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A novel bioinformatics approach can predict vaccine effectiveness for the influenza season, and indicates that the current vaccines are likely to be effective against H3N2 flu viruses in the U.S. 2017/2018 flu season, according to research published online Nov. 29 in F1000 Research. Slobodan Paessler, D.V.M., Ph.D., from the University of Texas Medical Branch, and Veljko Veljkovic, Ph.D., from Biomed Protection, both in Galveston, Texas, used a bioinformatics platform to predict vaccine effectiveness for the 2017/2018 influenza season in the United States. The hemagglutinin HA1 region of 251 and 113 human H3N2 viruses collected in Australia and the United States from July to September 2017 were analyzed. The informational spectrum method-based phylogenetic analysis of H3N2 viruses was performed to serve as a base for predicting vaccine effectiveness. The researchers found that analyses of Australian viruses generated two clusters; the vaccine virus was placed in the smaller group. As a result, the vaccine was predicted not to be efficient against most Australian H3N2 viruses in the 2017 flu season; low vaccine effectiveness was reported in Australia in the 2017 flu season in accordance with this prediction. The U.S. H3N2 viruses were also grouped into two clusters, but the vaccine virus was placed in the largest cluster encompassing 71 percent of analyzed viruses. Consequently, the vaccine effectiveness is expected not to be suboptimal in the United States.

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More than 78 percent of health care personnel (HCP) and 53.6 percent of pregnant women received influenza vaccination during the 2016-2017 influenza season, according to two studies published in the Sept. 29 issue of Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. Carla L. Black, Ph.D., from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and colleagues surveyed 2,438 HCP to estimate influenza vaccination coverage. The researchers found that during the 2016-2017 season, 78.6 percent of survey respondents reported receiving vaccination, similar to reported coverage in the previous three seasons. Coverage was highest for those working in hospitals compared with those working in ambulatory or long-term-care settings (92.3 versus 76.1 and 68 percent) and for those who were required by their employer to be vaccinated (96.7 percent), as in previous seasons. Helen Ding, M.D., from the CDC, and colleagues surveyed 1,893 women pregnant at any time during October 2016 to January 2017. The researchers found that 53.6 percent of respondents reported having received influenza vaccination before or during pregnancy (16.2 and 37.4 percent, respectively); this was similar to coverage during the previous four influenza seasons. Overall, 67.3, 11.9, and 20.7 percent of women reported receiving a provider offer for influenza vaccination, receiving a recommendation but no offer, and receiving no recommendation, respectively, similar to the previous influenza season; influenza vaccination coverage was 70.5, 43.7, and 14.8 percent, respectively, among these women.