Human vaccines
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A life-attenuated vaccine aimed at preventing herpes zoster (HZ) and its main complication, post-herpetic neuralgia (PHN), will soon be available in Europe. The study's objective was to assess the clinical and economic impact of a vaccination program for adults aged 70-79 years in Switzerland. ⋯ The model predicts clinical and economic benefits of vaccination in the form of fewer HZ and PHN cases and reductions in healthcare resource use. ICERs were within the commonly accepted thresholds in Switzerland, indicating that a HZ vaccination program would be considered a cost-effective strategy in the Swiss setting.
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Systemic safety surveillance is an essential component of vaccination programmes to elucidate the full safety profile of a vaccine and to detect previously unrecognized adverse reactions that might be related to new vaccines. This article summarizes the spontaneous adverse drug reactions (ADR) from approximately 12 million administered doses of the pandemic MF59-adjuvanted H1N1v vaccine (Focetria®, Novartis Vaccines and Diagnostics) from the mass vaccination programmes in Europe. ⋯ The analyses of the spontaneously reported adverse events support the good safety profile of the MF59-adjuvanted H1N1v pandemic influenza vaccine.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study
Concomitant administration of zoster and pneumococcal vaccines in adults ≥60 years old.
This study evaluated safety & immunogenicity of ZOSTAVAX® (zoster vaccine: ZV) administered concomitantly versus nonconcomitantly with PNEUMOVAX® 23 (pneumococcal vaccine: PPV23). This randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study enrolled 473 subjects ≥60 years old in 1:1 ratio to receive ZV & PPV23 concomitantly (Day 1) or nonconcomitantly (PPV23 Day 1, ZV Week 4). Blood samples obtained for pneumococcal polysaccharide (PnPs) antibody (Ab) testing by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and varicella-zoster virus (VZV) Ab testing by glycoprotein ELISA. ⋯ These results indicate that, to avoid a potential decrease in ZV immunogenicity, ZV & PPV23 should not be given concomitantly. Concomitant administration did not affect response to PPV23 serotypes tested. When administered concomitantly, ZV & PPV23 vaccines were generally well tolerated.
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Vaccination is considered the most effective strategy to control influenza and becomes particularly important when a new subtype or distantly related strain of virus enters the human population causing a world-wide epidemic or "pandemic". Depending upon the virulence of the emerging virus, a lack of pre-existing immunity can lead to overwhelming morbidity and deaths ranging in the millions. While the correlates of immunity to influenza are yet to be fully understood, our experience with vaccines over many decades enables pre-pandemic planning to develop strategies to minimise the impact of a human pandemic. This review explores developing pandemic and pre-pandemic vaccines in the context of highly virulent avian H5N1 virus and the influenza H1N1 pandemic of 2009.