Current flu season: Watch out for H1N1 (so far evidence suggests the circulating strains are similar enough to the one in the vaccine to trigger protection.)
February 10th, 2016“…..8 February 2016
Compared to previous years, northern hemisphere seasonal influenza activity commenced late in some countries in western Europe, North America and eastern Asia. Transmission, as demonstrated by influenza-like illness (ILI) rates, has started to exceed country-specific baseline rates, but is still relatively low in general with the exception of some eastern European countries where a sharp increase of ILI rates has been observed and countries in western Asia where influenza activity may have already peaked.
Among the currently circulating seasonal influenza viruses in the temperate zone, influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 virus is predominating, except in northern China where influenza A(H3N2) and influenza B viruses are widely co-circulating though the proportion of A(H1N1)pdm09 virus is increasing. In a few European countries, influenza A(H3N2) and influenza B viruses are also circulating.
In some countries there have been reports of hospitalizations with severe disease associated with influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 virus infections. Based on the WHO global influenza surveillance, in countries with influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 virus predominating, the hospitalization and intensive care unit (ICU) admission patterns seem to be similar to previous seasons when this virus predominated and where young/middle-aged adults experienced severe disease……”