How Australia helps create the U.S. flu shot every year

Each year, as Americans roll up their sleeves for their annual flu shot, they might be surprised to learn their protection often begins with data from our friends down under. Medical experts say that international surveillance is essential for developing effective flu vaccines for the United States and other Northern Hemisphere nations. The work to prevent a bad flu season in the U.S. starts in Australia.  “Every year, the World Health Organization and others will look at what flu is doing in the Southern Hemisphere because those influenza strains will then ultimately migrate north into the northern hemisphere and result in our flu season,” said Dr. Wesley Long, Medical Director of Microbiology at Houston Methodist.