Composition of Australian influenza vaccine for the 2003 season

This article published in Communicable Diseases Intelligence Volume 27, No 1, March 2003 contains the World Health Organization recommendations on the composition of influenza vaccines for the 2003 Southern Hemisphere season

Page last updated: 08 April 2003

A print friendly PDF version is available from this Communicable Diseases Intelligence issue's table of contents.


In order to select virus strains for the manufacture of the influenza vaccine for the 2003 season, a meeting of the Australian Influenza Vaccine Committee on Influenza Vaccines was convened on 10 October 2002.

Having considered information on international surveillance by the World Health Organization (WHO), and up-to-date epidemiology and strain characterisation presented at the meeting, the Committee considered that the WHO recommendations on the composition of vaccines for the 2003 Southern Hemisphere season should be followed.

A H1N1 strain: an A/New Caledonia/20/99 (H1N1)-like strain
A/New Caledonia/20/99 (IVR-116) is recommended as a suitable vaccine strain.
15 µg HA per dose.
A H3N2 strain: an A/Moscow/10/99 (H3N2)-like strain
A/Panama/2007/99 (RESVIR-17) is recommended as a suitable vaccine strain.
15 µg HA per dose.
B Strain: a B/Hong Kong/330/2001-like strain
B/Shangdong/7/97 and B/Brisbane/32/2002 are recommended as suitable vaccine strains.
15 µg HA per dose.


This article was published in Communicable Diseases Intelligence Volume 27, No 1, March 2003.

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This issue - Vol 27, No 1, March 2003