News update - 14 - 20 February 2013 pdf, 256kb

NEWS UPDATE – 14-20 February 2013
Early estimates of seasonal influenza vaccine effectiveness in Europe
Sun, 17 Feb 2013 12:41:50 GMT| Eurosurveillance
Control study based in five European sentinel surveillance networks showed that early 2012/13
adjusted influenza vaccine effectiveness was 78.2% (95% CI: 18.0 to 94.2) against influenza B,
62.1% (95% CI: −22.9 to 88.3%) against A(H1)pdm09, 41.9 (95% CI: −67.1 to 79.8) against
A(H3N2) and 50.4% (95% CI: −20.7 to 79.6) against all influenza types in the target groups for
vaccination. Efforts to improve influenza vaccines should continue to better protect those at risk
of severe illness or complications.
FDA expert: Universal flu vaccine still 5-10 years off
Thu, 14 Feb 2013 00:00:00 GMT| CIDRAP
Top federal health officials who testified on Capitol Hill today said the nation has much better
influenza defenses today than it had 10 years ago, but one of them predicted that a "universal" flu
vaccine is probably still 5 to 10 years away.
La gripe sigue aumentando, sobre todo en niños
Thu, 14 Feb 2013 00:00:00 GMT| El Mundo
La actividad gripal sigue aumentando, sobre todo entre los niños. De casos graves hospitalizados,
eran las personas de los llamados grupos de riesgo, como enfermos crónicos, y ninguna de ellas se
había vacunado pese a las recomendación de hacerlo. En este sentido, el Departamento de
Sanidad ha recordado el valor de la vacunación en las personas con riesgos añadidos para evitar
complicaciones en caso de ser infectados por el virus.
La grippe fait des ravages
Thu, 14 Feb 2013 00:00:00 GMT| Le Matin
Le nombre de malades atteints par le virus continue d’augmenter en Suisse. Ainsi, lorsqu’un
médecin suspecte un cas de grippe, il effectue un frottis pour savoir s’il s’agit bel et bien de la
maladie. «Ces mesures ont pour objectif de nous aider à mieux appréhender la grippe et à prendre
les bonnes mesures, aussi bien du côté des soins que de la prévention, avec la vaccination du
personnel hospitalier ou le port du masque», explique Anne Iten, médecin au Service de
prévention et contrôle de l’infection.
PATH received US$2.5 million in follow-on BARDA for influenza vaccines production
Thu, 14 Feb 2013 00:00:00 GMT| PATH
The Strategic Science and Technology group of the Biomedical Advanced Research and
Development Authority (BARDA), a division of the US Department of Health and Human
Services, has awarded PATH US$2.5 million in follow-on funding to advance the development of
thermostable influenza vaccines, helping to extend product shelf life and ease logistics during
vaccine introduction and rapid deployment.
Complexities in assessing the effectiveness of inactivated influenza vaccines
Thu, 14 Feb 2013 00:00:00 GMT| Eurosurveillance
The authors argue that it is desirable to offer better than 50% protection and this is achieved in
some years for some influenza types or sub-types. Therefore, it is advisable to continue to support
the use of existing vaccines, especially in populations at risk of a severe outcome following
infection. Meanwhile, influenza vaccine researchers should continue to refine study methods to
estimate the benefit that can be expected from inactivated vaccines in routine practice, and agree
on how best to describe this benefit.