Feb 18, 2009 (CIDRAP News) – A US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) advisory committee today recommended that pharmaceutical companies use one new influenza strain, the B component, in next season’s flu vaccine.The Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee voted to follow the lead of the World Health Organization (WHO), which last week recommended replacing the influenza B strain in this year’s vaccine, which is from the Yamagata lineage, to one from the Victoria lineage, said Karen Reilly, an FDA spokeswoman. The WHO and the FDA panel recommended that the two influenza A strains for the Northern Hemisphere remain the same.Reilly told CIDRAP News that the votes on retaining the current influenza A/H1N1 and A/H3N2 strains were unanimous. However, the vote on changing the influenza B strain was 14 to 0 with one abstention.The flu vaccine is reformulated each year in an attempt to match ever-evolving virus strains. The WHO and FDA recommend the strains for the vaccine in February, allowing companies enough time to grow the viruses in chicken eggs and process them into vaccine doses. Most years the vaccine is protective, but last flu season all three strains in the vaccine were a poor match for circulating viruses, and the WHO and FDA recommended changing all three strains for this season.The influenza B component of this year’s flu vaccine was from the Yamagata lineage, but the proportion of strains from the Victoria lineage continues to increase and has become predominant in many countries, including the United States.The WHO and now the FDA committee recommend the following for next season’s vaccine:For the H1N1 component, a strain similar to A/Brisbane/59/2007For the H3N2 component, a strain similar to A/Brisbane/10/2007For the B component, a strain similar to B/Brisbane/60/2008-like virus, replacing B/Florida/4/2006Reilly said the committee discussed recommending the addition of a second B strain to the vaccine, but did not vote on the measure. Health officials in the United States have discussed including both lineages in the seasonal vaccine to address the unpredictable circulation of the influenza B strains, given that a vaccine against one lineage offers little protection against the other.Some of the committee members said there was not enough research yet to support adding a second B strain lineage, she said.See also:Feb 13 CIDRAP News story “WHO picks new B strain for 2009-10 flu vaccine”Jan 16 CIDRAP News story “Experts consider 4-strain flu vaccine to fight B viruses”
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Wenger has been out of work for 18 months (Picture: Getty)Asked if he’d be interested in the Bayern Munich job, Wenger told beIN SPORTS: ‘I came here to speak about the games and you start very strongly there, putting me straight under pressure!’AdvertisementAdvertisement‘Of course! [I’d be interested] Coaching was my whole life until now and everybody who has coached will tell you the same.‘You miss the intensity. There’s some things you miss a lot, and some things you don’t miss. So I enjoyed as well things I don’t miss too much. ‘But on the other hand, winning football games, preparing a team for a game, developing players and getting satisfaction and shared emotions is something that you miss‘So of course yes, I was responsible at 33 years of age and coached until 69 without interruption at top level. So that is 36 years without stopping. ‘So on the other hand, even if I miss it, to get a little bit out of that pressure for a year was not too bad for me – people who know me well say I’m more relaxed, it’s true!’MORE: Joe Cole compares Chelsea star Reece James to David Beckham after impressive display in Ajax comeback Arsene Wenger is favourite to take charge of Bayern Munich (Picture: Getty)Arsene Wenger is the frontrunner to be appointed Bayern Munich’s next manager after Ralf Rangnick rejected interest from the Bundesliga giants.Niko Kovac was sacked on Sunday after a successful but complicated 18 months at the Allianz Arena.Bayern had initially targetd Rangnick, head of sport and development at Red Bull Leipzig, but he has since intimated that he’s not interested in a move to Bavaria.With options thin on the ground, Bayern are now looking at hiring an interim manager for the remainder of the season before looking at a long-term solution and Wenger is now favourite.ADVERTISEMENTThe Frenchman confirmed on Tuesday that he was open to taking charge of the Bundesliga club. Metro Sport ReporterWednesday 6 Nov 2019 10:38 amShare this article via facebookShare this article via twitterShare this article via messengerShare this with Share this article via emailShare this article via flipboardCopy link1.5kShares Advertisement Arsene Wenger favourite for Bayern Munich job after Ralf Rangnick declines interest Comment Advertisement
The Latest: Tennis tours, Grand Slams working on virus fund April 21, 2020 Players on French clubs are all on temporary layoffs. That means a small cut in pay of 16 percent and the state picks up a portion of the rest.Players at clubs in other countries have taken large pay cuts amid the uncertainty.PSG’s squad includes world-class players Neymar, Kylian Mbappé, Ángel Di María and Edinson Cavani.Al-Khelaifi says “our wage bill is of substantial volume” and “we risk suffering colossal losses” at the end of the season.___ Serie A has been suspended since the government ordered a nationwide lockdown more than a month ago. Twelve rounds remain along with four games that were postponed from the weekend of Feb. 22.The lockdown in Italy is scheduled to expire after May 3.___The ownership of the Orlando Magic have announced a $50,000 donation to a Central Florida food bank and have teamed with Papa John’s to offer a way for their fans to support food-insecure families as well.The DeVos family announced the donation to the Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida. Through May 20 fans can also see 25% of their online-order price at Orlando-area Papa John’s restaurants donated to the food bank as well. Serge Aurier has become the latest player from English club Tottenham to flout government guidelines during the coronavirus outbreak after posting videos of him training with teammate Moussa Sissoko.The Ivory Coast defender has now deleted the videos on his Instagram story, which showed him running shuttles and sitting next to Sissoko, disregarding social distancing. Aurier was wearing a face mask.It wasn’t clear where the two players were training.Tottenham says “we shall be speaking to both players involved.”It comes about two weeks after Tottenham manager Jose Mourinho was pictured holding a one-on-one training session in north London with midfielder Tanguy Ndombele, while two other players ran nearby. Mourinho later acknowledged his session was “not in line with government protocol.” Associated Press The ATP and WTA say they are in discussions with the International Tennis Federation and the four Grand Slam tournaments but did not provide any specifics about how much money they are pooling or how it will be distributed.They said they “look forward to finalizing and sharing the further details of a plan in due course.”Pro tennis has been on hold since early March because of the COVID-19 outbreak, and no tournaments will be played before mid-July at the earliest.The French Open postponed its start from May to September, and Wimbledon was canceled for the first time in 75 years.___ UEFA vice president Sándor Csányi says playoffs to decide the last four places in the postponed European Championship could be played in October or November.The 16-nation playoffs have twice been postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic. Euro 2020 has been delayed one year.Csányi tells Hungarian media that October and November are options while there is uncertainty about when soccer can resume in Europe. All 55 UEFA member countries are currently scheduled to play Nations League games in October and November.Hungary was drawn to play at Bulgaria in the single knockout Euro 2020 playoffs. The winner will host either Iceland or Romania with a place in the final tournament at stake.Hungary is one of 12 host nations of Euro 2020. ___The deputy head of Germany’s national disease control center has cautioned against coronavirus testing for soccer players in order to restart the league.Regular testing of players and team staff is a key element of a plan to resume German soccer in empty stadiums next month.Robert Koch Institute vice president Lars Schaade says he doesn’t “see why certain sections of the population … should be routinely screened.”Schaade says he would prefer testing to be focused on people who show symptoms or who are linked to an outbreak of the virus.
The league plans to maintain a 144-game regular-season schedule but has decided scrap its all-star game and shorten the first round of the playoffs from a best-of-five to best-of-three series.The KBO says it could shorten the regular season if infections erupt. The league will advise players to wear face masks in locker rooms and require them to download smartphone apps to report their daily health status to league officials.___More AP sports: https://apnews.com/apf-sports and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports,Tampa Bay Lightning advance to face Dallas Stars in Stanley Cup finals, beating New York Islanders 2-1 in OT in Game 6 Magic CEO Alex Martins says “this has been a focus for us over the years, and now more than ever this remains a priority. We will continue to work together to make sure we assist those most vulnerable.”The DeVos family previously announced a $2 million compensation fund for Orlando Magic, Amway Center, Lakeland Magic and Orlando Solar Bears hourly workers for games and time missed during the COVID-19 suspension of seasons. Several Magic players and Magic coach Steve Clifford have also championed various charitable causes during the pandemic.___Paris Saint-Germain president Nasser Al-Khelaifi has urged his players to accept a pay cut amid the coronavirus pandemic.Al-Khelaifi says in an interview with RMC radio that he is “expecting them to make an effort for the club. They know their responsibilities.” UEFA’s previous directive was toned down to “a strong recommendation“ Tuesday to try to complete domestic seasons. Domestic club soccer aims to play into July and August — if resuming games is even possible — with UEFA hoping to complete the Champions League and Europa League later in August.___The 20 clubs in Italy’s top soccer division have unanimously voted in favor of finishing the current season.The Lega Serie A held an assembly with the 20 clubs by videoconference. It released a statement saying all clubs voted “to carry on the 2019-2020 season to the end, if the government allows it to happen.” Guidelines say people can only exercise outdoors on their own or with members of the same household.___UEFA is softening its tone toward organizers of national leagues and cups who want to end seasons early before completing all games.After talking with its 55 member federations, UEFA says that “some special cases will be heard“ after guidelines are confirmed for entry paths to next season’s Champions League and Europa League. Those guidelines could be approved Thursday by UEFA’s executive committee.After Belgium’s top-tier league said this month it wanted to declare current standings final, UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin warned that countries risked losing European competition entries if they took premature decisions. Share This StoryFacebookTwitteremailPrintLinkedinRedditThe Latest on the effects of the coronavirus outbreak on sports around the world:___The men’s and women’s professional tennis tours say they will administer a player relief fund to help those in the sport dealing with the financial effects of the coronavirus pandemic. The next games are set to see the introduction of rally and historic motorsport events.Paul Ricard also hosts a Formula One race. It is scheduled for June 28 but widely expected to become the 10th of 22 races this season to be called off amid the virus outbreak.___South Korea’s professional baseball league has decided to begin its season on May 5.The games will be played without fans until the risk of infection from the coronavirus is gone. Clubs are eager to resume the Bundesliga to avoid financial losses. They are negotiating a tricky political landscape and opposition from some fan groups.The governors of German states Bavaria and North Rhine-Westphalia have called for a restart of soccer on May 9 but not all states are on board.___The second edition of FIA’s Motorsport Games has been postponed until next year because of the coronavirus pandemic.The multi-disciple event between various nations was scheduled for Oct. 23-25 at the Circuit Paul Ricard near designated host city Marseille. The new dates are Oct. 22-24 next year at the same place.