Low 2016/17 season vaccine effectiveness against hospitalised influenza A(H3N2) among elderly: awareness warranted for 2017/18 season.

In a multicentre European hospital study we measured influenza vaccine effectiveness (IVE) against A(H3N2) in 2016/17. Adjusted IVE was 17% (95% confidence interval (CI): 1 to 31) overall; 25% (95% CI: 2 to 43) among 65-79-year-olds and 13% (95% CI: -15 to 30) among those ≥ 80 years. As the A(H3N2) vaccine component has not changed for 2017/18, physicians and public health experts should be aware that IVE could be low where A(H3N2) viruses predominate.

2015/16 seasonal vaccine effectiveness against hospitalisation with influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 and B among elderly people in Europe: results from the I-MOVE+ project.

We conducted a multicentre test-negative case-control study in 27 hospitals of 11 European countries to measure 2015/16 influenza vaccine effectiveness (IVE) against hospitalised influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 and B among people aged ≥ 65 years. Patients swabbed within 7 days after onset of symptoms compatible with severe acute respiratory infection were included. Information on demographics, vaccination and underlying conditions was collected. Using logistic regression, we measured IVE adjusted for potential confounders. We included 355 influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 cases, 110 influenza B cases, and 1,274 controls. Adjusted IVE against influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 was 42% (95% confidence interval (CI): 22 to 57). It was 59% (95% CI: 23 to 78), 48% (95% CI: 5 to 71), 43% (95% CI: 8 to 65) and 39% (95% CI: 7 to 60) in patients with diabetes mellitus, cancer, lung and heart disease, respectively. Adjusted IVE against influenza B was 52% (95% CI: 24 to 70). It was 62% (95% CI: 5 to 85), 60% (95% CI: 18 to 80) and 36% (95% CI: -23 to 67) in patients with diabetes mellitus, lung and heart disease, respectively. 2015/16 IVE estimates against hospitalised influenza in elderly people was moderate against influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 and B, including among those with diabetes mellitus, cancer, lung or heart diseases.

Single and multipathogen viral infections in hospitalized children with acute respiratory infections.

We aimed to describe the viral etiology of acute respiratory tract infections in children aged 0-8 years admitted to Grigore Alexandrescu Hospital, the largest pediatric hospital in Romania. The patients had clinical diagnosis of pneumonia, bronchiolitis or viral respiratory infections and had been hospitalized between September 2010 and September 2011. The study was part of the "Molecular investigations of acute respiratory infections caused by non-influenza viruses, to assess the implications of infant and young child pathology" (2008-2011), a National Project II--42-164 (MIRVI). We included in the study 241 children that were swabbed in the first 8 days of the onset with the following symptoms during the previous 7 days: fever > 38 degrees C, AND cough or sore throat, and shortness of breath or difficulty breathing .We identified by RT-PCR 131 (54.4%) positive samples: 112 (85.5%) for a single pathogen, 18 (13.7%) for coinfection with two pathogens and 1(0.8%) for coinfection with three pathogens. The most frequent pathogen identified was respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) (40.18%), followed by Rhinovirus (RhV) (20.54%) and human Metapneumovirus (hMPV) (12.50%). We extrapolated our data to the National program of surveillance of SARI (severe acute respiratory infections). In this program, 191 children aged one month-8 years, were hospitalized in the same period, in which the highest percentage of positivity was due to Influenza viruses (62.65%), but RSV was identified with almost the same percent like in MIRVI (32.53%). It should be noted that among patients with pneumonia, bronchiolitis or respiratory viral infections were identified as the causal agent RhV.