By Siddhi Mahatole and Gnaneshwar Rajan
Feb 11 (Reuters) - The United States will take part in a World Health Organization meeting at the end of the month to determine the composition of upcoming influenza vaccines, the agency's official said at a press conference on Wednesday.
Washington officially left the WHO in January after a year of warnings that doing so would hurt public health in the U.S. and globally, saying its decision reflected failures in the U.N. health agency's management of the COVID-19
pandemic.
It has been unclear how much the country would work with the WHO following the departure, and the collaboration on flu vaccines is a sign of an ongoing link.
Maria Van Kerkhove, the WHO's director for epidemic and pandemic preparedness, said the global influenza surveillance and response network — a system of more than 150 laboratories across 130 countries — plays a central role in tracking seasonal and zoonotic influenza viruses and updates vaccine recommendations every six months.
There are seven collaborating centers, including facilities in the U.S., the UK and Australia.
Van Kerkhove said there had also been "a slight dip" in the global circulation of influenza virus samples after funding challenges, but shipments had now resumed.
GUINEA-BISSAU VACCINE STUDY 'UNETHICAL' - TEDROS
At the same press conference, WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said a planned U.S.-funded research in Guinea-Bissau to study the effects of hepatitis B vaccines on newborns, which has drawn significant criticism, is unethical.
"As far as WHO's position is concerned, it's unethical to proceed with this study," Tedros said, but added that it was ultimately a domestic decision.
African health officials in January said the study has not been canceled, but will undergo further ethical review.
Scientists have opposed the study because some of the newborns involved would not get the vaccine, which is known to be safe and save lives, in a country with high rates of hepatitis B. The disease transmits commonly from mother to child during birth and can cause liver failure and cancer.
The study's researchers say the project is ethical because the vaccine is not yet administered at birth in Guinea-Bissau, where the first dose is given at six weeks.
The research was due to investigate potential "non-specific effects" of the vaccine, including skin disorders and neuro-developmental disorders, such as autism.
(Reporting by Siddhi Mahatole and Gnaneshwar Rajan in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber and Sahal Muhammed)
