Next-generation influenza vaccines offering broader and longer-lasting protection could significantly reduce the global burden of seasonal influenza and save millions of lives, according to a new assessment from the World Health Organization (WHO).

The WHO’s Full Value of Improved Influenza Vaccines Assessment (FVIVA), published alongside an article in the journal Vaccine, evaluates the health, economic, and policy impact of improved and universal influenza vaccines, while identifying potential barriers to global uptake.

Seasonal influenza causes around one billion infections annually, resulting in three to five million cases of severe illness and between 290,000 and 650,000 deaths from respiratory complications. Although existing vaccines reduce disease burden, effectiveness varies by season and population group, and protection typically lasts for only one season.

The FVIVA estimates that if next-generation vaccines were introduced and widely used between 2025 and 2050, up to 18 billion cases of influenza could be prevented and as many as 6.2 million lives saved, particularly among higher-risk groups such as older adults, young children, and pregnant women.

The analysis suggests that in many countries these vaccines would remain cost-effective or even cost-saving, while reducing antimicrobial use. Next-generation vaccines could avert up to 1.3 billion defined daily doses of antibiotics over 25 years, supporting global efforts to tackle antimicrobial resistance.

Last year, Japanese health authorities confirmed influenza cases exceeded the epidemic threshold, with more than 4,000 people hospitalised by 3 October.