Giuseppe
Emeritus
Extract. Seasonal influenza vaccines: evolutions and future trends.
Moving influenza vaccines forward
Suryaprakash Sambhara and Iain Stephenson†
†Author for correspondence
[Free full text is available following the link below. First two paragraph are presented here.]
INTRODUCTION
The WHO estimates that epidemic influenza affects approximately 5–15% of the global population annually, and is responsible for up to 3–5 million cases of severe disease and 500,000 deaths per year [1].
The impact of influenza in developing countries is poorly described, suggesting that the real global burden of influenza-attributable disease is significantly underestimated.
While influenza occurs among all age groups, the elderly and those with underlying chronic conditions are especially vulnerable and, in general, seasonal influenza vaccine campaigns focus on these high-risk groups.
However, the importance of influenza in children is increasingly being recognized, and the expansion of influenza immunization programs to school-age children may afford herd immunity, reducing virus transmission to other groups, as well as providing individual protection.
If shown to be effective, the introduction of widespread childhood immunization may become an important public-health tool for influenza control.
The world has experienced at least three documented influenza pandemics that resulted in severe infections and deaths of millions of people worldwide.
The Spanish influenza H1N1 pandemic in 1918 was followed by the emergence of a new subtype, H2N2, which resulted in a pandemic beginning in 1957. The year 1968 marked the disappearance of the H2N2 virus and the emergence of the H3N2 subtype, causing a third influenza A pandemic.
Even in countries where influenza surveillance is well established, the true impact remains difficult to quantify.
Pandemic influenza will cause huge morbidity, mortality and economic disruption when it next emerges. It is estimated that a pandemic similar to 1968 occurring in 2004 would have killed 62 million people worldwide, with 96% of these deaths occurring in the developing world.
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<cite cite="http://www.expert-reviews.com/doi/full/10.1586/erv.09.10">Expert Reviews - Expert Review of Vaccines - 8(4):375 - Full Text</cite>Suryaprakash Sambhara and Iain Stephenson†
†Author for correspondence
[Free full text is available following the link below. First two paragraph are presented here.]
INTRODUCTION
The WHO estimates that epidemic influenza affects approximately 5–15% of the global population annually, and is responsible for up to 3–5 million cases of severe disease and 500,000 deaths per year [1].
The impact of influenza in developing countries is poorly described, suggesting that the real global burden of influenza-attributable disease is significantly underestimated.
While influenza occurs among all age groups, the elderly and those with underlying chronic conditions are especially vulnerable and, in general, seasonal influenza vaccine campaigns focus on these high-risk groups.
However, the importance of influenza in children is increasingly being recognized, and the expansion of influenza immunization programs to school-age children may afford herd immunity, reducing virus transmission to other groups, as well as providing individual protection.
If shown to be effective, the introduction of widespread childhood immunization may become an important public-health tool for influenza control.
The world has experienced at least three documented influenza pandemics that resulted in severe infections and deaths of millions of people worldwide.
The Spanish influenza H1N1 pandemic in 1918 was followed by the emergence of a new subtype, H2N2, which resulted in a pandemic beginning in 1957. The year 1968 marked the disappearance of the H2N2 virus and the emergence of the H3N2 subtype, causing a third influenza A pandemic.
Even in countries where influenza surveillance is well established, the true impact remains difficult to quantify.
Pandemic influenza will cause huge morbidity, mortality and economic disruption when it next emerges. It is estimated that a pandemic similar to 1968 occurring in 2004 would have killed 62 million people worldwide, with 96% of these deaths occurring in the developing world.
(...)
-