Correction: Ádány et al. Discrepancies between the Spatial Distribution of Cancer Incidence and Mortality as an Indicator of Unmet Needs in Cancer Prevention and/or Treatment in Hungary. 2024, , 2917.

In the original publication [...

Effectiveness of XBB.1.5 Vaccines Against Symptomatic SARS-CoV-2 Infection in Older Adults During the JN.1 Lineage-Predominant Period, European VEBIS Primary Care Multicentre Study, 20 November 2023-1 March 2024.

We estimated XBB.1.5 vaccine effectiveness (VE) against symptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection among adults aged ≥ 65 years during the 2023/2024 JN.

Discrepancies between the Spatial Distribution of Cancer Incidence and Mortality as an Indicator of Unmet Needs in Cancer Prevention and/or Treatment in Hungary.

There is a rich body of literature on the distribution of cancer incidence and mortality in socioeconomically different world regions, but none of the studies has compared the spatial distribution of mortality and incidence to see if they are consistent with each other. All malignant neoplasms combined and cervical, colorectal, breast, pancreatic, lung, and oral cancers separately were studied in the Hungarian population aged 25-64 years for 2007-2018 at the municipality level by sex. In each case, the spatial distribution of incidence and mortality were compared with each other and with the level of deprivation using disease mapping, spatial regression, risk analysis, and spatial scan statistics.

Socioeconomic determinants and reasons for non-acceptance to vaccination recommendations during the 3 - 5 waves of the COVID-19 pandemic in Hungary.

Background: In Hungary, although six types of vaccines were widely available, the percentage of people receiving the primary series of COVID-19 vaccination remained below the EU average. This paper investigates the reasons for Hungary's lower vaccination coverage by exploring changing attitudes towards vaccination, socio-demographic determinants, and individual reasons for non-acceptance during the 3 - 5 pandemic waves of COVID-19.

Methods: The study's empirical analysis is based on representative surveys conducted in Hungary between February 19, 2021, and June 30, 2022.

COVID-19 Vaccine Effectiveness in Autumn and Winter 2022 to 2023 Among Older Europeans.

Importance: In the context of emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants or lineages and new vaccines, it is key to accurately monitor COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness (CVE) to inform vaccination campaigns.

Objective: To estimate the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines administered in autumn and winter 2022 to 2023 against symptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection (with all circulating viruses and XBB lineage in particular) among people aged 60 years or older in Europe, and to compare different CVE approaches across the exposed and reference groups used.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This case-control study obtained data from VEBIS (Vaccine Effectiveness, Burden and Impact Studies), a multicenter study that collects COVID-19 and influenza data from 11 European sites: Croatia; France; Germany; Hungary; Ireland; Portugal; the Netherlands; Romania; Spain, national; Spain, Navarre region; and Sweden.

Effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines administered in the 2023 autumnal campaigns in Europe: Results from the VEBIS primary care test-negative design study, September 2023-January 2024.

In autumn 2023, European vaccination campaigns predominantly administered XBB.1.5 vaccine.

Vaccine Effectiveness against GP-Attended Symptomatic COVID-19 and Hybrid Immunity among Adults in Hungary during the 2022-2023 Respiratory Season Dominated by Different SARS-CoV-2 Omicron Subvariants.

Unlabelled: Hungary provides the opportunity to evaluate the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccination in a setting where naturally acquired immunity and hybrid immunity are likely to play a greater role due to suboptimal vaccination coverage.

Methods: A test-negative study was conducted during the 2022-2023 respiratory season at the primary care level to determine the effectiveness of at least one COVID-19 booster dose in preventing medically attended symptomatic RT-PCR-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection in adults. Unvaccinated patients were used as a reference group.

Exploring the effect of clinical case definitions on influenza vaccine effectiveness estimation at primary care level: Results from the end-of-season 2022-23 VEBIS multicentre study in Europe.

Background: Within influenza vaccine effectiveness (VE) studies at primary care level with a laboratory-confirmed outcome, clinical case definitions for recruitment of patients can vary. We used the 2022-23 VEBIS primary care European multicentre study end-of-season data to evaluate whether the clinical case definition affected IVE estimates.

Methods: We estimated VE using a multicentre test-negative case-control design.

COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness against symptomatic infection with SARS-CoV-2 BA.1/BA.2 lineages among adults and adolescents in a multicentre primary care study, Europe, December 2021 to June 2022.

BackgroundScarce European data in early 2021 suggested lower vaccine effectiveness (VE) against SARS-CoV-2 Omicron lineages than previous variants.AimWe aimed to estimate primary series (PS) and first booster VE against symptomatic BA.1/BA.

Vaccine effectiveness against influenza hospitalisation in adults during the 2022/2023 mixed season of influenza A(H1N1)pdm09, A(H3N2) and B circulation, Europe: VEBIS SARI VE hospital network.

We conducted a multicentre hospital-based test-negative case-control study to measure vaccine effectiveness (VE) against PCR-confirmed influenza in adult patients with severe acute respiratory infection (SARI) during the 2022/2023 influenza season in Europe. Among 5547 SARI patients ≥18 years, 2963 (53%) were vaccinated against influenza. Overall VE against influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 was 11% (95% CI: -23-36); 20% (95% CI: -4-39) against A(H3N2) and 56% (95% CI: 22-75) against B.

Interim 2023/24 influenza A vaccine effectiveness: VEBIS European primary care and hospital multicentre studies, September 2023 to January 2024.

Influenza A viruses circulated in Europe from September 2023 to January 2024, with influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 predominance. We provide interim 2023/24 influenza vaccine effectiveness (IVE) estimates from two European studies, covering 10 countries across primary care (EU-PC) and hospital (EU-H) settings. Interim IVE was higher against A(H1N1)pdm09 than A(H3N2): EU-PC influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 IVE was 53% (95% CI: 41 to 63) and 30% (95% CI: -3 to 54) against influenza A(H3N2).

Effectiveness of the adapted bivalent mRNA COVID-19 vaccines against hospitalisation in individuals aged ≥ 60 years during the Omicron XBB lineage-predominant period: VEBIS SARI VE network, Europe, February to August, 2023.

We conducted a multicentre hospital-based test-negative case-control study to measure the effectiveness of adapted bivalent COVID-19 mRNA vaccines against PCR-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection during the Omicron XBB lineage-predominant period in patients aged ≥ 60 years with severe acute respiratory infection from five countries in Europe. Bivalent vaccines provided short-term additional protection compared with those vaccinated > 6 months before the campaign: from 80% (95% CI: 50 to 94) for 14-89 days post-vaccination, 15% (95% CI: -12 to 35) at 90-179 days, and lower to no effect thereafter.

Comparative analysis of health status and health service utilization patterns among rural and urban elderly populations in Hungary: a study on the challenges of unhealthy aging.

The demographic transition poses a significant challenge for health systems, especially in Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries, where the healthcare needs of aging populations are on the rise. This study aimed to describe and compare the health status and utilization of health services among the elderly residing in urban and rural areas of the most deprived region in Hungary. A comprehensive health survey was conducted in 2022, involving a randomly selected sample of 443 older adults (≥ 65 years) in Northeast Hungary.

Real-Time Monitoring of the Effectiveness of Six COVID-19 Vaccines against Laboratory-Confirmed COVID-19 in Hungary in 2021 Using the Screening Method.

Several studies have reported the waning effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines. This study aims to demonstrate the applicability of the screening method for estimating vaccine effectiveness (VE) in a pandemic. We report VE in Hungary, estimated with the screening method, in 2021, covering a period of Alpha and the Delta variant, including the booster dose roll-out.

Characteristics of the Third COVID-19 Pandemic Wave with Special Focus on Socioeconomic Inequalities in Morbidity, Mortality and the Uptake of COVID-19 Vaccination in Hungary.

Governments are increasingly looking to vaccination to provide a path out of the COVID-19 pandemic. Hungary offers an example to investigate whether social inequalities compromise what a successful vaccine program can achieve. COVID-19 morbidity, mortality, and vaccination coverage were characterized by calculation of indirectly standardized ratios in the Hungarian population during the third pandemic wave at the level of municipalities, classified into deprivation quintiles.

Unequal burden of COVID-19 in Hungary: a geographical and socioeconomic analysis of the second wave of the pandemic.

Introduction: We describe COVID-19 morbidity, mortality, case fatality and excess death in a country-wide study of municipalities in Hungary, exploring the association with socioeconomic status.

Methods: The spatial distribution of morbidity, mortality and case fatality was mapped using hierarchical Bayesian smoothed indirectly standardised ratios. Indirectly standardised ratios were used to evaluate the association between deprivation and the outcome measures.

Modeling costs and benefits of the organized colorectal cancer screening programme and its potential future improvements in Hungary.

Objective: The national population-based colorectal cancer screening programme in Hungary was initiated in December 2018. We aimed to evaluate the current programme and investigate the costs and benefits of potential future changes to overcome the low coverage of the target population.

Methods: We performed an economic evaluation from a healthcare payer perspective using an established micro-simulation model (Microsimulation Screening Analysis-Colon).

Early Phase of the COVID-19 Outbreak in Hungary and Post-Lockdown Scenarios.

COVID-19 epidemic has been suppressed in Hungary due to timely non-pharmaceutical interventions, prompting a considerable reduction in the number of contacts and transmission of the virus. This strategy was effective in preventing epidemic growth and reducing the incidence of COVID-19 to low levels. In this report, we present the first epidemiological and statistical analysis of the early phase of the COVID-19 outbreak in Hungary.

I-MOVE multicentre case-control study 2010/11 to 2014/15: Is there within-season waning of influenza type/subtype vaccine effectiveness with increasing time since vaccination?

Since the 2008/9 influenza season, the I-MOVE multicentre case-control study measures influenza vaccine effectiveness (VE) against medically-attended influenza-like-illness (ILI) laboratory confirmed as influenza. In 2011/12, European studies reported a decline in VE against influenza A(H3N2) within the season. Using combined I-MOVE data from 2010/11 to 2014/15 we studied the effects of time since vaccination on influenza type/subtype-specific VE.

Low and decreasing vaccine effectiveness against influenza A(H3) in 2011/12 among vaccination target groups in Europe: results from the I-MOVE multicentre case-control study.

Within the Influenza Monitoring Vaccine Effectiveness in Europe (I-MOVE) project we conducted a multicentre case–control study in eight European Union (EU) Member States to estimate the 2011/12 influenza vaccine effectiveness against medically attended influenza-like illness (ILI) laboratory-confirmed as influenza A(H3) among the vaccination target groups. Practitioners systematically selected ILI / acute respiratory infection patients to swab within seven days of symptom onset. We restricted the study population to those meeting the EU ILI case definition and compared influenza A(H3) positive to influenza laboratory-negative patients.

I-MOVE multi-centre case control study 2010-11: overall and stratified estimates of influenza vaccine effectiveness in Europe.

Background: In the third season of I-MOVE (Influenza Monitoring Vaccine Effectiveness in Europe), we undertook a multicentre case-control study based on sentinel practitioner surveillance networks in eight European Union (EU) member states to estimate 2010/11 influenza vaccine effectiveness (VE) against medically-attended influenza-like illness (ILI) laboratory-confirmed as influenza.

Methods: Using systematic sampling, practitioners swabbed ILI/ARI patients within seven days of symptom onset. We compared influenza-positive to influenza laboratory-negative patients among those meeting the EU ILI case definition.

Estimates of pandemic influenza vaccine effectiveness in Europe, 2009-2010: results of Influenza Monitoring Vaccine Effectiveness in Europe (I-MOVE) multicentre case-control study.

Background: A multicentre case-control study based on sentinel practitioner surveillance networks from seven European countries was undertaken to estimate the effectiveness of 2009-2010 pandemic and seasonal influenza vaccines against medically attended influenza-like illness (ILI) laboratory-confirmed as pandemic influenza A (H1N1) (pH1N1).

Methods And Findings: Sentinel practitioners swabbed ILI patients using systematic sampling. We included in the study patients meeting the European ILI case definition with onset of symptoms >14 days after the start of national pandemic vaccination campaigns.