ACIP issues flu vaccine recommendations for this season, updates options for organ recipients
Everyone ages six months and older should be vaccinated against the flu if they have no contraindications, and for solid-organ transplant recipients, either the high-dose inactivated influenza vaccine or adjuvanted inactivated influenza vaccine is an acceptable option, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) said.
The CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices announced this year's flu vaccine composition and made new recommendations for adults receiving solid organ transplants.
The recommendations were published in the Aug. 29 MMWR.
The composition of the 2024-2025 U.S. vaccines includes an update to the influenza A(H3N2) component. Vaccines will contain hemagglutinin derived from:
- A/Victoria/4897/2022 (H1N1)pdm09-like virus (for egg-based vaccines) or an influenza A/Wisconsin/67/2022 (H1N1)pdm09-like virus (for cell culture-based and recombinant vaccines),
- A/Thailand/8/2022 (H3N2)-like virus (for egg-based vaccines) or an influenza A/Massachusetts/18/2022 (H3N2)-like virus (for cell culture-based and recombinant vaccines), and
- B/Austria/1359417/2021 (Victoria lineage)-like virus (for egg-based, cell culture-based, and recombinant vaccines).
For the 2024-2025 influenza season, the FDA had recommended that the U.S. seasonal influenza vaccine no longer include influenza B/Yamagata, which has not had confirmed detections in global surveillance since March 2020.
The CDC continues to recommend routine annual influenza vaccination in all persons ages six months and older who do not have contraindications. For adult solid organ transplant recipients, the high-dose inactivated influenza vaccine (HD-IIV3) and the adjuvanted inactivated influenza vaccine (aIIV3) are both acceptable options if patients are receiving immunosuppressive medication regimens, without a preference over other age-appropriate IIV3s or RIV3, the CDC said. The agency noted that updates and other information are available at its influenza website.