The objective of the meeting was to give a strategic and functional view on how the European Influenza Surveillance Network should implement the molecular surveillance of human influenza in Europe in detail and at what level.
Following an earlier consultation document issued in March 2011 the UK’s Secretary of State for Health, along with the UK’s developed administrations (N. Ireland, Scotland and Wales) published a new influenza pandemic strategy on 10 November.
While Europe is experiencing low influenza activity a new study presenting global estimates of the burden of respiratory infections due to seasonal influenza in young children has been published online by the Lancet on the 11 November 2011
It is accompanied by an editorial comment from Maria Zambon of the UK Health Protection Agency add link pleaseThis comprehensive study published by an international group attempts to estimate the global incidence of lower respiratory infections and premature deaths associated with influenza in children younger than 5 years.
On the 26 October 2011, The Lancet Infectious Diseases published a systematic review and a meta-analysis, combining the results of several studies undertaken on influenza vaccine effectiveness.
This is an authoritative independent evidence-based review and meta-analysis of the efficacy and effectiveness of influenza vaccines. It confines itself to trials and observational studies where diagnostic tests confirmed influenza infection as the end point.
This report describes the investigation of two cases of febrile respiratory illness caused by swine influenza A (H3N2) viruses identified on the 19th and the 26th August 2011 in two different states in the US (Indiana and Pennsylvania).
The World Health Organization (WHO) recently recommended using the same three flu strains in next year's Southern Hemisphere (SH) vaccine as are in the current Northern Hemisphere vaccine and were used last year in southern hemisphere countries.