"Seqirus Media Monitoring" 17th Apr 2020
Seqirus mentions
Flu vaccine: Government denies shortage as coronavirus fuels demand
In Australia, doctors have raised concerns over the supply of flu vaccines, but the federal government and a major manufacturer have shot down fears of a shortage. Health Minister Greg Hunt said only two million of the more than 13 million flu vaccines supplied to GPs and pharmacies have been used. All government-funded flu vaccines are produced by Seqirus, which is the only local manufacturer of flu vaccines in Australia. There has been “extremely strong early demand for flu vaccines across all channels – GPs, pharmacies and other immunisation providers,” Seqirus executive director of commercial operations Danielle Dowell said. “This is a good thing overall for important vaccine programs, especially this year as our health system deals with the concurrent COVID-19 outbreak.”
FDA authorization of malaria drugs for Covid-19 risks undermining faith in agency, doctors write
The FDA’s emergency use authorization of two malaria drugs for the treatment of Covid-19 poses “fundamental threats” to the regulatory evaluation of drugs and the public’s respect for it, two professors of medicine from Harvard University wrote in an opinion article in the New England Journal of Medicine. The EUA is not a blanket license to use the drugs for Covid-19 but rather distributes supplies of them from the Strategic National Stockpile to local health authorities so that doctors can prescribe them. It was only the second time an EUA had been given to a drug, following the one the FDA gave to Seqirus’ then-investigational Rapivab (peramivir) for severely ill, hospitalized patients during the 2009-2010 H1N1 swine flu outbreak.
Industry News
Can the world find a good covid-19 vaccine quickly enough?
It is not enough that a vaccine for Covid-19 be feasible. The job of making it available around the world will be just as taxing.The demand for a vaccine that provides reliable and safe protection to whole populations will be huge. The world currently makes over 5bn doses of vaccine a year, of which roughly 1.5bn are seasonal-flu vaccines. Some companies and governments are already adding capacity in advance of a sars-cov-2 vaccine being developed. But without knowing which vaccine approach will do best, there is a limit to how much capacity can be readied beforehand. If vaccine production capacity is constrained, the politics of vaccination may get nasty.
New antiviral drug reduces transmission of influenza, study shows
Researchers at the WHO Collaborating Centre for Reference and Research on Influenza at the Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity and Imperial College London tested whether baloxavir (Xofluza) could prevent the spread of influenza virus in an animal model in conditions that mimicked household settings, including direct and indirect contact. They also compared the treatment to oseltamivir (Tamiflu). Published in PLoS Pathogens is a detailed report of the study, which was conducted in ferrets, detailing how baloxavir reduced the transmission of influenza across all settings, and did so immediately. Conversely, oseltamivir did not reduce the transmission of influenza to other ferrets.
PDS Biotechnology Initiates Novel Vaccine Development Programs For COVID-19 and Universal Influenza
PDS Biotechnology, a clinical-stage immunotherapy company developing novel cancer therapies and infectious disease vaccines based on its proprietary Versamune® T-cell activating technology, announced an expanded infectious disease pandemic development program, including novel vaccines for COVID-19 and universal influenza, in addition to its previously announced tuberculosis development collaboration with Farmacore Biotechnology
Pandemic Influenza News
Cutting Corners for a Coronavirus Vaccine Could Cost Lives
Tim Lahey is an infectious-disease physician and vaccine researcher who leads the ethics program at the University of Vermont Medical Center. He writes: "As the Covid-19 death toll mounts, it will be tempting to take our chances on another unproven vaccine. Yet there are life-threatening reasons we should not. Unproven vaccines have real risks. The 1976 swine flu vaccine was linked to a rare paralytic neurological illness called Guillain-Barré syndrome, arguably fueling vaccine mistrust that persists to this day."
Academic studies
Researchers report 21% COVID-19 co-infection rate
A research letter published in JAMA found that rates of COVID-19 co-infections with other respiratory pathogens are 21%, higher than previously thought, suggesting that identification of another pathogen may not rule out the presence of the novel coronavirus. "These results suggest that routine testing for non–SARS-CoV-2 respiratory pathogens during the COVID-19 pandemic is unlikely to provide clinical benefit unless a positive result would change disease management (eg, neuraminidase inhibitors for influenza in appropriate patients)," the authors said
COVID-19 vs H1N1 Influenza: A Clinical Characteristic Comparison
Hospitalized patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) exhibited higher proportions of nonproductive cough, fatigue, and gastrointestinal symptoms as well as lower severity of illness scores than patients with H1N1 influenza, according to study results published in CHEST. Demographic and clinical information was collected from patients with confirmed COVID-19 with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) hospitalized in Wuhan, China, and retrospectively compared with data collected from hospitalized patients with H1N1 influenza who also had ARDS.
High glucose levels may explain why some flu patients have more severe symptoms
A team of researchers affiliated with multiple institutions in China and one in Germany has found evidence that suggests high glucose levels may explain why some flu patients have worse symptoms than others. In their paper published in the journal Science Advances, the group describes their work with mouse models and flu patients and what they learned from it.
Pediatric influenza news
Free flu shots for kids and infants in Northern Grampians
In Australia's Northern Grampians, as we move into flu season and with the ongoing threat of Coronavirus, Council is offering free flu vaccines for children six months to under five years of age starting from 20 April in Stawell and St Arnaud. Council is also encouraging everyone in the community to get the flu vaccine to help ensure the impact of the illness on health providers is minimised as much as possible.
Over 65’s influenza news
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General Influenza News
Pharmacists asked to get trained in flu vaccination for next winter
In England, pharmacists who haven’t previously trained to undertake immunisations have been asked to undertake full training course before the advent of flu vaccination period which starts from September. Following Covid-19 pandemic, Public Health England aims to update the HEE flu e-learning programme which is available to all, free of charge at e-LfH portal for the 2020-21 flu season
Otago medical centre demands apology over flu vaccine shortage - 'We don't have them'
"Stand up and apologise." In New Zealand, that's the message to the Ministry of Health from a southern medical centre running desperately short of flu vaccinations. "It'd be nice for someone to stand up and say I messed up and apologise," Mosgiel Health Centre practice manager Kathryn Tohill says. The Ministry of Health previously stated there was no shortage of vaccines, saying they've distributed 95,000 in the last week alone. But Ms Tohill says they're struggling to feed the demand. "They said there was 800,000 vaccines, they're there, contact your health centres… but we didn't have them." She says it's led to staff being abused.
Surge in demand for flu vaccine
In New Zealand, Christchurch pharmacies are experiencing a surge in demand for the flu vaccine amid shortages across the country. Pharmacies and medical centres have been administering the vaccine for vulnerable groups this month, such as people over 65-years-old, the immunocompromised, health care and frontline workers. Originally, the influenza vaccine was meant to be available for the general population from April 13, but that date has since been extended to April 27 in order to continue prioritising the vulnerable.
Time to get your flu shot
In Australia, the ACT Government is encouraging Canberrans to book a flu shot ahead of this year’s flu season. This is particularly important for older ACT residents and those from higher risk groups, and we are urging them to get vaccinated as soon as possible before the start of winter. ACT Chief Health Officer Dr Kerryn Coleman said it was important to understand that while the flu vaccine will not protect against COVID-19, we strongly recommend everyone gets the flu vaccine.
Gunnedah flu vaccine clinic: showground hire fees waived by council
In Australia, Gunnedah's councillors showed strong support for Friday's drive-through flu vaccine clinic by unanimously voting to waive hire fees for the showground. Councillors said it was "a great initiative" and they were glad to support it. "This pandemic has put a lot of pressure on our community ... we're being advised by state and federal governments that those at risk and those in essential services should be getting the flu vaccination," Cr Jamie Chaffey said.
Burden of disease
Coronavirus isolation measures are reducing all flu-like diseases, not just COVID-19
Is social distancing due to COVID-19 getting you down? Take heart: your hard work to flatten the curve is also having a positive effect on other flu-like illnesses. Early data from the FluTracking survey, which asks respondents simple questions about cough and fever symptoms every week, suggests that the incidence of those symptoms plummeted after physical distancing measures were introduced in Australia from mid-March. Flu-like symptoms fell from a peak of 1.6 per cent to a low of 0.3 per cent.
The Latest on Baloxavir, Concurrent Diagnoses for Adults with the Influenza, and Other Flu News
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported a sharp decrease in influenza activity confirmed by clinical laboratories in their final FluView report of the season. The CDC added that because of the continued effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on outpatient influenza-like illness, the agency would continue to monitor the flu but put out less frequent reports, and the agency will instead issue COVIDView. The H1N1 virus is the most commonly reported strain of flu this season, the CDC added.
COVID-19 efforts halt spread of flu
Measures that have kept Chicagoans in their homes in an effort to flatten the curve of the coronavirus pandemic have had another benefit, experts say — stopping a nasty influenza season. According to data from the Illinois Department of Public Health, the 2019-20 influenza season, now winding down, was particularly harsh. But hospitalizations and other tracking measurements for influenza sharply decreased as news of the COVID-19 pandemic ramped up. Experts say last month’s good hygiene messaging, combined with social distancing pleas and the statewide stay-at-home order had a dramatic effect on the spread of flu.
84 Oklahomans have died due to the flu since season began, health officials say
Oklahoma health officials reported on Thursday, April 16, that 84 people have died due to the flu since this flu season began in September 2019. According to the Oklahoma State Department of Health, 3,464 people have been hospitalized. Officials said 41 of those who died were over the age of 65, 29 were between 50 to 64 years old, 11 were between 18 and 49 years old, two were between 5 and 17 years old and one was a child under the age of 4.
No new flu deaths reported in NC last week as coronavirus deaths continue to climb
For the first time since December, North Carolina health officials have reported no new deaths associated with the flu in the last week. According to data from the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, only 6 out of 1,702 influenza tests were positive across the state. The geographic spread of the virus is no longer considered "widespread" and has been downgraded to "regional." Since October, 167 flu-related deaths have been reported across the state, including four children. The majority of deaths have been in patients 65 years old and older.
Flu activity falls again in state
In Connecticut, flu activity is continuing to drop even though emergency department visits for flu-like illness are higher than they were at this time last year. The state Department of Public Health released the latest batch of flu statistics Thursday, and reported that the level of flu activity in the state last week was classified as “sporadic,” down from the “regional” classification it was given the previous week. Sporadic flu activity means that small numbers of laboratory-confirmed influenza cases or a single outbreak of flu have been reported, but there isn’t an increase in cases of flu.
Flu Surveillance in Animals
New cases in central Europe’s avian flu hotspots
More than 60 cases of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) have now been confirmed in Hungarian poultry flocks in less than one month. Bulgaria, Taiwan, and Vietnam have also reported new cases. The HPAI situation in Hungary appears to be escalating sharply.
Highly pathogenic avian influenza (H7N3) in poultry in the USA
Preliminary outbreak assessment for highly pathogenic avian influenza (H7N3) in a commercial turkey flock in Chesterfield County, South Carolina, USA.