Introduction: Every year the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends which influenza virus strains should be included in a northern hemisphere (NH) and a southern hemisphere (SH) influenza vaccine. To determine the best vaccine formulation for Kenya, we compared influenza viruses collected in Kenya from April 2007 to May 2013 to WHO vaccine strains.
Methods: We collected nasopharyngeal and oropharyngeal (NP/OP) specimens from patients with respiratory illness, tested them for influenza, isolated influenza viruses from a proportion of positive specimens, tested the isolates for antigenic relatedness to vaccine strains, and determined the percentage match between circulating viruses and SH or NH influenza vaccine composition and schedule.
Results: During the six years, 7.336 of the 60,072 (12.2%) NP/OP specimens we collected were positive for influenza: 30,167 specimens were collected during the SH seasons and 3717 (12.3%) were positive for influenza; 2903 (78.1%) influenza A, 902 (24.2%) influenza B, and 88 (2.4%) influenza A and B positive specimens. We collected 30,131 specimens during the NH seasons and 3978 (13.2%) were positive for influenza; 3181 (80.0%) influenza A, 851 (21.4%) influenza B, and 54 (1.4%) influenza A and B positive specimens. Overall, 362/460 (78.7%) isolates from the SH seasons and 316/338 (93.5%) isolates from the NH seasons were matched to the SH and the NH vaccine strains, respectively (p<0.001). Overall, 53.6% and 46.4% SH and NH vaccines, respectively, matched circulating strains in terms of vaccine strains and timing.
Conclusion: In six years of surveillance in Kenya, influenza circulated at nearly equal levels during the SH and the NH influenza seasons. Circulating viruses were matched to vaccine strains. The vaccine match decreased when both vaccine strains and timing were taken into consideration. Either vaccine formulation could be suitable for use in Kenya but the optimal timing for influenza vaccination needs to be determined.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.vaccine.2016.03.095 | DOI Listing |
Emerg Microbes Infect
January 2025
Department of Virology, Institute of Medical Science, University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.
Can Commun Dis Rep
January 2025
Public Health Agency of Canada, Ottawa, ON.
Background: Availability of new vaccines for adults has increased interest in understanding Canada's respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) burden in older adults and adults considered at high risk of severe infection.
Objective: To characterize the burden of RSV disease in Canada by joint analysis of the published literature and hospitalization data from a healthcare administrative database.
Methods: Electronic databases of published literature were searched to identify studies and systematic reviews reporting data on outpatient visits, hospitalizations, intensive care unit (ICU) admissions and deaths associated with RSV infection in adults.
R Soc Open Sci
January 2025
Pharmaceutical Analytical Chemistry Department, Faculty of Pharmacy, Cairo University, Cairo 11562, Egypt.
Carbon quantum dots (CQDs) are a recently developed class of fluorescent nanoparticles made from carbon. Co-doping with heteroatoms such as nitrogen and sulfur improved the properties and generated a high quantum yield. In the proposed study, we utilized a simple, cost-effective, single-stage hydrothermal approach to produce extreme photoluminescence co-doped, nitrogen and sulfur, CQDs (N,S-CODs).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNat Immunol
January 2025
Department of Medicine, Department of Pathology, Department of Microbiology & Immunology, McGill University Health Centre, McGill International TB Centre, Meakins Christie Laboratories, McGill University, Montréal, Québec, Canada.
Disease tolerance is an evolutionarily conserved host defense strategy that preserves tissue integrity and physiology without affecting pathogen load. Unlike host resistance, the mechanisms underlying disease tolerance remain poorly understood. In the present study, we investigated whether an adjuvant (β-glucan) can reprogram innate immunity to provide protection against influenza A virus (IAV) infection.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFArch Virol
January 2025
National Institute of Animal Health, National Agriculture and Food Research Organization, 3-1-5 Kannondai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-0856, Japan.
Migratory water birds are considered to be carriers of high pathogenicity avian influenza viruses (HPAIVs). In Japan, mallards are often observed during winter, and HPAIV-infected mallards often shed viruses asymptomatically. In this study, we focused on mallards as potential carriers of HPAIVs and investigated whether individual wild mallards are repeatedly infected with HPAIVs and act as HPAIV carriers multiple times within a season.
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