The 2016/17 mid-season vaccine effectiveness estimate against influenza A(H3N2) was 15% (95% confidence interval: −11 to 35) in Navarre. Comparing to individuals unvaccinated in the current and four prior seasons, effectiveness was 24% for current and 3–4 prior doses, 61% for current and 1–2 prior doses, 42% for only current vaccination, and 58% for 3–4 prior doses. This suggests moderate effectiveness for different combinations of vaccination in the current and prior seasons.

Background Due to the wide spread of SARS-CoV2 around the world, the risk of death in individuals with metabolic comorbidities has dangerously increased. Mexico has a high number of infected individuals and deaths by COVID-19 as well as an important burden of metabolic diseases; nevertheless, reports about features of Mexican individuals with COVID-19 are scarce. The aim of this study was to evaluate demographic features, clinical characteristics and the pharmacological treatment of individuals who died by COVID-19 in the south of Mexico. Methods We performed an observational study including the information of 185 deceased individuals with confirmed diagnoses of COVID-19. Data were retrieved from medical records. Categorical data were expressed as proportions (%) and numerical data were expressed as mean ± standard deviation. Comorbidities and overlapping symptoms were plotted as Venn diagrams. Drug clusters were plotted as dendrograms. Results The mean age was 59.53 years. There was a male predominance (60.1%). The mean hospital stay was 4.75 ± 4.43 days. The most frequent symptoms were dyspnea (88.77%), fever (71.42%) and dry cough (64.28%). Present comorbidities included diabetes (60.63%), hypertension (59.57%) and obesity (43.61%). The main drugs used for treating COVID-19 were azithromycin (60.6%), hydroxychloroquine (53.0%) and oseltamivir (27.3%). Conclusions Mexican individuals who died of COVID-19 had shorter hospital stays, higher frequency of shortness of breath, and higher prevalence of diabetes than individuals from other countries. Also, there was a high frequency of off-label use of drugs for their treatment.

The 2017/18 interim estimate of trivalent influenza vaccine effectiveness (VE) was 39% (95% confidence interval: 20–54) in Navarre. Compared with individuals unvaccinated in the current and five previous seasons, VE against influenza B was 41% for current and any prior doses, 67% for current vaccination only, and 22% for any prior doses, and 43%, 51% and 54%, respectively against influenza A(H3N2). This suggests moderate VE despite predominance of lineage mismatched influenza B.

Introduction: New efficient strategies are needed for the assessment of active hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. The aim of this study was to evaluate the ability of HCV core antigen (HCV-cAg) as a marker of active HCV infection in newly diagnosed patients, for treatment monitoring, and for the detection of therapeutic failure. Materials and methods: A prospective study was conducted at a regional reference hospital in Spain. HCV-cAg and viral load (RNA-HCV) were tested in plasma or serum samples from three patient groups: new diagnosis, treatment monitoring, and treatment failure. The treatment monitoring group was tested at the beginning of treatment, at 4 weeks post-initiation, at the end of treatment, and at 12 weeks posttreatment completion. The Architect HCV core antigen assay was performed for HCV-cAg testing, and viral load was quantified with the Cobas 6800 system. Results: A total of 303 samples from 124 patients were analyzed. Excellent correlation was seen between HCV-cAg and HCV-RNA (R 2 = 0.932). The optimal cut-off value was 3 fmol/l in the receiver operating characteristics curve analysis, and the area under the curve was 0.987 (95% confidence interval 0.972-1.000). HCV-cAg sensitivity and specificity were 97% and 95%, respectively. Most diverging results were observed in the treatment follow-up group. Conclusions: HCV-cAg demonstrated good sensitivity and specificity as a marker for active HCV infection, new diagnosis, detection of antiviral therapeutic failure, and treatment monitoring.