  Influenza A is a serious disease that causes significant morbidity and
mortality, and vaccines against the seasonal influenza disease are of variable
effectiveness. In this paper, we discuss use of the $p_{\rm epitope}$ method to
predict the dominant influenza strain and the expected vaccine effectiveness in
the coming flu season. We illustrate how the effectiveness of the 2014/2015
A/Texas/50/2012 [clade 3C.1] vaccine against the A/California/02/2014 [clade
3C.3a] strain that emerged in the population can be estimated via pepitope. In
addition, we show by a multidimensional scaling analysis of data collected
through 2014, the emergence of a new A/New Mexico/11/2014-like cluster [clade
3C.2a] that is immunologically distinct from the A/California/02/2014-like
strains.
