[Influenza in the 1995/'96 season; vaccine composition for the 1996/'97 season]

The 1995/'96 season in the Netherlands was marked by an influenza A/H3N2 epidemic that peaked in week 5I. In this week, 39 patients with influenza-like illness per 10,000 inhabitants contacted the sentinel physicians. With two exceptions, influenza A/H3N2 viruses exclusively were isolated during this epidemic period. In the first few months of 1996, a substantial number of influenza A/H1N1 and influenza B viruses were isolated as well. Serological characterization of the circulating viruses revealed that they all resembled the virus strains of the influenza vaccine of 1995/'96, which therefore probably will have provided good protection. Based on the epidemiological data from other countries and the fact that similar H3N2 viruses have been circulating since 1993, the World Health Organization has recommended to exchange the H3N2 component of the 1996/'97 vaccine for a Wuhan/353/95 (H3N2)-like strain.