Journal article
Immune Responses to Twice-Annual Influenza Vaccination in Older Adults in Hong Kong
YH Tam, SA Valkenburg, RAPM Perera, JHF Wong, VJ Fang, TWY Ng, ASK Kwong, WWS Tsui, DKM Ip, LLM Poon, CKV Chau, IG Barr, JSM Peiris, BJ Cowling
Clinical Infectious Diseases | OXFORD UNIV PRESS INC | Published : 2018
DOI: 10.1093/cid/cix900
Abstract
Background. Many health authorities recommend influenza vaccination of older adults to reduce disease burden. We hypothesized that in tropical and subtropical areas with more prolonged influenza seasons, twice-annual influenza vaccination might provide older adults with improved immunity against influenza. Methods. In 2014-2015, Hong Kong experienced a substantial A(H3N2) winter epidemic with a mismatched vaccine. Local authorities procured and administered to older adults the 2015 southern hemisphere influenza vaccine, which included an updated and matching A/Switzerland/9715293/2013(H3N2) strain. We compared immune parameters in pre-and postvaccination sera from older adults =75 years of a..
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Awarded by Sanofi Pasteur
Funding Acknowledgements
This research was funded by a commissioned grant from the Health and Medical Research Fund of the Food and Health Bureau of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) government to the Centre for Health Protection (reference number CHP-PH-12); a commissioned grant from the Health and Medical Research Fund to the University of Hong Kong (reference number HKS-15-E06); the Health and Medical Research Fund of the Food and Health Bureau of the Hong Kong SAR government (grant number 15141052); and the Research Grants Council of the Hong Kong SAR, China (project number T11-705/14N). The Melbourne World Health Organization Collaborating Centre for Reference and Research on Influenza is supported by the Australian Department of Health.