A new study published this month in Vaccine describes a new method that assesses the impact and cost-effectiveness of a range of vaccination options. The model was applied to the 2009 Influenza H1N1 outbreak and predicted accurately in real-time when the epidemic would peak and who should be prioritized for vaccination.
Last year, an outbreak of a novel strain of influenza linked to swine influenza was detected in Mexico. The infection has shown sustained human-to-human transmission across the world, leading the World Health Organization to declare an influenza pandemic. Vaccines specific for pandemic influenza have been successfully developed and the UK Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunization recommended that high-risk individuals be prioritized for vaccination.
Decisions about extending vaccination to low-risk individuals are heavily debated and depend partly on the epidemiological impact and cost-effectiveness of such options. Marc Baguelin, Albert Jan Van Hoek and colleagues from the Health Protection Agency and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine in the UK describe how they fit a mathematical model to the estimated number of cases in real-time to predict the effectiveness of alternative influenza vaccination strategies. Specifically, they show that, vaccination of high-risk groups was probably very cost effective. However, the cost-effectiveness of vaccinating children depended on the progress of the epidemic and may be cost-effective in countries where a flu pandemic is not so far advanced.
"Given the present debates in different European countries about the legitimacy of the different choices of vaccination our paper is very topical," said Baguelin, "further it reinforces and expands a recent article in The Lancet as it also suggests that many more people than first thought were infected in the summer wave of the swine flu pandemic."
Endoscopes and Lumened Instruments: New Studies Highlight Persistent Contamination Risks
May 7th 2025Two new studies reveal troubling contamination in both new endoscopes and cleaned lumened surgical instruments, challenging the reliability of current reprocessing practices and manufacturer guidelines.
Happy Hand Hygiene Day! Rethinking Glove Use for Safer, Cleaner, and More Ethical Health Care
May 5th 2025Despite their protective role, gloves are often misused in health care settings—undermining hand hygiene, risking patient safety, and worsening environmental impact. Alexandra Peters, PhD, points out that this misuse deserves urgent attention, especially today, World Hand Hygiene Day.