BACKGROUND Although vaccination with trivalent inactivated influenza vaccine (TIV) is recommended for all pregnant women, no vaccine effectiveness (VE) studies of TIV in pregnant women have assessed laboratory-confirmed influenza outcomes. METHODS We conducted a case-control study over 2 influenza seasons (2010-2011 and 2011-2012) among Kaiser Permanente health plan members in 2 metropolitan ...

On February 22, 2013, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) revised recommendations for vaccination of pregnant women to recommend tetanus-diphtheria-acellular pertussis vaccine (Tdap) during every pregnancy, optimally at 27-36 weeks of gestation, to prevent pertussis among their newborns. Since 2004, influenza vaccination has been recommended for pregnant women in any trimest...

BACKGROUND Influenza vaccine immunogenicity is diminished in patients living with HIV/AIDS. We evaluated the cost-effectiveness and expected value of perfect information (EVPI) of three alternative influenza vaccine dosing strategies intended to increase immunogenicity in those patients. METHODS A randomized, multi-centered, controlled, vaccine trial was conducted at 12 CIHR Canadian HIV Tria...

Seasonal influenza causes clinical illness and hospitalization in all age groups; however, conventional inactivated vaccines have only limited efficacy in young children. MF59(®), an oil-in-water emulsion adjuvant, has been used since the 1990s to enhance the immunogenicity of influenza vaccines in the elderly, a population with waning immune function due to immunosenescence. Clinical trials no...

Influenza illness is caused by influenza A and influenza B strains. Although influenza A viruses are perceived to carry greater risk because they account for the majority of influenza cases in most seasons and have been responsible for influenza pandemics, influenza B viruses also impose a substantial public health burden, particularly among children and at-risk subjects. Furthermore, since the...

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...

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Vaccination of mice with a peptide corresponding to the extracellular part of M2 protein coupled to the immunodominant domain of hepatitis B core can protect mice from a lethal challenge with influenza A virus. As the extracellular part of M2 protein is highly conserved in all known human influenza A strains, such a vaccine may protect against all human influenza A strains, which would represen...

BACKGROUND Two antigenically distinct influenza B lineages have co-circulated since the 1980s, yet inactivated trivalent influenza vaccines (TIVs) include strains of influenza A/H1N1, A/H3N2, and only one influenza B from either the Victoria or Yamagata lineage. This means that exposure to B-lineage viruses mismatched to the TIV is frequent, reducing vaccine protection. Formulations including b...

BACKGROUND Annual trivalent influenza vaccines (TIV) containing three influenza strains (A/H1N1, A/H3N2, and one B) have been recommended for the prevention of influenza. However, worldwide co-circulation of two distinct B lineages (Victoria and Yamagata) and difficulties in predicting which lineage will predominate each season have led to the development of quadrivalent influenza vaccines (QIV...