OBJECTIVE To assess the effect of rituximab on the efficacy and safety of influenza virus vaccine in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). METHODS The study group comprised patients with RA treated with conventional disease-modifying drugs with or without rituximab. Split-virion inactivated vaccine containing 15 microg haemagglutinin/dose of B/Shanghai/361/02 (SHAN), A/New Caledonian/20/99...

Influenza A virus (subtype H3N2) causes seasonal human influenza and is included as a component of influenza vaccines. The majority of vaccine viruses are isolated and propagated in eggs, which commonly results in amino acid substitutions in the haemagglutinin (HA) glycoprotein. These substitutions can affect virus receptor-binding and alter virus antigenicity, thereby, obfuscating the choice o...

OBJECTIVES Historical records of influenza pandemics demonstrate variability in incidence and severity between waves. The influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 pandemic was the first in which many countries implemented strain-specific vaccination to mitigate subsequent seasons. Serosurveys provide opportunity to examine the constraining influence of antibody on population disease experience. DESIGN Changes ...

BACKGROUND The first wave of pandemic influenza A(H1N1)2009 (pH1N1) reached New South Wales (NSW), Australia in May 2009, and led to high rates of influenza-related hospital admission of infants and young to middle-aged adults, but no increase in influenza-related or all-cause mortality. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS To assess the population rate of pH1N1 infection in NSW residents, pH1N1-sp...

The outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) infection caused by H5N1 virus in a flock of mute swans wintering in the city of Toruń in western Poland in 2006 was described. Following the confirmation of H5N1 infection in 3 dead swans, 113 apparently healthy swans were placed in an aviary. After 5 d, another dead swan was found in the aviary and was later proved positive for HPAI/H5N...

BACKGROUND AND METHODS Highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) viruses constitute a pandemic threat and the development of effective vaccines is a global priority. Sixty adults were recruited into a randomized clinical trial and were intramuscularly immunized with two virosomal vaccine H5N1 (NIBRG-14) doses (21 days apart) of 30 μg HA alone or 1.5, 7.5 or 30 μg HA adjuvanted with Matrix M. The...