Influenza 2017-18

There is limited data available about allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis (ABPA) in Pakistan. The aim of the study was to describe the radiological and microbiological profile of ABPA patients presenting to the outpatient pulmonary clinic of a tertiary care hospital in Karachi, Pakistan. A retrospective study was conducted on ABPA patients who presented to the pulmonary outpatient clinic at Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi, Pakistan, from January 2017 to December 2019. Data was collected on microbiology and radiology features on predesigned proforma...

Significant racial/ethnic inequities in the uptake of differentiated influenza vaccines (DIVs) have been previously reported, though less is known about regional disparities. We conducted a retrospective longitudinal study (2014/15-2017/18 influenza seasons) among privately insured adults aged 65 + years in the US. The exposure was the beneficiary's area of residence (US Census Bureau division) and the outcome was the type of influenza vaccine: differentiated (high-dose [HDV], adjuvanted, recombinant, and cell-based) versus conventional standard-dose egg-based...

BACKGROUND: Evidence on the burden of seasonal influenza in Switzerland is scarce, yet it is critical for the design of effective prevention and control measures. The objective of this study was to assess influenza-related resource utilization, health care expenditures and quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs) lost in Switzerland across the 2016/2017-2018/2019 influenza seasons. METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed multiple real-world data sources to calculate epidemiological and health outcomes, QALYs lost, and direct medical costs due to influenza in the Swiss adult population...

BACKGROUND: Assessment of maternal vaccine coverage is important for understanding and quantifying the impact of currently recommended vaccines as well as modeling the potential impact of future vaccines. However, existing data lack detail regarding uptake according to week of gestational age (wGA). Such granularity is valuable for more accurate estimation of vaccine impact. OBJECTIVE: To summarize contemporary maternal Tdap vaccination uptake, overall, yearly, and by wGA, and maternal influenza vaccination uptake, overall, by influenza observation year, immunization month, and delivery month, in the US...

BACKGROUND: Influenza antivirals improve outcomes in children with duration of symptoms <2 days and those at high risk for influenza complications. Real-world prescribing of influenza antivirals in the pediatric population is unknown. METHODS: We performed a cross-sectional study of outpatient and emergency department prescription claims in individuals <18 years of age included in the IBM Marketscan Commercial Claims and Encounters Database between July 1, 2010 and June 30, 2019...

BACKGROUND: Vaccinations for seasonal influenza and pertussis have been recommended for pregnant women in England since 2010 and 2012, respectively. Uptake rates are suboptimal with large regional variations. To improve uptake, from 2016 onwards maternity trusts were commissioned to offer pertussis (and other) vaccinations in addition to these being available in primary care. Since 2021, Covid-19 vaccination has also been recommended for pregnant women. Overall maternal vaccination rates are routinely available, but not the relative provision by maternity trusts...

BACKGROUND: Annual influenza vaccination is recommended for older adults but repeated vaccination with standard-dose influenza vaccine has been linked to reduced immunogenicity and effectiveness, especially against A(H3N2) viruses. METHODS: Community-dwelling Hong Kong adults aged 65-82 years were randomly allocated to receive 2017/18 standard-dose quadrivalent, MF59-adjuvanted trivalent, high-dose trivalent, and recombinant-HA quadrivalent vaccination. Antibody response to unchanged A(H3N2) vaccine antigen was compared among participants with and without self-reported prior year (2016/17) standard-dose vaccination...

Health care personnel (HCP) are recommended to receive annual vaccination against influenza to reduce influenza-related morbidity and mortality. Every year, acute care hospitals report receipt of influenza vaccination among HCP to CDC's National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN). This analysis used NHSN data to describe changes in influenza vaccination coverage among HCP in acute care hospitals before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Influenza vaccination among HCP increased during the prepandemic period from 88...

PURPOSE: "Behavioral bundling" is a theory that explains how some health behaviors reinforce one another. This study aims to investigate the relationship between preventive health behaviors (PHBs) and safe firearm storage. DESIGN: This study used a cross-sectional design using 2017 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance Survey data. SETTING: Survey participants resided in California, Idaho, Kansas, Oregon, Texas, and Utah. SUBJECTS: There were 12,817 people living in households with a firearm included in this study...

Cell-based seasonal influenza vaccine viruses may more closely match recommended vaccine strains than egg-based options. We sought to evaluate the effectiveness of seasonal cell-based quadrivalent influenza vaccine (QIVc), as reported in the published literature. A systematic literature review was conducted (PROSPERO CRD42020160851) to identify publications reporting on the effectiveness of QIVc in persons aged ≥6 months relative to no vaccination or to standard-dose, egg-based quadrivalent or trivalent influenza vaccines (QIVe/TIVe)...

BACKGROUND: In the United States, annual vaccination against seasonal influenza is recommended for all people ages ≥ 6 months. Vaccination coverage assessments can identify populations less protected from influenza morbidity and mortality and help to tailor vaccination efforts. Within the Vaccine Safety Datalink population ages ≥ 6 months, we report influenza vaccination coverage for the 2017-18 through 2022-23 seasons. METHODS: Across eight health systems, we identified influenza vaccines administered from August 1 through March 31 for each season using electronic health records linked to immunization registries...

Healthcare workers (HCWs) are among the at-risk groups for whom influenza vaccination is strongly recommended. To assess the proportion of Italian HCWs with positive attitudes toward influenza vaccination, we conducted a systematic review of relevant literature and a meta-analysis. Our focus was on the influenza seasons from 2017/18 to 2021/22. The prevalence of favorable attitudes toward vaccination varied, ranging from 12% during the 2017/18 influenza season to 59% in the 2020/21 season. The significant increase in the 2020/21 season can be attributed to adaptations necessitated by the COVID-19 pandemic...

BACKGROUND: Swiss national surveillance of influenza vaccination uptake rates (VURs) relies on self-reported vaccination status. The aim of this study was to determine VURs among at-risk patients, namely, patients ≥65 of age and adult patients with chronic diseases, using claims data, instead of self-reported measures, to investigate factors of vaccine uptake, and to assess different methodological approaches to conduct vaccination surveillance. METHODS: In this retrospective cross-sectional analysis, we determined VURs in three influenza seasons (2015/2016-2017/2018)...

BACKGROUND: Both physicians and patients are proactive towards managing seasonal influenza in Japan and six drugs are approved. Although many countries have national influenza surveillance systems, data on nationwide prescription practices of anti-influenza drugs are lacking. Therefore, we aimed to clarify the status of anti-influenza drug use in Japan by analyzing real-world data. METHODS: This retrospective study analyzed open data from the National Database of Health Insurance Claims and Specific Health Checkups, which covers most claims data from national health insurance...

INTRODUCTION: Influenza remains an important cause of hospitalizations in the United States. Estimating the number of influenza hospitalizations is vital for public health decision making. Combining existing surveillance systems through capture-recapture methods allows for more comprehensive burden estimations. METHODS: Data from independent surveillance systems were combined using capture-recapture methods to estimate influenza hospitalization rates for children and adults in Middle Tennessee during consecutive influenza seasons from 2016-17 through 2019-20...

BACKGROUND: Young children have a great disease burden and are particularly vulnerable to influenza. This study aimed to assess the direct effect of influenza vaccination among children and to evaluate the indirect benefit of immunizing children. METHODS: The influenza vaccination records for all children born during 2013-2019 in Minhang District and surveillance data for reported influenza cases were obtained from the Minhang CDC. 17,905 children were recorded in the vaccination system and included in this study...

BACKGROUND: Influenza surveillance aims to determine onset, duration and intensity of the seasonal Influence-like Illness (ILI); data collection begins in the week 42 of a year and ends in the week 17 of the following year. In this observational study, we report the experience of a tertiary care children hospital in Rome about Influenza viruses circulation during the calendar year 2022 (January-December) in comparison with the previous five years (2017-2021), with a special focus on the weeks 18-41, usually not under surveillance...

BACKGROUND: Immunization is one of the most effective public health initiatives, saving millions of lives and lowering the risk of diseases such as diphtheria, tetanus, influenza, and measles. Immunization saves an estimated 2-3 million lives per year. A study of the regional variations in incomplete immunization will be useful in identifying gaps in the performance of immunization programs that are not noticed by standard vaccination programs monitoring. The primary goal of this study was to identify factors influencing child immunization status and to examine regional variations in incomplete immunization among children aged 12 to 23 months in Pakistan...

PURPOSE: Several studies report decreased hospital admissions for acute exacerbations of COPD (AECOPD) during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, there are no studies that compare AECOPD admissions with admissions for respiratory infections, including COVID-19. This study aimed to examine hospital admission rates for AECOPD, pneumonia, influenza, and COVID-19 among COPD patients, before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We obtained anonymized data on hospital admissions of patients with COPD and a primary diagnosis code for AECOPD, pneumonia, influenza, or COVID-19, from the hospital patient admission register at a large Swedish hospital...

There are limited data on influenza vaccination coverage among pregnant people in the United States during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Within the Vaccine Safety Datalink, we conducted a retrospective cohort study to examine influenza vaccination coverage during the 2016-2017 through the 2021-2022 influenza seasons among pregnant people aged 18-49 years. Using influenza vaccines administered through March each season, we assessed crude coverage by demographic and clinical characteristics...