A method for the formulation of influenza virus vaccine using numerical taxonomy.

Abstract

The relationship of new "field" isolates of influenza virus to previously isolated strains might not be evident by inspection of haemagglutination-inhibition data. Numerical taxonomic methods have been applied to experimental results in order to clarify these relationships so that antigenic trends may be more easily seen. The diagrammatic representations so derived suggest that numerical taxonomic methods may be useful in the future in selecting the most representative influenza virus strains for inclusion in a vaccine.