Research and analysis

HPR volume 13 issue 7: news (22 and 25 February)

Updated 20 December 2019

Mid-season vaccine effectiveness report for UK and EU

Early data on seasonal influenza vaccine effectiveness in Europe has provided encouraging evidence for the UK National Childhood Influenza Vaccination Programme (CIVP) – for which all children 2 to 9 years of age (school year 5) in England, are now eligible.

The UK data are presented, together with vaccine effectiveness data from five other EU countries (mainly derived from primary care and hospital settings), in a Eurosurveillance paper [1].

The high effectiveness achieved by the CIVP in the UK is demonstrated by the mid-season data presented in the paper. Whereas the effectiveness of vaccination programmes across all age groups and all six countries studied (including the UK) against influenza A was between 32 and 43%, the mid-season data for the effectiveness of the LAIV nasal spray vaccine in the UK against influenza A is estimated to have been 80%, as it was at the end of January 2019.

Over five million children have been offered the LAIV nasal spray vaccine to date, including – for the first time this season – those of ‘school-year 5’ age, meaning that all children aged 2 to 9 years old are now eligible. Vaccine coverage achieved by the UK schools programme in the current season, as at the end of January, is approaching the targeted 65% for overall coverage [2,3].

References

1. Interim 2018/19 influenza vaccine effectiveness: six European studies, October 2018 to January 2019, Euro. Surveill. 24(8), 21 February.
2. PHE (21 February 2019). Weekly National Influenza Report.
3. DHSC/PHE/NHSE (March 2018). The national flu immunisation programme 2018/19.

Turning the tide on TB: RSM, London, 13 March

The sixth annual one-day tuberculosis (TB) conference to be hosted by the Royal Society of Medicine will review progress on the path to TB elimination, including national elimination strategies, incidence trends, new diagnostic tools and the role of vaccination.

Keynote speakers on the vaccination theme will report on the activities of the South African Tuberculosis Vaccine Initiative (SATVI) at the University of Cape Town.

UK speakers include:

• members of the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Health Protection Research Unit in Respiratory Infections at Imperial College London

• PHE scientists responsible for the national strategy, and for the routine whole genome sequencing programme that was the subject of the 2018 RSM event

Venue: Royal Society of Medicine, London W1G 0AE

Conference website: https://www.rsm.ac.uk/events.

Call for papers on point of care testing and public health

The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) publication Eurosurveillance has issued a call for papers on the emerging role of rapid diagnostics, point-of-care testing, and self-testing on communicable disease surveillance and infection prevention and control [1].

Point-of-care testing (POCT), point-of-impact testing (POIT) and self-testing techniques can both expedite treatment of individuals, and inform infection prevention and control measures. However, policies, standards and accreditation schemes should govern their use, according to the ECDC. Self-testing kits increase accessibility and confidentiality but they can be inaccurate if used incorrectly and the quality, sensitivity and specificity of different tests can vary.

In addition, the ECDC says:

Capturing results from POCT, POIT and self-testing in a systematic and comprehensive manner may pose a challenge for traditional epidemiological surveillance.

Moreover, for reference and public health laboratories, the possible limited availability of referred samples and/or isolates resulting from POCT, POIT and self-testing could impact on the detection of transmission pathways, source attribution and the detection of emerging new strains and antimicrobial resistance patterns.

A planned special issue of Eurosurveillance would review the issues arising, including:

• the potential role of rapid diagnostics in informing public health interventions and outbreak investigation, including in populations moving across borders
• the use of results from such techniques in surveillance, including questions of quality assurance, certification, and accreditation in the public health context
• related policy and regulatory aspects

The submission deadline for papers is 7 June 2019.

Reference

1. Call for papers for a special issue on how point of care and point of impact testing (POCT and POIT) and self-testing impact surveillance and public health, Euro. Surveill. 24(8), 21 February.

Infection reports in this issue

Vaccine coverage reports:

• Shingles vaccine coverage report for those becoming 70 and 78 years of age in April to September 2018: England.

• Pertussis vaccination programme for pregnant women update: vaccine coverage in England, July to September 2018.

Infection reports

• Laboratory confirmed cases of invasive meningococcal infection (England): October to December 2018.
• Laboratory reports of Haemophilus influenzae by age group and serotype, England: annual 2018.