Active clinical trials for "Influenza, Human"

The purpose of this substudy study is to evaluate the types of cells involved in fighting infection to the A/H5N1 (avian flu virus) vaccine. A maximum of 30 healthy adults ages 18-64 years, enrolled at Stanford University Hospital and participating in another clinical trial (DMID Protocol 04-062) will be enrolled into this substudy to collect additional samples of blood for testing before and approximately one week after each vaccination.

This retrospective study conducted in Canada and the US involves a chart review to assess the safety of oseltamivir (Tamiflu®) compared to alternate antiviral therapy, amantidine or rimantidine, administered to children less than 12 months of age with diagnosed or suspected influenza. The objectives are to describe the frequency of neurological and all other adverse events possibly related to administration of these antivirals in these infants. Investigators will also compare frequency of adverse events at various doses of oseltamivir in these children. Critical endpoints to be collected include frequency and severity of adverse events, particularly those relating to central nervous system complications. A sub-investigator will travel to each of the participating sites to collect data related to each infant's health prior to becoming ill, health status at time of influenza diagnosis, dosing regimen, reported neurological events post-dosing, and all reported adverse events post-dosing.

The purpose of this study is to determine if hepatitis C virus and influenza virus vaccine components can cross the placenta and stimulate an immune response in the fetus.

The primary objective of this study is to evaluate the performance of the MSD® Influenza Test in detecting influenza A and influenza B in subjects presenting with influenza-like-illness (ILI).

The safety of parenterally administrated investigational vaccine (commercial influenza vaccine formulated with adjuvant Matrix M) in healthy adults (age 18-50) and healthy elderly (age 65-75), will be investigated in the study. Moreover, the study aims to study parameters associated with improved protection against clinical disease in elderly. Such parameters include HI-titres, a balanced Th1/Th2 response as well as a functional cellular immune response. Vaccination will start in 22 healthy adults receiving the investigational vaccine. Vaccination of elderly will be initiated only after demonstration of safety in adults. 88 healthy elderly volunteers will be vaccinated, 44 will receive the seasonal influenza vaccine alone and 44 will receive the investigational vaccine. Vaccines will be administrated intramuscularly in the upper arm. One dose will be administered to each volunteer included in the study. Blood samples for basic immunological assessments of cellular and humoral immunity will be taken at day 0, 7, 28, 90 and 150. The investigational vaccine is equal to one standard human dose of a commercial seasonal influenza vaccine to which 50 µg of adjuvant Matrix M has been added.

Influenza is an important cause of medical visits and worker absenteeism among healthy adults. Studies of healthcare providers vaccination programmes have reported a positive effect in lowering rates of influenza like illness and influenza related complication, hospitalisation and death. Nurses should receive influenza vaccination so that those patients who may come in contact with will not be infected by their nurses. However, the immunization rate among nurses is constantly low. Therefore, it is important to develop an intervention programmes to increase immunization of nurses. In some research on electronic text messaging in promoting public health showed potential of this communication system in preventive health behavioural change. With the use of this widely acceptable, accessible and convenient approach of communication, reminders of receiving influenza vaccination are sent to nurses involved in this study. At the same time, educational messages are sent to modify their perception on the positive effect of influenza vaccination, and therefore, motivate the nurses to receive the vaccination. The study will be conducted as a two-arm randomised controlled trial which the control and intervention groups will run concurrently. Nurses of a local hospital are invited to participate in this study. They will receive the usual announcement on the information of free influenza vaccination of the hospital. The participants of the intervention group will also receive text message reminders on details for free influenza vaccine and educational information. All communication occurred through secure, asynchronous electronic text messages. The reminders and educational information are developed with reference to promotion messages from the Department of Health under the framework of Health Belief Model so as to promote positive perception on influenza vaccination by the participants. Participants are invited to complete the pre and post questionnaires before and after the study period. The influenza vaccination status of the participants and their perception on influenza vaccination will be obtained. It is hypothesised that the participants receiving the reminders and educational information will more likely to receive influenza vaccine and perceived the influenza vaccination as important measure in protecting them from influenza. The participants of the intervention group will also receptive to electronic text messaging communication and education.

Ageing dramatically affects immune function; this phenomenon is known as immunosenescence and partly explains the increased susceptibility for infection in older individuals. Vaccination is recommended to protect older people against influenza, but immunosenescence also reduces the efficacy of vaccination. Probiotics are beneficial bacteria, which can be consumed and which have a long and safe record of use in humans. Often they are taken together with prebiotics, which are carbohydrates that provide a food source for the beneficial bacteria when they reach the lower gut. There is particular interest in the positive influences of pre- and probiotics in older people, who are subject to alteration in gut microflora composition as well as immunosenescence. The PRIMAGE (Probiotics, immunity and ageing) study will examine the effect of a prebiotic and probiotic mix on the immune response to influenza vaccination in young and older subjects, and is funded by BBSRC DRINC. It will involve 60 young (18-35y) and 60 older (65-85y) subjects recruited from the local Reading community. Participants will take a pre- and probiotic mixture or a placebo for a total of 8 weeks. The probiotic is not currently commercially produced, but has been demonstrated to have particular ecological fitness and anti-pathogenic effects in the gastrointestinal tract in old age. A suitable prebiotic will be selected on the basis of ability to promote optimal growth and survival of this probiotic. After 4 weeks on the treatment, the subjects will receive an influenza vaccination. Blood, saliva and stool samples will be taken before treatment, and at 4, 6 and 8 weeks after commencement. The samples taken at 6 and 8 weeks will be used to assess the immune response to the vaccination. A wide range of immune parameters will be assessed, taking into account the age-related shifts in immune cell populations.

Seasonal influenza (flu) is a significant and sometimes serious health issue in the U.S. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) estimates that over 200,000 people are hospitalized in the U.S each year related to the flu. Public health campaigns advocate widespread vaccination for the flu, and especially for high risk people. People with cancer are high risk, with an increased risk of developing complications from the flu, such as pneumonia, bronchitis, or worsening of other medical conditions. As part of their vaccination campaign, the CDC strongly encourages inpatients to be vaccinated prior to hospital discharge. Accordingly, Stony Brook Hospital has enacted a policy that mandates screening all hospital inpatients for vaccination prior to discharge. While physicians or patients can opt not to vaccinate, the default is to proceed. Surgical oncologists have several concerns about vaccinating their patients after major surgical procedures. Patients with cancer have impaired immunity, and the ability of our patients to mount an effective immune response to the vaccine is unclear. Conversely, due to their immunocompromised state, our patients may be more susceptible to complications from the vaccine, such as influenza-like-illness (ILI), or have higher rates of postoperative complications due to the additional immune challenge of the vaccine. Previous studies have evaluated the flu vaccine in patients receiving chemotherapy, or after organ transplantation, but the combination of cancer and major surgery remains unstudied. This is a collaborative study with Infectious Diseases and Microbiology to evaluate the response to the flu vaccine in patients with pancreatic or gastric cancer, soft tissue sarcoma or peritoneal surface disease (i.e. carcinomatosis from appendiceal or colon cancers). Patients will be randomly selected to receive the vaccine either 2 weeks preoperatively or postoperatively at the time of discharge. Serum antibody response, rates of ILI and post-op complications will be analyzed. The long term goal of this study is two-fold: to determine the optimal time to vaccinate this group of patients in relation to their surgery, and to improve compliance with vaccination.

This project may help to answer several fundamental questions related to public health regarding vaccination against influenza viruses and regarding the influenza A(H1N1)v pandemy: What is the immunologic efficacy in terms of antibodies response of the vaccination against the seasonal (2009-2010) influenza virus and against the A(H1N1)v virus in the clinical staff? Moreover, it may help to answer questions related to the use of a vaccine against influenza virus variants emerging in the French population: Before the vaccination: What is the status of the residual anti-H1N1 seasonal viruses immunity and of the anti-A(H1N1)v immunity in the population stratified by age and taking into account the multiplicity of the prior seasonal vaccinations? What is the level of the cellular and humoral cross-reactivity between the different H1N1 strains? After the vaccination: What is the intensity of the anti-vaccine immune response as a function of the age of the population ad of the prior seasonal vaccinations? What is the level of the cellular and humoral cross-reactivity after vaccination as a function of the age of the population and of the multiplicity of the prior seasonal vaccinations?

The goal of this study is to determine whether Fluviral, an inactivated, injectable trivalent influenza vaccine (flu shot) is effective in preventing respiratory illnesses that are severe enough to limit normal daily activities and that are shown by virus culture to be caused by influenza viruses. The study will also examine the safety of the vaccine and collect measurements of the immune system responses produced by the vaccine.