Bengaluru, Aug. 23 -- India has aligned itself with the World Health Organisation's (WHO) updated influenza vaccination guidelines for the Northern Hemisphere 2025-26 season, health experts said at a symposium here today.
The WHO has recommended removal of the B/Yamagata strain from quadrivalent influenza vaccines, citing the absence of naturally occurring cases since March 2020. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) excluded the strain last year, while India's National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has also endorsed the move.
Despite influenza accounting for nearly 1.27 lakh deaths annually in India-65 per cent among people over 65 years and up to 20 per cent among children under five-flu vaccination coverage in t...