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Vaccines
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Influenza Viruses Epidemiology and Vaccination: State-of-the-Art Research in Europe
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Influenza Viruses Epidemiology and Vaccination: State-of-the-Art Research in Europe

A special issue of Vaccines (ISSN 2076-393X). This special issue belongs to the section "Human Vaccines and Public Health".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 June 2023) | Viewed by 3756

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Ilaria Manini

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Molecular and Developmental Medicine, University of Siena, Via Aldo Moro 2, 53100 Siena, Italy
Interests: Influenza Surveillance; molecular virology; Cell-culture; synthetic influenza vaccine

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Influenza is a serious threat to human health and a significant source of direct and indirect costs for the implementation of control measures and the management of cases and complications of the disease. It is responsible for an estimated 50 million disease episodes and 15,000 to 70,000 deaths in the European Union.

Before the current emergency of SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, the last pandemic event was recorded in 2009, and was cause by the global diffusion of a new influenza virus—A(H1N1)pdm09—which mainly affected young adults and caused over half a million deaths worldwide. The last influenza pandemic highlighted the need to implement more stringent monitoring of variants of potentially pandemic human and non-human influenza viruses. Laboratory surveillance is acknowledged to be an indispensable tool. Moreover, in recent years, it has enabled the development of new, more rapid, and better performing molecular tests that are able to gather information on the phylogenetic evolution of the viruses themselves.

Due to the frequent genetic and antigenic changes in influenza viruses, the seasonal vaccine is regularly reformulated (almost annually) to adapt to the characteristics of circulating viruses and annual vaccination is recommended. Vaccination is considered to be the most effective means of preventing the flu and its complications.

This Special Issue is focused on the design and implementation of suitable integrated systems of surveillance and of differential laboratory diagnosis that are, therefore, of crucial importance in the early identification of health emergencies, in order to enable the prompt containment of infections and coinfections in the population and facilitate the activation of adequate preventive strategies (including vaccination programs). Based on your extensive knowledge and experience, we invite you to contribute with original report, or review on influenza vaccines, other vaccines specifically designed for at-risk categories, on the prevention strategies of other future possible pandemics, and on epidemiological and virological influenza surveillance.

Dr. Ilaria Manini
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Vaccines is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • influenza vaccine
  • Surveillance
  • coinfections

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

10 pages, 561 KiB  
Article
Surveillance of Influenza and Other Airborne Transmission Viruses during the 2021/2022 Season in Hospitalized Subjects in Tuscany, Italy
by Giovanna Milano, Elena Capitani, Andrea Camarri, Giovanni Bova, Pier Leopoldo Capecchi, Giacomo Lazzeri, Dario Lipari, Emanuele Montomoli and Ilaria Manini
Vaccines 2023, 11(4), 776; https://doi.org/10.3390/vaccines11040776 - 31 Mar 2023
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1371
Abstract
Winter in the northern hemisphere is characterized by the circulation of influenza viruses, which cause seasonal epidemics, generally from October to April. Each influenza season has its own pattern, which differs from one year to the next in terms of the first influenza [...] Read more.
Winter in the northern hemisphere is characterized by the circulation of influenza viruses, which cause seasonal epidemics, generally from October to April. Each influenza season has its own pattern, which differs from one year to the next in terms of the first influenza case notification, the period of highest incidence, and the predominant influenza virus subtypes. After the total absence of influenza viruses in the 2020/2021 season, cases of influenza were again recorded in the 2021/2022 season, although they remained below the seasonal average. Moreover, the co-circulation of the influenza virus and the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic virus was also reported. In the context of the DRIVE study, oropharyngeal swabs were collected from 129 Tuscan adults hospitalized for severe acute respiratory infection (SARI) and analyzed by means of real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) for SARS-CoV-2 and 21 different airborne pathogens, including influenza viruses. In total, 55 subjects tested positive for COVID-19, 9 tested positive for influenza, and 3 tested positive for both SARS-CoV-2 and the A/H3N2 influenza virus. The co-circulation of different viruses in the population requires strengthened surveillance that is no longer restricted to the winter months. Indeed, constant, year-long monitoring of the trends of these viruses is needed, especially in at-risk groups and elderly people. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Influenza Viruses Epidemiology and Vaccination: State-of-the-Art Research in Europe)
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16 pages, 1176 KiB  
Article
Cost Effectiveness of Quadrivalent Versus Trivalent Inactivated Influenza Vaccines for the Portuguese Elderly Population
by Diana Tavares, Helena Mouriño, Cristina Antón Rodríguez and Carlos Martín Saborido
Vaccines 2022, 10(8), 1285; https://doi.org/10.3390/vaccines10081285 - 09 Aug 2022
Viewed by 1851
Abstract
Background: quadrivalent inactivated vaccine (QIV) has replaced trivalent inactivated vaccine (TIV). In Portugal, TIV is free of charge for risk groups, including older adults (≥65 years old). In its turn, QIV—which provides broader protection as it includes an additional lineage B strain—was introduced [...] Read more.
Background: quadrivalent inactivated vaccine (QIV) has replaced trivalent inactivated vaccine (TIV). In Portugal, TIV is free of charge for risk groups, including older adults (≥65 years old). In its turn, QIV—which provides broader protection as it includes an additional lineage B strain—was introduced in Portugal in October 2018; only since the 2019/20 influenza season has it been provided free of charge for risk groups. This study evaluates the cost effectiveness of switching from TIV to QIV, from the National Health Service perspective, in the Portuguese elderly mainland population. Methods: A decision tree model was developed to compare TIV and QIV, based on Portuguese hospitalization data for the 2015/16 influenza season. The primary health economic outcome under consideration was the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER). In addition, one-way sensitivity analysis and probabilistic sensitivity analysis were performed. Results: the high cost of QIV (approximately three times the cost of TIV) would lead to a total increment of EUR 5,283,047, and the resulting ICER would be EUR 26,403,007/QALY, above the usual willingness-to-pay threshold. Conclusions: from the National Health Service perspective, our findings reveal that QIV is not cost effective for the Portuguese elderly population due to the high cost. If the QIV costs were the same as the TIV, then QIV would be cost effective. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Influenza Viruses Epidemiology and Vaccination: State-of-the-Art Research in Europe)
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