The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is funding a network of U.S. institutions to collect vaccination information and provide accurate estimates of annual influenza vaccine effectiveness.
Participating institutions will coordinate enrollment of patients with acute respiratory illness, confirm influenza infection using a standardized reverse-transcription PCR (RT-PCR) assay, and estimate vaccine effectiveness.
Each year in the United States, influenza viruses infect up to 20% of the population and cause hundreds of thousands to millions of medically-attended illnesses and thousands of hospitalizations and deaths.
Because influenza viruses are constantly changing and vaccines are reformulated every year, annual estimates of the effectiveness of influenza vaccines in preventing influenza infection and its associated complications are needed in order to evaluate the protection provided by annual, nationwide vaccination programs.
Interim vaccine estimates during the influenza season and end-of-season estimates will be used to inform vaccine recommendations and assess public health impact of influenza vaccination programs to prevent influenza-related illness and medical visits among persons of all ages.
This network will additionally serve as an emergency response resource to assess vaccine efficacy in the event of an influenza pandemic.
The project period will run from July 2016-2021. Estimated total funding for the five-year project period is $30,000,000. Further details are available via RFA-IP-16-002.
