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. 2018 Feb;23(5):18-00035.
doi: 10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2018.23.5.18-00035.

Early season co-circulation of influenza A(H3N2) and B(Yamagata): interim estimates of 2017/18 vaccine effectiveness, Canada, January 2018

Danuta M Skowronski  1   2 , Catharine Chambers  1 , Gaston De Serres  3   4   5 , James A Dickinson  6 , Anne-Luise Winter  7 , Rebecca Hickman  1 , Tracy Chan  1 , Agatha N Jassem  1   2 , Steven J Drews  8   9 , Hugues Charest  3 , Jonathan B Gubbay  10   7 , Nathalie Bastien  11 , Yan Li  11 , Mel Krajden  1   2
Affiliations

Early season co-circulation of influenza A(H3N2) and B(Yamagata): interim estimates of 2017/18 vaccine effectiveness, Canada, January 2018

Danuta M Skowronski et al. Euro Surveill. 2018 Feb.

Erratum in

  • Authors' correction for Euro Surveill. 2018;23(5).
    Eurosurveillance editorial team. Eurosurveillance editorial team. Euro Surveill. 2018 Jul;23(30):1807261. doi: 10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2018.23.30.1807261. Euro Surveill. 2018. PMID: 30064546 Free PMC article. No abstract available.

Abstract

Using a test-negative design, we assessed interim vaccine effectiveness (VE) for the 2017/18 epidemic of co-circulating influenza A(H3N2) and B(Yamagata) viruses. Adjusted VE for influenza A(H3N2), driven by a predominant subgroup of clade 3C.2a viruses with T131K + R142K + R261Q substitutions, was low at 17% (95% confidence interval (CI): -14 to 40). Adjusted VE for influenza B was higher at 55% (95% CI: 38 to 68) despite prominent use of trivalent vaccine containing lineage-mismatched influenza B(Victoria) antigen, suggesting cross-lineage protection.

Keywords: Influenza; genomics; influenza virus; mid-season; vaccine effectiveness; vaccine-preventable diseases; vaccines and immunisation.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interest: GDS has received grants unrelated to influenza from GSK and Pfizer and travel reimbursement to attend an ad hoc advisory board meeting of GSK also unrelated to influenza; he has provided paid expert testimony in a grievance against a vaccinate-or-mask healthcare worker influenza vaccination policy for the Ontario Nurses Association. JBG has received research grants from GlaxoSmithKline Inc. and Hoffman-La Roche Ltd to study antiviral resistance in influenza, and from Pfizer Inc. to conduct microbiological surveillance of Streptococcus pneumoniae. MK has received research grants from Roche, Merck, Siemens, Hologic, and Boerhinger Ingelheim for unrelated studies. Other authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Influenza detections among eligible patients presenting with influenza-like illness by week of specimen collection, Canadian Sentinel Practitioner Surveillance Network, 5 November 2017–20 January 2018 (n = 1,408)
Figure 2
Figure 2
Clade distribution of influenza A(H3N2) variants, Canada, 2017/18 interim vaccine effectiveness evaluation vs other sources of data
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC). FluWatch: Influenza weekly reports 2017-18 season. Ottawa: PHAC; 2018. [Accessed 15 January 2018]. Available from: https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/diseases/flu-influenza/i....
    1. European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC). Flu New Europe: Joint ECDC-WHO/Europe weekly influenza update. [Accessed 15 January 2018]. Stockholm: ECDC; 2018. Available from: http://flunewseurope.org/.
    1. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). FluView: Weekly U.S. influenza surveillance report. Atlanta: CDC; 2018. [Accessed 15 January 2018]. Available from: https://www.cdc.gov/flu/weekly/.
    1. World Health Organization (WHO). WHO recommendations on the composition of influenza virus vaccines. Geneva: WHO. Available from: http://www.who.int/influenza/vaccines/virus/recommendations/en/
    1. Sullivan SG, Chilver MB, Carville KS, Deng YM, Grant KA, Higgins G, et al. Low interim influenza vaccine effectiveness, Australia, 1 May to 24 September 2017. Euro Surveill. 2017;22(43):pii=17-00707 - PMC - PubMed

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