Superior antigen-specific CD4+ T-cell response with AS03-adjuvantation of a trivalent influenza vaccine in a randomised trial of adults aged 65 and older

BACKGROUND: The effectiveness of trivalent influenza vaccines may be reduced in older versus younger adults because of age-related immunosenescence. The use of an adjuvant in such a vaccine is one strategy that may combat immunosenescence, potentially by bolstering T-cell mediated responses. METHODS: This observer-blind study, conducted in the United States (US) and Spain during the 2008-2009 influenza season, evaluated the effect of Adjuvant System AS03 on specific T-cell responses to a seasonal trivalent influenza vaccine (TIV) in >/=65 year-old adults.Medically-stable adults aged >/=65 years were randomly allocated to receive a single dose of AS03-adjuvanted TIV (TIV/AS03) or TIV. Healthy adults aged 18-40 years received only TIV. Blood samples were collected on Day 0, Day 21, Day 42 and Day 180. Influenza-specific CD4+ T cells, defined by the induction of the immune markers CD40L, IL-2, IFN-gamma, or TNF-alpha, were measured in ex vivo cultures of antigen-stimulated peripheral blood mononuclear cells. RESULTS: A total of 192 adults were vaccinated: sixty nine and seventy three >/=65 year olds received TIV/AS03 and TIV, respectively; and fifty 18 - 40 year olds received TIV. In the >/=65 year-old group on Day 21, the frequency of CD4+ T cells specific to the three vaccine strains was superior in the TIV/AS03 recipients to the frequency in TIV (p /=65 year-old recipients of TIV/AS03 than in the 18 - 40 year old recipients of TIV on Days 21 (p = 0.006) and 42 (p = 0.011). CONCLUSION: This positive effect of AS03 Adjuvant System on the CD4+ T-cell response to influenza vaccine strains in older adults could confer benefit in protection against clinical influenza disease in this population. TRIAL REGISTRATION: (Clinicaltrials.gov.). NCT00765076

Motivations for participating in a clinical trial on an avian influenza vaccine

Abstract In this study we describe the sociodemographic characteristics of people participating in a clinical trial on the safety and immunogenicity of a H5N1 influenza vaccine and we identify the main motivations for joining it.</p

Development of the BaBar trigger for the investigation of CP violation

The primary purpose of the BaBar experiment is the systematic study of CP asymmetries in the decays of neutral B mesons. BaBar's calorimeter provides high efficiency neutral pion detection and is the main subdetector for the separation of pions and electrons. It comprises 6660 CsI(Tl) crystals covering the solid angle -141 deg. #&lt;=# #theta#_l_a_b #&lt;=# 16 deg. The crystals are assembled into a barrel and a forward endcap and each crystal is aligned to point approximately towards the interaction point. The Level 1 trigger executes in hardware, providing an output rate of up to 2 kHz to the Level 3 trigger which executes in software. Continuous energy deposition data from the calorimeter are processed by BaBar's Level 1 Electromagnetic Calorimeter Trigger (EMT) Energy Selection Processors (ESP). The design, testing and evaluation of the ESP firmware is the main subject of this Thesis. The processors receive digitised calorimeter #phi#-tower energy data, each tower being nominally three crystals in #phi# by eight crystals in #theta#, at a 59.5 MHz bit rate. The digital signals are processed in parallel on forty Xilinx Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) chips. They deliver selected calorimeter map objects to the Global Trigger, at a 7.4 MHz bit rate, within a latency budget of 5 #mu#s. The processor logic determines the event time by locating the peak of the energy-deposit pulse with a Finite Impulse Response filter, utilising a Distributed Arithmetic technique. Furthermore, following the receipt of Level 1 Accept and Read Event signals from BaBar's Fast Control, key data are output to DAQ. A spying network has been incorporated to enable external verification and validation of the logic. The design has been tested in simulation and on test-stands, using simple, complex and realistic test patterns. The trigger firmware is now working successfully on the experiment, where it is taking and processing real data. Analysis of colliding-beam data has shown that for above-threshold energies, within statistics, the trigger is fully efficient. (author)SIGLEAvailable from British Library Document Supply Centre-DSC:DXN036203 / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreGBUnited Kingdo

The social network around influenza vaccination in health care workers: A cross-sectional study

Background: Influenza vaccination coverage remains low among health care workers (HCWs) in many health facilities. This study describes the social network defined by HCWs’ conversations around an influenza vaccination campaign in order to describe the role played by vaccination behavior and other HCW characteristics in the configuration of the links among subjects. Methods This study used cross-sectional data from 235 HCWs interviewed after the 2010/2011 influenza vaccination campaign at the Hospital Clinic of Barcelona (HCB), Spain. The study asked: “Who did you talk to or share some activity with respect to the seasonal vaccination campaign?” Variables studied included sociodemographic characteristics and reported conversations among HCWs during the influenza campaign. Exponential random graph models (ERGM) were used to assess the role of shared characteristics (homophily) and individual characteristics in the social network around the influenza vaccination campaign. Results Links were more likely between HCWs who shared the same professional category (OR 3.13, 95% CI¿=¿2.61–3.75), sex (OR 1.34, 95% CI¿=¿1.09–1.62), age (OR 0.7, 95% CI¿=¿0.63–0.78 per decade of difference), and department (OR 11.35, 95% CI¿=¿8.17–15.64), but not between HCWs who shared the same vaccination behavior (OR 1.02, 95% CI¿=¿0.86–1.22). Older (OR 1.26, 95% CI¿=¿1.14–1.39 per extra decade of HCW) and vaccinated (OR 1.32, 95% CI¿=¿1.09–1.62) HCWs were more likely to be named. Conclusions This study finds that there is no homophily by vaccination status in whom HCWs speak to or interact with about a workplace vaccination promotion campaign. This result highlights the relevance of social network analysis in the planning of health promotion interventions.Peer Reviewe

Factors associated with pneumococcal and influenza vaccination in hospitalized people aged >= 65 years

Socioeconomic factors and the patterns of use of health services associated with influenza and pneumococcal vaccination were studied in people aged o65 years admitted to three general hospitals in Spain between 2005 and 2007. The following data were collected: age, sex, risk of pneumonia, educational level, social class, type of household, physician visits, length of time with the same general practitioner, and influenza and pneumococcal vaccination (23vPPV). Associations between variables were assessed using multivariate logistic regression analysis. I 6% influenza vaccine. Older age (OR 1.04, P6 visits (OR 3.83, P<0.001)) were associated with influenza vaccination. Coordination between public health and primary-care services may be necessary to improve vaccine uptake

Data of published studies comparing self-reported influenza vaccination in high-risk population.

<p>CI, Confidence Interval; PPV, Positive Predictive Value; NPV, Negative Predictive Value; Sn, Sensitivity; Sp, Specificity. NVD/D, Percentage of not vaccinated subjects who reported being vaccinated (NVD) over total discordant cases (D).</p><p>p<0.05, McNemar test.</p

Flow chart for randomized HCW, participants, and subjects included in the study.

<p>Flow chart for randomized HCW, participants, and subjects included in the study.</p

Characteristics of health care workers included in the study.

<p>Characteristics of health care workers included in the study.</p