NEW DRUGS H1N1 Influenza Virus Vaccines The FDA has approved four vaccines to protect the population against the 2009 pandemic H1N1 influenza virus. About 45 million doses should be available at 90,000 sites in October. The government has ordered 195 million doses. CSL Ltd., MedImmune LLC, Sanofi-Pasteur, and Novartis Vaccines/Diagnostics Ltd. are using the same processes to make the H1N1 vacci...

BACKGROUND One pathway through which pandemic influenza strains might emerge is reassortment from coinfection of different influenza A viruses. Seasonal influenza vaccines are designed to target the circulating strains, which intuitively decreases the prevalence of coinfection and the chance of pandemic emergence due to reassortment. However, individual-based analyses on 2009 pandemic influenza...

Changes in influenza viruses require regular reformulation of strain-specific influenza vaccines. Vaccines based on conserved antigens provide broader protection. Influenza matrix protein 2 (M2) is highly conserved across influenza A subtypes. To evaluate its efficacy as a vaccine candidate, we vaccinated mice with M2 peptide of a widely shared consensus sequence. This vaccination induced antib...

This report updates the 2014 recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) regarding the use of seasonal influenza vaccines. Updated information for the 2015-16 season includes 1) antigenic composition of U.S. seasonal influenza vaccines; 2) information on influenza vaccine products expected to be available for the 2015-16 season; 3) an updated algorithm for determi...

This is a report of an innovative influenza immunisation program in three tertiary paediatric hospitals in NSW. A targeted once-off program of influenza immunisation funded by NSW Health was offered during 2010 at the Children's Hospital at Westmead, Sydney Children's Hospital and the John Hunter Children's Hospital. Authorised immunisers offered influenza immunisation to paediatric patients, o...

Swine flu, a new subtype of influenza A virus H1N1, not previously detected in pigs or humans has arrived in the United Kingdom in recent months with hundreds and thousands of cases already confirmed in both adults and children. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has raised the threat level to Phase 6 (pandemic) to reflect the ongoing community outbreaks of swine flu throughout the world. So f...

Background.  Detection of neutralizing antibodies (nAbs) to influenza A virus hemagglutinin (HA) antigens by conventional serological assays is currently the main immune correlate of protection for influenza vaccines However, current prepandemic avian influenza vaccines are poorly immunogenic in inducing nAbs despite considerable protection conferred. Recent studies show that Ab-dependent cell-...

Background Influenza virus infections cause seasonal epidemics, affecting millions of people worldwide. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates ∼300,000-500,000 deaths per year worldwide due to seasonal influenza and more than $26.8-87.1 billion/year in healthcare costs in the United States alone [1]. Influenza, a segmented RNA virus achieves part of its ongoing virulence as a result of i...

BACKGROUND More efficient methods are needed to manufacture influenza vaccines. This trial compared the efficacy of cell culture-derived influenza vaccine (CCIV) and egg-derived trivalent inactivated vaccine (TIV) with placebo against laboratory-confirmed influenza illness in healthy adults in the United States, Finland, and Poland during the 2007-2008 influenza season. METHODS A total of 11,...

Influenza A virus is a respiratory pathogen which causes both seasonal epidemics and occasional pandemics; infection continues to be a significant cause of mortality worldwide. Current influenza vaccines principally stimulate humoral immune responses that are largely directed towards the variant surface antigens of influenza. Vaccination can result in an effective, albeit strain-specific antibo...