Journal article
Understanding influenza vaccine protection in the community: An assessment of the 2013 influenza season in Victoria, Australia
KS Carville, KA Grant, SG Sullivan, JE Fielding, CR Lane, L Franklin, J Druce, HA Kelly
Vaccine | Published : 2015
Abstract
Background: The influenza virus undergoes frequent antigenic drift, necessitating annual review of the composition of the influenza vaccine. Vaccination is an important strategy for reducing the impact and burden of influenza, and estimating vaccine effectiveness (VE) each year informs surveillance and preventative measures. We aimed to describe the influenza season and to estimate the effectiveness of the influenza vaccine in Victoria, Australia, in 2013. Methods: Routine laboratory notifications, general practitioner sentinel surveillance (including a medical deputising service) data, and sentinel hospital admission surveillance data for the influenza season (29 April to 27 October 2013) w..
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Funding Acknowledgements
We thank GPs for their ongoing involvement in sentinel surveillance in Victoria, and Adam Wilson for the continued involvement of the National Home Doctor Service. We thank the laboratory staff of the WHO Collaborating Centre for Reference and Research on Influenza and the Virus Identification Laboratory, both at the Victorian Infectious Diseases Reference Laboratory, The Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity, Melbourne, Australia. The Melbourne WHO Collaborating Centre for Reference and Research on Influenza and FluCAN are supported by the Australian Government Department of Health. Sentinel surveillance in Victoria is supported by the Victorian Government Department of Health.