How has post-implementation surveillance of high-coverage vaccination with HPV16/18-AS04 vaccine in England added to evidence about its cross-protective effects?

Background: Bivalent human papillomavirus HPV16/18-AS04 vaccine (Cervarix, GSK) offers direct protection against HPV16/18. Results from randomised controlled trials showed cross protective effects and suggested that declines in some closely related HPV types could be expected in a population with high vaccination coverage.

Aim: To evaluate the evidence for cross-protection afforded by HPV16/18-AS04 from post-implementation surveillance in England, and how this complements clinical trial data and post-implementation observations in other countries.

Cytokine Biomarkers of Exacerbations in Sputum From Patients With Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease: A Prospective Cohort Study.

Background: We determined the relationships between cytokine expression in sputum and clinical data to characterize and understand chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) exacerbations in people with COPD.

Methods: We measured 30 cytokines in 936 sputum samples, collected at stable state and exacerbation visits from 99 participants in the Acute Exacerbation and Respiratory InfectionS in COPD (AERIS) study (ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01360398).

Ex-vivo RNA expression analysis of vaccine candidate genes in COPD sputum samples.

Background: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a lung disease characterised by airflow-limiting inflammation and mucus production. Acute exacerbations are a major cause of COPD-related morbidity and mortality and are mostly associated with bacterial or viral infections. A vaccine targeting non-typeable Haemophilus influenzae (NTHi) and Moraxella catarrhalis (Mcat), the main bacteria associated with exacerbations, was tested in a Phase 2 trial.

Impact of bacterial strain acquisition in the lung of patients with COPD: the AERIS study.

Background: Bacterial infections are associated with acute exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (AECOPD), but the mechanism is incompletely understood.

Method: In a COPD observational study (NCT01360398), sputum samples were collected monthly at the stable state and exacerbation. analyses of 1307 non-typeable (NTHi) isolates from 20 patients and 756 isolates from 38 patients in one year of follow-up were conducted by multilocus sequence typing (MLST).