Suchergebnisse

European IVE Group - Portuguese Team: Verónica Gomez, Irina Kislaya, Baltazar Nunes, Ana Paula Rodrigues Ausenda Machado (Departamento de Epidemiologia, Instituto Nacional de Saúde Doutor Ricardo Jorge); Patrícia Conde, Inês Costa, Paula Cristóvão, Pedro Pechirra, Raquel Guiomar (Departamento de Doenças Infeciosas, Instituto Nacional de Saúde Doutor Ricardo Jorge). ; Seasonal influenza vaccine is recommended in all European Union (EU) countries for older people and others at increased risk of severe influenza and its complications, including those with chronic diseases. In the United Kingdom (UK), incremental introduction of a universal childhood influenza vaccination programme began in 2013/14. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommendations for trivalent influenza vaccine strains for the 2018/19 northern hemisphere influenza season included an A/Michigan/45/2015 (H1N1)pdm09-like virus, an A/Singapore/INFIMH-16–0019/2016 (H3N2)-like virus and a B/Colorado/06/2017-like virus from the B/Victoria lineage. The early 2018/19 influenza season in Europe was characterised by both influenza A virus subtypes circulating widely. There was co-circulation in some countries, with others reporting dominance of either A(H1N1)pdm09 or A(H3N2) viruses. The season started late in most countries compared with previous seasons, with few influenza B viruses detected in the WHO European Region. Since the 2008/09 season, the UK, Denmark, Spain, and several other EU countries conducting multicentre studies, have participated in I-MOVE (Influenza – Monitoring Vaccine Effectiveness in Europe), a network measuring influenza vaccine effectiveness each season. Interim results from six established influenza VE studies across Europe for the 2018/19 season indicate that VE against laboratory-confirmed influenza A ranged between 32% and 43% among all ages in primary care and hospital settings and was 59% in the target groups for vaccination. ; ECDC ; info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

In March 2020, the Rare and Imported Pathogens Laboratory at the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) (formerly Public Health England [PHE]) Porton Down, was tasked by the Department of Health and Social Care with setting up a national surveillance laboratory facility to study SARS-CoV-2 antibody responses and population-level sero-surveillance in response to the growing SARS-CoV-2 outbreak. In the following 12 months, the laboratory tested more than 160,000 samples, facilitating a wide range of research and informing UKHSA, DHSC, and UK government policy. Here we describe the implementation and use of the Euroimmun anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG assay and provide an extended evaluation of its performance. We present a markedly improved overall sensitivity of 91.39% (≥14 days 92.74%, ≥21 days 93.59%) compared to our small-scale early study, and a specificity of 98.56%. In addition, we detail extended characteristics of the Euroimmun assay: intra- and interassay precision, correlation to neutralization, and assay linearity. IMPORTANCE Serology assays have been useful in determining those with previous SARS-CoV-2 infection in a wide range of research and serosurveillance projects. However, assays vary in their sensitivity at detecting SARS-CoV-2 antibodies. Here, we detail an extended evaluation and characterization of the Euroimmun anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG assay, one that has been widely used within the United Kingdom on over 160,000 samples to date.