Analyst urges expanding quadrivalent flu jab after fourth strain hits Europe

The UK’s National Health Service (NHS) and other European healthcare providers should start administering quadrivalent vaccines to better protect against the influenza virus, according to data and analytics company GlobalData.

In the UK, the NHS recommends that adults receive a jab known as a trivalent flu vaccine, which only protects against three of these four strains. But data suggests that the fourth strain – sometimes known as ‘Japanese flu’ – is now the most prevalent in Europe.

Thomas Moore, healthcare analyst at GlobalData, comments: “By most measures, the 2017–2018 influenza season has thus far been particularly severe, and the disease is currently placing a significant burden on healthcare services in Europe and North America.”