Influenza A (H5N1) viruses are strong candidates for causing the next influenza pandemic if they acquire the ability for efficient human-to-human transmission. A major public health goal is to make efficacious vaccines against these viruses by using novel approaches, including cell-culture system, reverse genetics, and adjuvant development. Important consideration for the strategy includes prep...

Although highly effective in the general population when well matched to circulating influenza virus strains, current influenza vaccines are limited in their utility due to the narrow breadth of protection they provide. The strain specificity of vaccines presently in use mirrors the exquisite specificity of the neutralizing antibodies that they induce, that is, antibodies which bind to the high...

INTRODUCTION Oral vaccines delivered as tablets offer a number of advantages over traditional parenteral-based vaccines including the ease of delivery, lack of needles, no need for trained medical personnel, and the ability to formulate into temperature-stable tablets. We have been evaluating an oral vaccine platform based on recombinant adenoviral vectors for the purpose of creating a prophyla...

A collection of Practice Guidelines published in AFP is available at http:// www.aafp.org/afp/ practguide. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) has released its yearly recommendations for routine influenza vaccination in the 2015-2016 season. Updates this year include the antigenic composition of seasonal influenza vaccines availab...

Single radial immunodiffusion (SRID) assay requires a reference antigen and an antibody to the hemagglutinin (HA) of an influenza vaccine. As it takes 2‑3 months to develop the reference antigen, vaccine development is delayed in cases of an influenza pandemic. In the present study, the measurement of the HA content of influenza vaccines was assessed using size exclusion high performance liquid...

UNLABELLED Pandemic influenza is a major public health concern, but conventional strain-matched vaccines are unavailable early in a pandemic. Candidate "universal" vaccines targeting the viral antigens nucleoprotein (NP) and matrix 2 (M2), which are conserved among all influenza A virus strains and subtypes, could be manufactured in advance for use at the onset of a pandemic. These vaccines do ...

BACKGROUND Influenza viruses cause significant morbidity and mortality in Africa, particularly among high-risk groups, but influenza vaccines and antiviral drugs may not be commonly available and used. The main aim of this study was to determine the availability and use of influenza vaccines and antiviral drugs as well as to describe existing related guidelines and policies in Africa. METHODS...

Co-circulation of two antigenically and genetically distinct lineages of influenza B virus, represented by prototype viruses B/Victoria/2/1987 and B/Yamagata/16/1988, has led to the development of quadrivalent influenza vaccines that contain two influenza B antigens. The inclusion of two influenza B antigens presents challenges for the production and regulation of inactivated quadrivalent vacci...

Due to the increased frequency of interspecies transmission of avian influenza viruses, studies designed to identify the molecular determinants that could lead to an expansion of the host range have been increased. A variety of mouse-based mammalian-adaptation studies of avian influenza viruses have provided insight into the genetic alterations of various avian influenza subtypes that may contr...

MOTIVATION Influenza A viral heterogeneity remains a significant threat due to unpredictable antigenic drift in seasonal influenza and antigenic shifts caused by the emergence of novel subtypes. Annual review of multivalent influenza vaccines targets strains of influenza A and B likely to be predominant in future influenza seasons. This does not induce broad, cross protective immunity against e...