Available influenza vaccines: immunization strategies, history and new tools for fighting the disease

The main public health strategy for containing influenza-related disease is annual vaccination, which is recommended for the elderly and others belonging to risk-factor categories, who present the highest morbidity and mortality, as reported by the World Health Organization (WHO) Recommendations. The availability of different influenza vaccine formulations makes the choice of the best immunization strategy a challenge for stakeholders and public health experts. Heterogeneity in at-risk categories included in national influenza vaccine recommendations still exists, in particular among European countries. Broader consensus is expected, which should positively impact on influenza vaccination coverage. The availability of quadrivalent vaccines, containing both influenza B lineages, offers the potential to improve protection by overcoming the drawbacks of wrongly predicting which B lineage will predominate in a given year.