September 3rd, 2022]
- Monkeypox vax has disproportionately gone to white Philadelphians. This clinic sought to balance that. - The Philadelphia Inquirer [Last Updated On: September 3rd, 2022] [Originally Added On: September 3rd, 2022]
- Hopeful New Entry In The Race For A Universal Covid Vaccine - Forbes [Last Updated On: September 3rd, 2022] [Originally Added On: September 3rd, 2022]
- Study raises concerns about the effectiveness of the monkeypox vaccine - STAT [Last Updated On: September 3rd, 2022] [Originally Added On: September 3rd, 2022]
- newsroom.heart.org [Last Updated On: September 3rd, 2022] [Originally Added On: September 3rd, 2022]
- Did the affordable, no-patent COVID vaccine Corbevax live up to its promise? : Goats and Soda - NPR [Last Updated On: September 3rd, 2022] [Originally Added On: September 3rd, 2022]
- In CDC Survey of Over 13,000 Children, More Than Half Had 'Systemic Reaction' After COVID-19 Vaccine - The Epoch Times [Last Updated On: September 6th, 2022] [Originally Added On: September 6th, 2022]
- Department of Health working with community to administer monkeypox vaccines - Honolulu Star-Advertiser [Last Updated On: September 6th, 2022] [Originally Added On: September 6th, 2022]
- Fact check: Post-vaccine hospitalization odds not 3 times higher as ex-Japan PM claimed - The Mainichi - The Mainichi [Last Updated On: September 6th, 2022] [Originally Added On: September 6th, 2022]
- Impact of vaccinia virus-based vaccines on the 2022 monkeypox virus outbreak - News-Medical.Net [Last Updated On: September 6th, 2022] [Originally Added On: September 6th, 2022]
- Microsoft and Unicef drive Covid-19 vaccine roll-out with COVAX platform - Technology Record [Last Updated On: September 6th, 2022] [Originally Added On: September 6th, 2022]
- School Mask, Vaccine Mandates Are Mostly Gone. But What if the Virus Comes Back? - The 74 [Last Updated On: September 6th, 2022] [Originally Added On: September 6th, 2022]
- Immunogenicity and safety of an inactivated whole-virus COVID-19 vaccine (VLA2001) compared with the adenoviral vector vaccine ChAdOx1-S in adults in... [Last Updated On: September 6th, 2022] [Originally Added On: September 6th, 2022]
- Getting a Grip on Influenza: The Pursuit of a Universal Vaccine (Part 4) - Forbes [Last Updated On: September 7th, 2022] [Originally Added On: September 7th, 2022]
- Why So Few Young Kids Are Vaccinated against COVIDAnd How to Change That - Scientific American [Last Updated On: September 7th, 2022] [Originally Added On: September 7th, 2022]
- UK Travel Vaccine Market Report 2022: Increasing Travel and Tourism & Growing Incidences of Infectious Diseases Fuel Sector -... [Last Updated On: September 7th, 2022] [Originally Added On: September 7th, 2022]
- At long last, we might have an HIV vaccine - Big Think [Last Updated On: September 7th, 2022] [Originally Added On: September 7th, 2022]
- The associations between vaccination status, type, and time since vaccination with lineage identity during the emergence of new SARS-CoV-2 variants -... [Last Updated On: September 7th, 2022] [Originally Added On: September 7th, 2022]
- Needle-less COVID-19 vaccine developed at Washington University approved for use in India - KSDK.com [Last Updated On: September 10th, 2022] [Originally Added On: September 10th, 2022]
- Study: COVID-19 Vaccine Prevented Approximately 27 Million Infections in US Adults - Pharmacy Times [Last Updated On: September 10th, 2022] [Originally Added On: September 10th, 2022]
- Health System Warns Exemptions to COVID Vaccines May Expire With New Options - Medpage Today [Last Updated On: September 10th, 2022] [Originally Added On: September 10th, 2022]
- Does Moderna's vaccine IP lawsuit herald the end of the pandemic? - Medical Marketing and Media [Last Updated On: September 10th, 2022] [Originally Added On: September 10th, 2022]
- The Unintended Consequences of COVID-19 Vaccine Policy The Wire Science - The Wire Science [Last Updated On: September 10th, 2022] [Originally Added On: September 10th, 2022]
- Astrocytes, the Covid vaccine and the 2021 classification - Brain Tumour Research [Last Updated On: September 18th, 2022] [Originally Added On: September 18th, 2022]
- Nearly 50 Members of Congress Call on Pentagon to End Military Vaccine Mandate - The Epoch Times [Last Updated On: September 18th, 2022] [Originally Added On: September 18th, 2022]
- New Omicron-fighting Covid vaccine supplied with flimsy needles across Scotland to get replacement syringes - STV News [Last Updated On: September 18th, 2022] [Originally Added On: September 18th, 2022]
- Is There A Minimum Age for the Shingles Vaccine? - Healthline [Last Updated On: September 18th, 2022] [Originally Added On: September 18th, 2022]
- Detection of circulating vaccine derived polio virus 2 (cVDPV2) in environmental samples the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and... [Last Updated On: September 18th, 2022] [Originally Added On: September 18th, 2022]
- 850 more unvaxxed NYC teachers, aides fired for not complying with mandate - New York Post [Last Updated On: September 18th, 2022] [Originally Added On: September 18th, 2022]
- 'India's vaccine growth story' book review: Far from being a dry collection of facts and figures - The New Indian Express [Last Updated On: September 18th, 2022] [Originally Added On: September 18th, 2022]
- Health care workers appeal dismissal of lawsuit over Maine's vaccine mandate - Kennebec Journal and Morning Sentinel [Last Updated On: September 18th, 2022] [Originally Added On: September 18th, 2022]
- Department of Health Expands Eligibility for the Monkeypox Vaccine - Anne Arundel County Department of Health [Last Updated On: September 25th, 2022] [Originally Added On: September 25th, 2022]
- Could This Be Pfizer's Next Billion-Dollar Vaccine? - The Motley Fool [Last Updated On: September 25th, 2022] [Originally Added On: September 25th, 2022]
- Many Vaccinated Youth Who Suffered Heart Inflammation Had Abnormal MRI Results Months Later: CDC Study - The Epoch Times [Last Updated On: September 25th, 2022] [Originally Added On: September 25th, 2022]
- Second vaccine doses to be offered to those at highest risk from monkeypox - GOV.UK [Last Updated On: September 25th, 2022] [Originally Added On: September 25th, 2022]
- Structure of the malaria vaccine candidate Pfs48/45 and its recognition by transmission blocking antibodies - Nature.com [Last Updated On: September 25th, 2022] [Originally Added On: September 25th, 2022]
- Coronavirus Roundup: A CDC Team Is Honored for Its Vaccine Distribution Work - GovExec.com [Last Updated On: September 25th, 2022] [Originally Added On: September 25th, 2022]
- Everything to know about the Monkeypox vaccine | Health - Red and Black [Last Updated On: September 25th, 2022] [Originally Added On: September 25th, 2022]
- The U.S. ordered 171 million updated COVID booster shots but only 4.4 million went into arms as Biden says the pandemic is over - Fortune [Last Updated On: September 25th, 2022] [Originally Added On: September 25th, 2022]
- Why mosquitoes were the vaccinators in a new malaria vaccine trial : Goats and Soda - NPR [Last Updated On: September 25th, 2022] [Originally Added On: September 25th, 2022]
- Lyme disease is on the rise. Why is there still no vaccine? - AAMC [Last Updated On: September 25th, 2022] [Originally Added On: September 25th, 2022]
- Government of Canada announces funding for advancements in mRNA vaccine technology at the University of British Columbia - Canada NewsWire [Last Updated On: October 3rd, 2022] [Originally Added On: October 3rd, 2022]
- 130 people have received incorrect doses of COVID-19 vaccines: MOH - CNA [Last Updated On: October 3rd, 2022] [Originally Added On: October 3rd, 2022]
- Health unit hosts pop-up vaccine clinics throughout the week - BradfordToday [Last Updated On: October 3rd, 2022] [Originally Added On: October 3rd, 2022]
- Doctor who gave anti-vaccine speech in front of effigies of officials being hanged faces discipline hearing - CBC.ca [Last Updated On: October 3rd, 2022] [Originally Added On: October 3rd, 2022]
- What's really happening with global vaccine access? - Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance [Last Updated On: October 3rd, 2022] [Originally Added On: October 3rd, 2022]
- Study confirms link between COVID-19 vaccination and temporary increase in menstrual cycle length - National Institutes of Health (.gov) [Last Updated On: October 3rd, 2022] [Originally Added On: October 3rd, 2022]