Expert review of vaccines
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Expert review of vaccines · Aug 2012
ReviewAssessing the safety of influenza vaccination in specific populations: children and the elderly.
Comprehensive monitoring of the safety of influenza vaccines remains a public health priority, particularly as immunization coverage increases across different age groups at the global level. In this review, the authors provide state-of-the-art knowledge on the safety of influenza immunization among children and the elderly. ⋯ Adverse events of special concern including febrile seizure, narcolepsy, asthma and Guillain-Barré syndrome are covered under specific considerations. The authors discuss the current status of the field, particularly the use of new technologies for influenza vaccines and their potential safety profile.
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Expert review of vaccines · Jun 2012
Cervarix®: a bivalent vaccine against HPV types 16 and 18, with cross-protection against other high-risk HPV types.
Cervical cancer is the third most common cancer in women worldwide and often affects women under 40 years of age with young families. Vaccination against HPV is a major advancement, as it offers primary prevention against the infectious agent that is the main cause of the disease. ⋯ The vaccine's antibody response profile suggests a long duration of immunity. Safety data have been reassuring, which is not unexpected, given that the vaccine is composed of virus-like particles, rather than being a live-virus vaccine.
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Expert review of vaccines · May 2012
ReviewRisks associated with the use of live-attenuated vaccine poliovirus strains and the strategies for control and eradication of paralytic poliomyelitis.
The Global Polio Eradication Initiative was launched in 1988 with the aim to eliminate paralytic poliomyelitis. Two effective vaccines are available: inactivated polio vaccine (IPV) and oral polio vaccine (OPV). ⋯ Attenuating mutations and recombination events have been associated with the reversion of vaccine strains to neurovirulence. The substitution of OPV with an improved new-generation IPV and the availability of new specific drugs against polioviruses are considered as future strategies for outbreak control and the eradication of paralytic poliomyelitis worldwide.
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Expert review of vaccines · Apr 2012
ReviewCurrent polio global eradication and control policy options: perspectives from modeling and prerequisites for oral poliovirus vaccine cessation.
As the Global Polio Eradication Initiative progresses toward the eradication of wild polioviruses, national and global health leaders must still actively consider options for managing poliovirus risks, including risks associated with using oral poliovirus vaccine. Oral poliovirus vaccine continues to represent a highly effective tool, but its use causes noticeable, rare cases of vaccine-associated paralytic polio and with low coverage it can evolve to become circulating vaccine-derived polioviruse that causes outbreaks. National leaders face a wide range of options, but their choices depend in part on global policies. This article explores the current set of global options for poliovirus eradication or control, discusses constraints and prerequisites for their implementation and offers some insights based on dynamic modeling to inform discussions and frame future economic analyses.