The desired effect of vaccination is to elicit protective immune responses against infection with pathogenic agents. An inactivated influenza vaccine is able to induce the neutralizing antibodies directed primarily against two surface antigens, hemagglutinin and neuraminidase. These two antigens undergo frequent antigenic drift and hence necessitate the annual update of a new vaccine strain. Be...

In the present study, the potency and immunogenicity of the inactivated bivalent vaccine of Newcastle disease (ND) and avian influenza (AI) produced by Razi institute in Iran were compared with a similar imported vaccine administered by standard methods to specific-pathogen-free (SPF) chicken. A total of 150 twenty-one-day-old SPF chickens were used for evaluating Razi and imported inactivated ...

BACKGROUND Vaccination is the preferred preventive strategy against influenza. Though health behaviors are known to affect immunity and vaccine delivery modes utilize different immune processes, data regarding the preferred influenza vaccine type among adults endorsing specific health-related behaviors (alcohol use, tobacco use, and exercise level) are limited. METHODS The relative effectiven...

Inactivated influenza vaccines have been available since the late 1940s for the prevention of influenza disease. Based on the available scientific evidence, many public health authorities, including the World Health Organization, recommend annual use of these vaccines for specific populations, including the elderly. Despite these recommendations, actual vaccination uptake rates are very limited...

Influenza is a major respiratory pathogen causing annual outbreaks and occasional pandemics. Influenza vaccination is the major method of prophylaxis. Currently annual influenza vaccination is recommended for groups at high risk of complications from influenza infection such as pregnant women, young children, people with underlying disease and the elderly, along with occupational groups such a ...

BACKGROUND Each year, an influenza B strain representing only one influenza B lineage is included in the trivalent inactivated influenza vaccine (IIV3); a mismatch between the selected lineage and circulating viruses can result in suboptimal vaccine effectiveness. We modeled the added potential public health impact of a quadrivalent inactivated influenza vaccine (IIV4) that includes strains fro...

OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study was to estimate whether universal influenza vaccination of pregnant women was cost-effective in the management of influenza-like illness during influenza season. METHODS A decision analysis model was developed to investigate the cost-effectiveness of providing inactivated trivalent influenza vaccine to all pregnant women. This scenario was compared with pro...

During seasonal influenza epidemics, disease burden is shouldered predominantly by the very young and the elderly. Elderly individuals are particularly affected, in part because vaccine efficacy wanes with age. This has been linked to a reduced ability to induce a robust serum antibody response. Here, we show that this is due to reduced quantities of vaccine-specific antibodies, rather than a l...

To increase the protective efficacy against influenza in pediatric populations, several attempts to modify the composition or the route of administration of an inactivated influenza vaccine have been made. Adjuvants have been added, vaccines with higher antigen content have been developed and intradermal administration of inactivated influenza vaccine with a variety of devices has been consider...