Safety and immune response of a live-attenuated herpes zoster vaccine in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus: a randomised placebo-controlled trial.

Objectives: To study the safety and immunogenicity of a live-attenuated herpes zoster (HZ) vaccine in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE).

Methods: Adult SLE patients having a SLEDAI <6 and stable immunosuppressive treatment for ≥6 months were recruited. Participants were randomly assigned to receive HZ vaccine (Zostavax) or placebo injection.

Low population serum microneutralization antibody titer against the predominating influenza A(H3N2) N121K virus during the severe influenza summer peak of Hong Kong in 2017.

The 2017 Hong Kong influenza A(H3N2) summer season was unexpectedly severe. However, antigenic characterization of the 2017 circulating A(H3N2) viruses using ferret antisera did not show significant antigenic drift. We analyzed the hemagglutinin amino acid sequences of A(H3N2) virus circulating in Hong Kong in 2017, and found that viruses with hemagglutinin N121K substitution, which was rare before 2017, emerged rapidly and dominated in 2017 (52.