Influenza prophylaxis in a chosen population of cancer patients

Obecnie nowotwory często stanowią przyczynę zgonów na całym świecie. W Polsce choroba ta jest drugą (po schorzeniach układu krążenia) najczęstszą przyczyną zgonów. Profesor J. Oxford powiedział: „Można zaprzestać uprawiania seksu, aby zapobiec rozprzestrzenianiu się HIV, ale nie można przestać oddychać”. Chorzy na nowotwory wymagają specjalnej troski, gdyż ich układ immunologiczny jest osłabiony. Każdego roku zgodnie danymi Światowej Organizacji Zdrowia zachorowania z powodu grypy dotykają 330-1575 milionów ludzi, a śmierć wskutek tej choroby ponosi 0,5-1 miliona osób. Istnieją wysoko oczyszczone szczepionki przeciwko grypie oraz leki antygrypowe nowej generacji (tzw. inhibitory neuraminidazy). Komitet Doradczy ds. Szczepień Ochronnych oraz wiele towarzystw naukowych, w tym również Amerykańskie Towarzystwo Onkologiczne, rekomendują szczepienia przeciwko grypie, zwłaszcza wśród osób o podwyższonym ryzyku zachorowania na tę chorobę. W niniejszym artykule przedstawiono wyniki badań, którymi objęto onkologicznie chorych szczepionych przeciwko grypie. Wykazano, że szczepienia przeciwko grypie w tej grupie pacjentów niezależnie od protokołu leczenia są bezpieczne, efektywne i dobrze tolerowane. Można wnioskować, że powinno się rekomendować szczepienia przeciwko grypie w indywidualnych przypadkach.At present cancer is one of the most frequent causes of deaths not only in Poland but all over the world. In our country cancer is now the second most important cause of deaths preceded by circulatory diseases. Professor John Oxford once said: “You can stop having sex to prevent AIDS from spreading. But you can’t stop breathing”. Cancer patients need special care because their immunological system is weak. According to World Health Organisation data, every year 330-1,575 milion people are infected by the influenza virus, and 0.5-1 milion people die. Currently chromatographically pure inactivated vaccines against influenza and new generation anti-influenza drugs, ie neuraminidase inhibitors are available on the market. Vaccinations against influenza are recommended for people at high risk groups not only by Advisory Committee on Immunization Practiese but also by many scientific societies all over the world, including the American Cancer Society. This article presents the results of investigations in a selected population of cancer patients vaccinated with inactivated influenza vaccines. The author concludes that vaccinations against influenza in these groups of patients treated with different protocols are safe, effective and well tolerated. These results suggest that vaccinations can be recommended for cancer patients, depending on individual cases

Effect of influenza vaccinations on immune response and serum eotaxin level in patients with allergic bronchial asthma.

BACKGROUND: One of the most promising markers of allergic inflammation is eotaxin, which has a selective influence on the migration of eosinophils. Its serum content significantly correlates with the intensity of allergic symptoms, so it might be interesting to know whether vaccination has any influence on serum expression of this chemokine. AIMS: Comparison of the humoral response to influenza vaccine and post-vaccination changes in the serum eotaxin level in patients with allergic bronchial asthma and healthy controls. METHODS: Forty-two asthmatics and 45 healthy individuals were vaccinated with a single dose of influenza subunit vaccine (Influvac). The serum eotaxin level and the antibody response to haemagglutinin (HI) and neuraminidase (NI) glycoproteins were measured before and after vaccination. RESULTS: A significant increase of geometric mean titres of HI and NI was observed in both groups. There were no significant differences between the groups in meanfold increase of HI and NI titres, response rate and protective level of HI. After vaccination, a significant decrease of the mean serum eotaxin value was observed in patients with asthma (149.4 +/- 71.0 versus 125.1 +/- 67.0, p= 0.0017), while no similar effect was present in healthy individuals (153.4 +/- 56.9 versus 159.3 +/- 54.4, p= 0.5). CONCLUSIONS: The results indicate that in patients with allergic bronchial asthma influenza vaccinations assure efficient protective antibody level and modulate the serum level of eotaxin

Laboratory diagnosis of influenza

Influenza has always been and still is the cause of considerable morbidity and, consequently, frequent multiorgan complications, often irreversible and even fatal. It is an acute infectious disease caused by type A, B and C viruses, members of the family Orthomyxoviridae. Infections caused by the influenza virus are reported in every epidemic season. Influenza infections should be considered not only in the aspect of health, but also in the quantifiable, measurable economic aspect. For many years, influenza has been one of the basic priorities of public health. Virological and epidemiological surveillance of influenza, which is implemented in each epidemiological season, is one of the key elements of public health. Virological surveillance involves laboratory confirmation of infection, while epidemiological surveillance involves monitoring of actual and suspected cases of influenza. Laboratory diagnosis is performed to confirm influenza virus antigen in the material collected from the patient, isolate the virus and confirm viral infection based on increased serum antibody levels. Isolating influenza viruses that circulate in a given epidemiological season is necessary to prepare a vaccine against influenza. An early and correct virological diagnosis of respiratory infection, with particular reference to influenza, is currently of great importance in terms of both medical and economic aspects. The paper discusses influenza diagnostic methods currently used in Poland to help physicians in deciding whether laboratory confirmation of diagnosis is justified in the aspect of possible treatment to avoid influenza-induced multiple organ complications

Significance of Virological Diagnostics for the Effective Treatment of Hosptalized Patients Infected with Influenza Virus

In the case of influenza disease there is no possible to make unquestionable diagnosis only on the basis of clinical picture. Therefore, virological laboratory diagnostics is important, especially in hospitalized patients and those who highly risk post-influenza complications and severe course of the disease. Virological diagnostic tests for influenza and positive result obtained in these tests allow to use effective antiviral-antiinfluenza drugs as new generation drugs: oseltamivir and zanarnivir and also old generation drugs: amantadine and rimantadine. Since these antivirals are effective only in the case of influenza infection, diagnostic tests should be performed previously. Present methods allow to obtain the result of the test within less than l hour to 8 h. This is of great importance, because the administration of the drug within 36 h from the onset of symptoms is one of the factors condition­ing the effectiveness of antiviral therapy. In the present paper there are described four cases of hospitalized patients in whom the infection with influenza virus was confirmed by immunofluorescence test and RT-PCR, and then the antiviral-antiinfluenza drugs were immediately introduced. This antiviral therapy in a short time resulted in the improvement of patients\u27 condition and allowed to discharge them from the hospital. Antiviral-antiinfluenza drugs together with virological diagnostics are the effective tool in the case of patients not vaccinated against influenza, who were infected with influenza virus and fell ill

A comparative analysis of influenza virus infections in the 2013/2014 and 2014/2015 epidemic seasons in the reporting system, for different age groups in Poland

Background . Influenza remains the cause of many seasonal infections, leading even to death, in all age groups, for all patient health states, under all health policies, and in all latitudes. Influenza infection needs to be thought of not only in terms of the loss of health and the exacerbation of existing diseases, but also in terms of the quantifiable financial consequences borne by the state. Objectives . The aim of the study was to compare two influenza seasons: 2013/14 and 2014/15 through an analysis of the number of samples in different age groups, collected on a weekly basis for 52 weeks, and to interpret the results in terms of type and subtype. Material and methods. Virological and epidemiological data were obtained from the SENTIN EL and NON -SENTIN EL programs. Virological tests were performed using RT-PCR and multiplex RT-PCR biological molecular methods. Results . The maximum number of confirmed cases of influenza coincides in time with the maximum number declared cases and suspected cases of influenza and influenza-like viruses. The peak occurrence of influenza-like virus detection was earlier than the peak detection of influenza virus. In the 2014/15 influenza season, significant differences in the percentage of positive samples were observed between the 5–9 and 10–14 age groups. During the 2013/14 influenza season, there was no statistically significant difference in the percentage of positive samples between the 15–25, 26–44, and 45–64 year old age groups. Conclusions . A new division of age groups allows more accurate assessment of the incidence of influenza and influenza-like illnesses and can assist health workers in preventing multiorgan influenza-related complications and deaths