Flu Research Coup

The Institute of Environmental Science and Research (ESR) has won a five-year, multi-million-dollar contract awarded by the United States Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to study influenza in an effort to better understand the burden of the virus and how to prevent its spread around the world. The “Southern Hemisphere Influenza Vaccine Effectiveness Research and Surveillance” (SHIVERS) project will look at how the influenza virus and other respiratory pathogens spread through populations. SHIVERS program leader at the ESR Dr Virginia Hope said: “The end goal of this research is to provide needed data for influenza control strategies and also provide knowledge that can improve health around the world.”