Better seasonal influenza vaccines to improve coverage in Europe

To achieve increased and sustainable influenza vaccine coverage in Europe, the effectiveness of seasonal influenza vaccines should be improved, especially for the clinical risk groups and older people. In a Lancet commentary published on 17 December 2012, the Director of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), Marc Sprenger, and the Head of Influenza and other Respiratory Viruses Programme, Angus Nicoll, looked at effectiveness studies of seasonal influenza vaccines and suggested several areas for improvement.