Background: Scarce European data in early 2021 suggested lower vaccine effectiveness (VE) against SARS-CoV-2 Omicron lineages than previous variants. Aim: We aimed to estimate primary series (PS) and first booster VE against symptomatic BA.1/BA.2 infection and investigate potential biases. Methods: This European test-negative multicentre study tested primary care patients with acute respiratory symptoms for SAR...
Background: Influenza A(H3N2) viruses dominated early in the 2022-2023 influenza season in Europe, followed by higher circulation of influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 and B viruses. The VEBIS primary care network estimated the influenza vaccine effectiveness (VE) using a multicentre test-negative study. Materials and methods: Primary care practitioners collected information and specimens from patients consulting with acut...
A globally implemented unified phylogenetic classification for human respiratory syncytial virus (HRSV) below the subgroup level remains elusive. We formulated global consensus of HRSV classification on the basis of the challenges and limitations of our previous proposals and the future of genomic surveillance. From a high-quality curated dataset of 1,480 HRSV-A and 1,385 HRSV-B genomes submitted to GenBank and...
Learning from the COVID-19 pandemic and considering the effects of this pandemic, we provide recommendations that can guide towards sustainable RSV surveillance with the potential to be integrated into the broader perspective of respiratory surveillance.
As the COVID-19 pandemic began in early 2020, primary care influenza sentinel surveillance networks within the Influenza - Monitoring Vaccine Effectiveness in Europe (I-MOVE) consortium rapidly adapted to COVID-19 surveillance. This study maps system adaptations and lessons learned about aligning influenza and COVID-19 surveillance following ECDC / WHO/Europe recommendations and preparing for other diseases pos...
Introduction: Despite seasonal influenza vaccination programmes in most countries targeting individuals aged ≥ 65 (or ≥ 55) years and high risk-groups, significant disease burden remains. We explored the impact and cost-effectiveness of 27 vaccination programmes targeting the elderly and/or children in eight European settings (n = 205.8 million). Methods: We used an age-structured dynamic-transmission model to ...
Introduction: In July and August 2021, the SARS-CoV-2 Delta variant dominated in Europe. Aim: Using a multicentre test-negative study, we measured COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness (VE) against symptomatic infection. Methods: Individuals with COVID-19 or acute respiratory symptoms at primary care/community level in 10 European countries were tested for SARS-CoV-2. We measured complete primary course overall VE by ...
The I-MOVE-COVID-19 network collates epidemiological and clinical information on patients with coronavirus disease (COVID-19), including severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) virological characterisation in 11 European countries [1]. One component of I-MOVE-COVID-19 is the multicentre vaccine effectiveness (VE) study at primary care/outpatient level in nine European study sites in eight c...
Background: Influenza A(H3N2), A(H1N1)pdm09 and B viruses co-circulated in Europe in 2017-18, predominated by influenza B. WHO-recommended, trivalent vaccine components were lineage-mismatched for B. The I-MOVE hospital network measured 2017-18 seasonal influenza vaccine effectiveness (IVE) against influenza A(H3N2) and B among hospitalised patients (≥65 years) in Europe. Methods: Following the same generic pro...
Background: The 2018/2019 influenza season in the WHO European Region was dominated by influenza A (H1N1)pdm09 and (H3N2) viruses, with very few influenza B viruses detected. Methods: Countries in the European Region reported virus characterization data to The European Surveillance System for weeks 40/2018 to 20/2019. These virus antigenic and genetic characterization and haemagglutinin (HA) sequence data were ...