Protection of children against influenza: Emerging problems

Principi, Nicola; Esposito, Susanna

doi:10.1080/21645515.2017.1279772

Cited by 13 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 53 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Together with the elderly population, children under 5 years of age, even in the absence of underlying chronic diseases, have the highest risk of severe disease leading to hospitalization and, although rarely, to death [25]. Influenza is estimated to be the cause of approximately 374,000 hospitalizations of children <1 year of age and 870,000 hospitalizations of children <5 years of age annually [26][27][28][29][30][31][32]. Moreover, children are the most important cause of the spread of the infection in communities because they shed the virus in greater amounts and for longer periods of time than adults [33].…”

Section: Influenza Vaccinationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Vaccination against Paediatric Respiratory Pathogens

et al. 2019

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Acute respiratory infections (ARIs) are extremely common in children, especially those under 5 years old. They can lead to complications, super-infection, respiratory failure, and even compromised respiratory function in adulthood. For some of the responsible pathogens, vaccines are available. This review reports current issues about vaccines against the main respiratory pathogens to highlight the available strategies to reduce the burden of paediatric respiratory disease. The optimal use of influenza, pneumococcal, pertussis and measles vaccines is required in order to reduce ARI burden. Vaccination coverage rates must be improved to achieve the full benefits of these vaccines. Recently, advances in the knowledge of respiratory syncytial virus structural biology and immunology as well as the development of new techniques to generate vaccine candidates have increased the number of promising vaccines even against this harmful pathogen.

show abstract

Section: Influenza Vaccinationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Vaccination against Paediatric Respiratory Pathogens

et al. 2019

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Despite these recommendations, many countries do not have vaccination policies, and those that do often do not include young children as a target group [5]. This may be because severe influenza has been thought to be a problem limited to children with underlying high-risk conditions [6]. More information about the burden of influenza in young children is therefore needed to inform and support influenza vaccination policies.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Epidemiology and burden of influenza in healthy children aged 6 to 35 months: analysis of data from the placebo arm of a phase III efficacy trial

et al. 2019

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background Despite World Health Organization recommendations, in many countries young children are not targeted for influenza vaccination. To help inform influenza vaccination policy, we examined the occurrence and burden of influenza in healthy children aged 6 to 35 months using data from a recent phase III placebo-controlled influenza vaccine trial conducted in countries in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. Methods This was an analysis of data from participants included in the placebo arm of a phase III clinical trial in healthy children aged 6 to 35 months (EudraCT no. 2013–001231-51). Included children had never been vaccinated for influenza and were observed for one influenza season. Outcome measures included the occurrence of influenza-like illness (ILI), laboratory-confirmed influenza, virus types/subtypes, severe symptoms and complications of confirmed influenza, and healthcare use associated with confirmed influenza. Results Data from 2210 participants were analysed. ILI was reported for 811 participants (36.7%). Of these, 255 participants (31.4%) had 263 virologically confirmed episodes of influenza. The overall influenza attack rate was 11.5%. The most common influenza virus detected was A(H3N2) (40.7%), followed by B/Yamagata (23.6%), A(H1N1) (18.6%), and B/Victoria (8.0%). Grade 3 fever was reported in 24.3% of confirmed episodes, acute lower respiratory infection in 8.7%, acute otitis media in 6.1%, and pneumonia in 1.9%. In most influenza episodes (93.2%), antipyretics, analgesics, or non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs were taken. Antibiotics were prescribed for 41.4% of influenza episodes. More than half of the influenza episodes (57.0%) resulted in outpatient visits. Influenza resulted in overnight hospitalisation in 1.1% of episodes. Conclusions Influenza is associated with a significant burden of disease in healthy children. This analysis also revealed that antibiotics continue to be frequently used for young children with influenza. Trial registration EudraCT no. 2013–001231-51 . Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s12879-019-3920-8) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

show abstract

“…Finding new LAIV candidates is important because the effectiveness of the current (2012) quadrivalent LAIV has been shown to be low, attributed mainly to the H1N1 IAV component. Based on its low effectiveness, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) recommended that the quadrivalent LAIV should not be used (40,41).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Interplay of PA-X and NS1 Proteins in Replication and Pathogenesis of a Temperature-Sensitive 2009 Pandemic H1N1 Influenza A Virus

Nogales

Rodríguez

DeDiego

et al. 2017

J Virol

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Influenza A viruses (IAVs) cause seasonal epidemics and occasional pandemics, representing a serious public health concern. It has been described that one mechanism used by some IAV strains to escape the host innate immune responses and modulate virus pathogenicity involves the ability of the PA-X and NS1 proteins to inhibit the host protein synthesis in infected cells. It was reported that for the 2009 pandemic H1N1 IAV (pH1N1) only the PA-X protein had this inhibiting capability, while the NS1 protein did not. In this work, we have evaluated, for the first time, the combined effect of PA-X- and NS1-mediated inhibition of general gene expression on virus pathogenesis, using a temperature-sensitive, live-attenuated 2009 pandemic H1N1 IAV (pH1N1 LAIV). We found that viruses containing PA-X and NS1 proteins that simultaneously have (PA/NS1) or do not have (PA/NS1) the ability to block host gene expression showed reduced pathogenicity However, a virus where the ability to inhibit host protein expression was switched between PA-X and NS1 (PA/NS1) presented pathogenicity similar to that of a virus containing both wild-type proteins (PA/NS1). Our findings suggest that inhibition of host protein expression is subject to a strict balance, which can determine the successful progression of IAV infection. Importantly, knowledge obtained from our studies could be used for the development of new and more effective vaccine approaches against IAV. Influenza A viruses (IAVs) are one of the most common causes of respiratory infections in humans, resulting in thousands of deaths annually. Furthermore, IAVs can cause unpredictable pandemics of great consequence when viruses not previously circulating in humans are introduced into humans. The defense machinery provided by the host innate immune system limits IAV replication; however, to counteract host antiviral activities, IAVs have developed different inhibition mechanisms, including prevention of host gene expression mediated by the viral PA-X and NS1 proteins. Here, we provide evidence demonstrating that optimal control of host protein synthesis by IAV PA-X and/or NS1 proteins is required for efficient IAV replication in the host. Moreover, we demonstrate the feasibility of genetically controlling the ability of IAV PA-X and NS1 proteins to inhibit host immune responses, providing an approach to develop more effective vaccines to combat disease caused by this important respiratory pathogen.

show abstract

Protection of children against influenza: Emerging problems

Cited by 13 publications

References 53 publications

Vaccination against Paediatric Respiratory Pathogens

Vaccination against Paediatric Respiratory Pathogens

Epidemiology and burden of influenza in healthy children aged 6 to 35 months: analysis of data from the placebo arm of a phase III efficacy trial

Interplay of PA-X and NS1 Proteins in Replication and Pathogenesis of a Temperature-Sensitive 2009 Pandemic H1N1 Influenza A Virus

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About