TBE Vaccination Breakthrough Cases-Does Age Matter?

Tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) vaccines are highly effective in preventing TBE and vaccine failures (VF) are rare events. In this study, we compared the age distribution of TBE cases and TBE VF in three endemic countries: Sweden, Southern Germany, and Latvia. While the age distribution of TBE cases was similar for those <50 years versus those ≥50 years in all three countries, in Sweden, a higher proportion of VF cases was ≥50 years, whereas most VF cases in Latvia were <50 years of age and more evenly distributed between those <50 years versus those ≥50 in Southern Germany.

Pediatric disease burden and vaccination recommendations: understanding local differences.

Background: Diphtheria (D), tetanus (T), pertussis (P), hepatitis B (HepB), invasive Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) disease, and measles cause substantial global morbidity and mortality.

Methods: This unique review highlights geographic differences in disease burden across certain countries in the African, Americas, Mediterranean, South-East Asian, and Western Pacific World Health Organization (WHO) regions, and relates this to vaccination coverage and local vaccine recommendations using the authors' countries as illustrations.

Results: Substantial differences were observed in the incidence of these diseases and in vaccination coverage between the countries studied.

Two versus three doses of a meningococcal C conjugate vaccine concomitantly administered with a hexavalent DTaP-IPV-HBV/Hib vaccine in healthy infants.

The immunogenicity and reactogenicity of a meningococcal serogroup C (MenC) conjugate vaccine given concomitantly with DTaP-IPV-HBV/Hib vaccine according to a two- or three-dose schedule in healthy infants was evaluated. At 1 month post-vaccination, 98% (two doses) and 100% (three doses) of subjects had serum bactericidal antibody using human complement assay (hSBA) titres > or =1:8; at 12 months of age > or =89% of subjects in each group remained seroprotected. Induction of immunological memory, as evaluated by administration of a meningococcal serogroup A/C polysaccharide vaccine challenge dose, was similar for both regimens and no interference was observed in the immune response to MenC or hepatitis B virus antigens.

Ten years' experience with year-round active surveillance of up to 19 respiratory pathogens in children.

Introduction: Surveillance systems for acute respiratory infections (ARI) in children currently are often limited in terms of the panel of pathogens and the age range investigated or are only syndromic and at times only active in the winter season.

Methods: Within PID-ARI.net, a research network for ARI in children in Germany, an active, year-round surveillance system was formed in three regions from north to south for population-based analysis.

How to optimise the coverage rate of infant and adult immunisations in Europe.

Background: Although vaccination has been proved to be a safe, efficacious, and cost-effective intervention, immunisation rates remain suboptimal in many European countries, resulting in poor control of many vaccine-preventable diseases.

Discussion: The Summit of Independent European Vaccination Experts focused on the perception of vaccines and vaccination by the general public and healthcare professionals and discussed ways to improve vaccine uptake in Europe. Despite the substantial impact and importance of the media, healthcare professionals were identified as the main advocates for vaccination and the most important source of information about vaccines for the general public.

Immunogenicity, reactogenicity, and immune memory after primary vaccination with a novel Haemophilus influenzae-Neisseria meningitidis serogroup C conjugate vaccine.

We evaluated two formulations of a new combined Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib)-meningococcal serogroup C (MenC)-tetanus toxoid (TT) conjugated vaccine and two formulations of a new MenC-TT vaccine (trials 711202/001 and 711202/008; clinical trial register numbers NCT00135486 and NCT00135564 [www.ClinicalTrials.gov]).

Human toll-like receptor 4 mutations are associated with susceptibility to invasive meningococcal disease in infancy.

Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) is required for efficient recognition of bacterial infections. We investigated an association between 2 TLR4 mutations (Asp(299)Gly and Thr(399)Ile) and meningococcal disease in 197 patients and 214 healthy controls by allele-specific real time polymerase chain reaction and direct sequencing. Although the allele frequency was not higher in the overall patient population, a significantly higher frequency in the 40 patients younger than 12 months of age (P = 0.

A global perspective on vaccine safety and public health: the Global Advisory Committee on Vaccine Safety.

Established in 1999, the Global Advisory Committee on Vaccine Safety advises the World Health Organization (WHO) on vaccine-related safety issues and enables WHO to respond promptly, efficiently, and with scientific rigor to issues of vaccine safety with potential global importance. The committee also assesses the implications of vaccine safety for practice worldwide and for WHO policies. We describe the principles on which the committee was established, its modus operandi, and the scope of the work undertaken, both present and future.

Tolerability of the Biken acellular pertussis vaccine in adults with or without previous vaccination against pertussis in childhood.

Purpose: The objective of this study was to assess the local and systemic tolerability of two batches of the Biken acellular pertussis (Pa) vaccine following administration of a single vaccine dose to adults with or without a history of prior pertussis immunization. The results from this study were compared to data from published literature.

Patients And Methods: In a controlled, open-labeled double-blind trial, 518 healthy male and female adults with or without primary pertussis immunization were enrolled at three centers.

Population-based burden of pneumonia before school entry in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany.

Unlabelled: Community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) is of predominant interest in analysing the burden of airway diseases. No population-based incidence data for children in Germany exist. In retrospective cohort studies from 1999 to 2001, parents of an entire age-class (28,000-30,000) of 5- to 7-year-old children at school entry medical examination (S1) in a complete federal state (Schleswig-Holstein, population 2.

Pneumococcal conjugate vaccines: proceedings from an interactive symposium at the 41st Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy.

Globally, Streptococcus pneumoniae is a leading cause of invasive and noninvasive disease in infants and young children. The emergence of antibiotic-resistant strains has increased interest in prevention through immunization. Currently, the only available conjugate pneumococcal vaccine is a seven-valent formulation, PNCRM7.

Child vaccination policies in Europe: a report from the Summits of Independent European Vaccination Experts.

Despite the proven safety and efficacy of vaccines, common vaccine-preventable diseases such as measles are not yet controlled in all European countries. This is largely due to three factors. First, vaccination systems differ widely throughout Europe and they vary between highly centralised and totally decentralised systems.

Prediction of the potential benefit of different pneumococcal conjugate vaccines on invasive pneumococcal disease in German children.

Background: In the US a pneumococcal conjugate vaccination program with a 7-valent conjugate vaccine was successfully implemented in 2000. How much invasive pneumococcal disease can potentially be prevented by the 7-valent (or 11-valent) vaccine in Europe?

Methods: Prospective, active surveillance of invasive pneumococcal disease in German children age <16 years was performed between 1997 and 2000. Age- and disease-specific coverage and incidence rates were assessed in children old enough to benefit from complete vaccination to estimate the annual number of cases potentially preventable.

Antibodies to pertussis antigens in pediatric health care workers.

Background: To compare the antibody concentrations against Bordetella antigens in health care workers in a pediatric hospital with those of two different populations without professional contact with children.

Methods: In a pediatric hospital 155 health care workers (135 female, 20 male), 292 male navy recruits after 3 months at sea and 146 regular blood donors (41 female, 105 male) were screened for antibodies of isotypes IgG and IgA to pertussis toxin (PT) and filamentous hemagglutinin (FHA) by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.

Results: Pediatric health care workers were positive for IgG anti-PT in 88%, for IgA anti-PT in 52%, for IgG anti-FHA in 99% and for IgA anti-FRA in 84%.