The US Department of Health and Human Services for the Influenza Division of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases (NCIRD) has offered to fund the research.
The project, SHIVERS (Southern Hemisphere Influenza Vaccine Effectiveness Research and Surveillance) will look at how the influenza virus and other respiratory pathogens spread through populations.
The SHIVERS research will be used to inform public health and vaccination strategies around world to protect vulnerable patients against flu epidemics and pandemics, like the Swine Flu.
The researchers have proposed to study the autumn and winter ‘flu season’ amongst the Auckland population using New Zealand’ health surveillance systems, which were proved to be effective in monitoring and combatting the spread of the H1N1 Swine Flu pandemic in 2009.