<p>Is the influenza vaccine available in Europe the same “mixture” as here? I know the US supply is mostly manufactured overseas. But am not sure if you want into a clinic in Europe and ask for a flu vaccine, are you getting pretty much the same thing you get here? I tried to Google this without much success.</p>
<p>The flu mixture in the U.S. is determined in about May by the CDC. A flu shot outside of the U.S. is likely to be different.</p>
<p>The World Health Organisation makes an annual recommendation, based on research from sites in various countries, about the composition of the flu vaccine: one recommendation for the northern hemisphere and another for the southern hemisphere. Although it is up to each country, to decide for themselves, in practice all countries in the northern hemisphere use the same antigens. (There are different manufacturers in each country, so vaccines within a country can differ slightly.)</p>
<p>You can find the US recommendation for 2010/11 on the CDC website:</p>
<p>[CDC</a> - Seasonal Influenza (Flu) - 2010-11 Influenza Vaccine Composition](<a href=“http://www.cdc.gov/flu/professionals/acip/composition1011.htm]CDC”>http://www.cdc.gov/flu/professionals/acip/composition1011.htm)</p>
<p>If you trace back you’ll see that the antigens mentioned are those recommended by the WHO and are the same ones we are using in the UK. I think you’ll also find by looking at the Health Departments for individual countries that all of them use the WHO recommendations.</p>