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Study in UK: high rate of influenza vaccination among older people, but modest protection
The uptake of influenza vaccine in the elderly in the UK has been high in recent influenza seasons, but the effectiveness of the vaccine has been modest in this age group and the vaccine it's shown to be ineffective against the most serious strain. Eurosurveillance.
Public health experts in England and elsewhere in the country evaluated data for the 2010-2011 to 2016-2017 season. They found that immunization coverage was 64% for people aged 65 to 69, 74% for people aged 70 to 74, and 80% for people aged 75 and over.
Overall, the EV was 32.5% over the seven seasons against laboratory-confirmed influenza. By subtype, the vaccine was 60.8% effective against the H1N1 virus and 50.5% against the influenza B viruses, but only 5.6% against the H3N2 virus, the most serious strain. In addition, the EV was statistically significant only among those aged 65 to 74, of whom VE was 45.2%. The EV was -26.2% for the 75 to 84 age group and -3.2% for the 85 and over age group.
Researchers also found an influenza-related mortality rate of 74.9 per 100,000 population aged 75 and over, compared to 9.3 per 100,000 for those 65 to 74 years old.
The authors conclude, "We found that while influenza vaccine participation was very high among people aged 65 and over, the risk of flu-related death in England was higher among seniors aged 65 and over. 75 years and over season and during the seasons dominated by the circulation of influenza A (H3N2). "
Sept. 27 Eurosurveill report
Study: The bivalent vaccine against bird flu linked to less than H7N9 in Chinese poultry
A surveillance study involving poultry farms and markets in China before and after the country's launch of a new bivalent H5 / H7 vaccine to protect poultry in September 2017 revealed that the prevalence of H7N9 viruses had increased. significantly decreased after the introduction of the vaccine.
Chinese researchers, however, have found alarming evidence that some H7N9 viruses have acquired genes from duck flu viruses and have adapted to ducks, which could spread the virus more widely, with domestic ducks being raised in open fields. species and transmit the virus to other places.
Write in Cell host and microbe Today, researchers collected 53,884 poultry samples across the country from February 2017 to January 2018. In total, they found 252 low pathogenic H7N9 viruses, 69 highly pathogenic H7N9 viruses and 1 highly pathogenic H7N2 virus. Of the viruses, 2 low pathogenic strains and 14 highly pathogenic strains were collected after the introduction of the bivalent vaccine. Highly pathogenic H7N9 viruses fell into nine genotypes, one of which is prominent, widespread and highly virulent in mice. Investigators have also found that some of the H7N9 and H7N2 viruses carry deadly duck genes in ducks.
Immunization coverage was much lower in farms raising fast-growing meat chickens, some using only the previously purchased H5 vaccine. However, coverage was 73.1% in layer farms and those raising slow-growing meat chickens.
The team concluded that the vaccine played an important role in reducing H7N9 levels in poultry and had probably prevented the sixth wave of human diseases, in which only three cases had been reported . The authors added that, although duck-adapted viruses have been found in Fujian Province, the results raise new challenges for controlling bird flu in China, and one option could be to apply the bivalent vaccine to ducks.
Sept. 27 Cell Microbe Host abstract
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