Weekly influenza update, week 41, 2017
Map
ECDC and WHO/Europe publish weekly influenza surveillance data in the report Flu News Europe. This report covers the period week 41 (9-15 October) 2017.
Week 41/2017 (9 – 15 October 2017)
- Low influenza activity was reported by all 39 reporting countries.
- Influenza viruses were detected sporadically in sentinel specimens with equal numbers of influenza A and B type viruses being detected.
- For week 41/2017, data from the 20 countries or regions reporting to the EuroMOMO project indicated all-cause mortality to be at expected levels for this time of the year.
2017/18 season overview
- As s usual for the first weeks of the season, influenza activity is low in the European Region.
- Due to the diversity of A(H3N2) influenza viruses that circulated during the 2017 Southern Hemisphere season, WHO recently recommended a change of the A(H3N2) component for inclusion in seasonal influenza vaccines for use in the 2018 southern hemisphere influenza season. In addition, the influenza B lineage in trivalent vaccines was changed (to a B/Yamagata-lineage virus), compared to the vaccine component (a B/Victoria-lineage virus) recommended for 2017-2018 northern hemisphere influenza seasons.
