"Seqirus Media Monitoring" 26th Aug 2019
Seqirus mentions
CDC updates flu shot recommendations for 2019-20 season
The CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices shared updated flu vaccine recommendations for the 2019-20 season in its most recent Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report published Aug. 23. Updated recommendations reflect FDA changes for the age indication of the Afluria Quadrivalent vaccine and approved dosages of the Fluzone Quadrivalent vaccine.
Pharmacists to receive fee uplift in flu vaccinations
In England, pharmacists will receive a £9.58 fee for each flu vaccination they deliver and will no longer be required to ask patients to complete a questionnaire after the service. The fee for the service will increase by 10p to £8.08 per administered dose plus an additional fee of £1.50 per vaccination, the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee (PSNC) announced. PSNC director of NHS services Alastair Buxton said he was pleased to confirm the changes, which will bring ‘some very welcome extra income’ to community pharmacies. He said: ‘Pharmacy teams worked extremely hard last year to overcome the challenges of the phased deliveries of adjuvanted trivalent influenza vaccine for people aged 65 years and over. Despite this significant obstacle, they still managed to deliver an impressive 1.4 million flu vaccinations, supporting the national vaccination effort and providing a convenient service to local patients.’
The evolving threat of influenza
In New Zealand, the flu season has been particularly bad this year, but the way we record deaths may be masking the true impact of the virus. Pharmac director of operations Lisa Williams says the total anticipated supply of this year’s flu vaccine, as decided last November, was 1.355 million doses. But instead of the usual plateau in late May, demand continued to grow and stockists were warning of dwindling supplies. GPs and pharmacists were asked to prioritise those eligible for publicly funded vaccines. This month, the Ministry of Health acquired an additional 55,000 doses of the influenza vaccine FluQuadri. A further 14,000 doses of Afluria Quad vaccine, originally intended for the private market, were made available to those eligible for publicly funded vaccines.
Industry News
Medicine fears: ‘The pain is excruciating. I’ll be suicidal if I can’t get my drugs’
The Yellowhammer leak last week in the UK revealed the government’s concerns about the supply of medicines in the event of a no-deal Brexit. About three-quarters of medicines come via the main Channel crossings, where the government expects there to be significant disruption. There are particular concerns about availability of the flu jab if Britain crashes out of the EU. Sanofi, which produces more than 7m doses of flu vaccine for Britain each year, had warned in May that a hard Brexit would disrupt the UK’s immunisation programme.
Doctors Concerned About Flu Vaccine Delay
Although flu season is still a month or so away, some pediatricians are already expressing concern about a delay in flu vaccines — a supply that is several weeks behind schedule. Sanofi Pasteur has informed customers that deliveries will be delayed, and in stages, and pediatricians are concerned that this will cause difficulties.
News Scan for Aug 23, 2019 - H3N2 flu and antiviral susceptibility
A study in Emerging Infectious Diseases describes how a Japanese infant with no baloxavir exposure contracted an H3N2 strain of influenza with reduced susceptibility to baloxavir. The researchers said that, during the 2018-19 influenza season in Japan, they detected 32 mutant influenza A(H3N2) viruses the conferred reduced susceptibility to baloxavir, 4 of which were isolated from children under the age of 12 without prior baloxavir exposure. "Baloxavir susceptibility of influenza viruses, especially among infected children <12 years of age, should be closely monitored for public health planning purposes and for making clinical," the authors concluded.
Lincoln biotech company gets contract to improve flu vaccine
Adjuvance Technologies, a biopharmaceutical company based at Nebraska Innovation Campus, has received a contract from the government to work on improving the influenza vaccine. Adjuvance said it received a contract worth more than $500,000 from the National Institute of Allergic and Infectious Diseases to apply its proprietary technology in vaccine adjuvant design and manufacturing to attempt to improve the influenza vaccine.
Pandemic Influenza News
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Academic studies
MIT scientists say new skin patch to deliver cancer medication in 60 seconds shows promise in mice
An experimental patch designed to deliver cancer medications through the skin showed promise in mice and human skin samples, according to new research presented at the American Chemical Society conference in California. The researchers used the device to deliver an antigen in healthy mice and then compared the immune response to treatment methods often used to vaccinate against the flu and measles. The researchers said the patch elicited “a robust antibody response” and “show promise in eliciting a strong immune response in human skin.” “Our patch technology could be used to deliver vaccines to combat different infectious diseases,” Dr. Paula Hammond, the head of the Department of Chemical Engineering at MIT and lead author in the study, said
Pediatric influenza news
Flu vaccination letters going out to pupils in Clydebank
In Scotland, primary pupils in Clydebank are being sent home from school with flu immunisation consent packs in the coming days. NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde said they were getting ready for this year’s immunisation programme. Their team will visit nine primary schools every day - a total of 343 across the region - from October 7 as they look to protect 90,000 youngsters against flu.
VISD offering free flu shots to students
In Texas, the Victoria Independent School District has partnered with Healthy Schools to provide flu shots to students at no charge. Shawna Currie, the Director of Communications with VISD, says that in years past there have been some flu seasons with numerous extended absences from students who had the flu. She also said this is a preventative measure they are offering to the parents to have their kids get vaccinated with no copay in school.
Over 65’s influenza news
Seniors are the most common target for the flu virus; take action early
Dr. Judith Ford of HealthCare Partners Nevada urges patients to get an annual flu vaccination as soon as it is available. For senior citizens, the importance of vaccinations cannot be stressed enough. According to the 2018-19 Southern Nevada Health District’s Influenza Season Wrap Up, 64.1%, or nearly two of every three, confirmed cases of the flu in Clark County last year were in those age 50 and up.
General Influenza News
Opinion: We Are Risking Health And Life
It's flu shot season in the U.S. The CDC recommends everyone over 6 months old get a flu shot by the end of October. But this week, U.S. Customs and Border Protection said it would not give flu shots to the thousands of migrants now in its detention centers. Dr. Bruce Y. Lee of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health called the department's edict, "short-term thinking." "Holding a number of unvaccinated people in a crowded space could be like maintaining an amusement park for flu viruses," he wrote for Forbes. On Aug. 1, a group of six physicians from Johns Hopkins and the MassGeneral Hospital for Children wrote a letter to members of Congress: "During the influenza season, vaccination should be offered to all detainees promptly upon arrival in order to maximize protection for the youngest and most vulnerable detainees."
Border Patrol Stance on Flu Vaccines Mobilizes ID Community
The US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) stance on not administering influenza vaccines to migrants in custody has rallied the infectious disease community and sparked a larger conversation about the conditions at border detention facilities. A group of ID organizations issued a joint statement calling the non-vaccination rule “a violation of the most basic principles of public health and human rights.” “In conditions of overcrowding poor sanitation and emotional stress involving vulnerable populations such as pregnant women and young children, choosing not to follow the CDC recommendations is particularly egregious,” the statement read
Pharmacists to receive 10p more for every flu vaccine
In England, pharmacists will receive 10p more per flu vaccination administered from 1 September 2019. The increase in flu vaccination payments made to community pharmacists means that the reimbursement cost per will rise from £9.48 to £9.58 from 1 September 2019. In 2018/2019, pharmacists submitting data into the PharmOutcomes, Well, Healthi and Sonar systems delivered 1,270,489 flu vaccinations — an increase of 71,221 patients compared with the previous year.
Sentinel turkeys keep us one step ahead of flu, providing blood for up-to-date vaccines
A flock of turkeys in western Victoria is at the centre of the global fight to improve the flu vaccine. The turkeys' blood is used to pre-empt which influenza viruses are likely to hit humans hardest; that list is then used to create an annual vaccine for the southern hemisphere. Scientists from the World Health Organisation's influenza arm will soon meet with international counterparts in Geneva, Switzerland, to finalise plans for the 2020 vaccine.
Metro doctors already seeing flu cases -- and it's not even the season yet
In Atlanta, local doctors are already seeing sporadic cases of the flu and flu season is still a month away. Doctors aren't sure if these latest cases are the result of last season's strain or a sign of an early flu season this year. Either way, they're urging everyone to take precautions. "That's obviously immunization or vaccination and the flu vaccine should be available locally very soon in the Atlanta area," said Dr. Andi Shane with Children's Healthcare of Atlanta
How Long Does the Flu Shot Last? Here's What Experts Say
Health spoke with a few infectious disease experts to find out how long you're covered with a flu shot, and what that means for when you should get your next one. As a general rule “the flu shot is most effective in the first three months, [but] people still have protection after six months,” Vanessa Raabe, MD, pediatric infectious disease specialist at NYU Langone Health, explains. Basically, you need to get the flu shot every year—no exceptions, unless you're severely allergic to the vaccine or are six months of age or younger.
Updated flu guidelines from CDC: When should you get your flu shot?
The Centers for Disease Control has released its vaccination guidelines headed into the 2019-2020 flu season. Flu activity in the U.S. - which usually peaks from late fall through early spring - is currently listed as “low.” That will likely change in the coming months. The current guidelines recommend the flu vaccinations should be offered by the end of October. The 2019-2020 flu vaccine will fight three common strains of the virus and will be available in the injectable and nasal varieties.
Health Officials are constantly tracking flu shot strains
How effective each season’s flu shots are depends largely on predictions by Public Health Officials. To come up with the best possible vaccine, Public Health Officials are constantly tracking different viral strains worldwide before coming out with it. “Influenza vaccines are the best way to prevent influenza, we use it usually across the board pretty much everyone over age six months, and this is a safe and effective vaccine,” said Mayo Clinic Infectious Diseases Physician Dr. Pritish Tosh.
Burden of disease
CBP refuses to publicly reveal how many migrants are sick with contagious diseases
Despite outbreaks of flu, tuberculosis and chicken pox, US Customs and Border Protection refuses to tell the public how many migrants in detention facilities have contagious diseases. Public health experts sharply criticized CBP for what they called the agency's lack of transparency. "What are they scared of?" asked Dr. Paul Spiegel, a former senior official at the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, who is now the director of the Center for Humanitarian Health at Johns Hopkins University. He said making such information available is crucial to public health. Nationwide, pediatric flu deaths are required to be reported to state health authorities. But it appears the deaths of two out of the three migrant children who had the flu and died were not reported to state health departments.
Maharashtra witnesses highest number of swine flu cases, deaths
Ten years since the influenza pandemic caused by H1N1 virus struck India, Maharashtra has seen the highest number of cases and deaths. The state has recorded 3,637 deaths and 33,284 cases of swine flu in the last 10 years. According to data from the Pune Municipal Corporation’s health department, as many as 6,824 patients have tested positive for the virus in the last 10 years.
H1N1 death toll surpasses 100 in Myanmar | English.news.cn
In Myanmar, the death toll of influenza A (H1N1) amounted to 102 so far, said figures released by the Public Health Department under the Ministry of Health and Sports late Friday. A total of 489 laboratory confirmed H1N1 infection cases were registered across Myanmar from January 1 to August 23 this year. Of the total deaths, 83 deaths were those who suffered from H1N1 influenza with underlying diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, chronic respiratory diseases, and other immune-deficiency conditions
Flu Surveillance in Animals
Researchers swab pigs' noses to protect humans against flu
Every year, researchers try to figure out what strains of the flu might be most prevalent in humans during the upcoming flu season. A research team from The Ohio State University College of Veterinary Medicine travels to about 15 states each year, stopping at more than 125 fairs and shows to collect samples from pigs. Those samples are taken back to the lab, where researchers identify the strains and try to figure out which ones might affect humans.