The MMWR weekly for July 2, 2010 / Vol. 59 / No. 25 includes:
– West Nile Virus Activity — United States, 2009

– Vaccinia Virus Infection After Sexual Contact with a Military Smallpox Vaccinee – — Washington, 2010

– Hepatitis A Vaccination Coverage Among U.S. Children Aged 12–23 Months — – Immunization Information System Sentinel Sites, 2006–2009

– Announcements: Immunization Update 2010 Webcast

http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/PDF/wk/mm5925.pdf

Clinical Infectious Diseases
1 August 2010   Volume 51, Number 3
http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/toc/cid/current

Invited Articles
Emerging Infections: The Two Faces of Hepatitis E Virus
Eyasu H. Teshale, Dale J. Hu, and Scott D. Holmberg

Abstract
Hepatitis E virus (HEV) has at least 2 distinct epidemiological profiles: (1) large outbreaks and epidemics in developing countries, usually caused by HEV genotype 1, resulting in high morbidity and mortality among pregnant women and young children, and (2) very few symptomatic cases of HEV genotype 3, most cases without symptoms or clear source(s) of infection, but frequent seroreactivity in 5%–21% of asymptomatic persons in developed countries. We urge more epidemiological studies and public health interventions, including the promotion and development of existing and future vaccine candidates and the availability of US Food and Drug Administration–approved serological assays for this underappreciated and poorly understood virus, a major cause of disease throughout the world.

Human Vaccines
Volume 6, Issue 7 July 2010
http://www.landesbioscience.com/journals/vaccines/toc/volume/6/issue/6/

Reviews
Performance of rotavirus vaccines in developed and developing countries
Victoria Jiang, Baoming Jiang, Jacqueline Tate, Umesh D. Parashar and Manish M. Patel

Abstract
The World Health Organization estimates that rotavirus diarrhea results in approximately half a million deaths and approximately 2.4 million hospitalizations in developing countries each year. Two live oral rotavirus vaccines, RotaTeq (RV5; Merck) and Rotarix (RV1; GlaxoSmithKline) with good efficacy against severe rotavirus disease and a reassuring safety profile could substantially impact the burden of rotavirus disease. In April 2009, WHO provided a recommendation for global introduction of these vaccines in national immunization programs of developing countries worldwide. In this article, we review published data on previous candidate rotavirus vaccines and vaccines in current use, with emphasis on their performance in developed versus developing countries. In developed countries, both first and second generation rotavirus vaccines have demonstrated high efficacy against severe rotavirus disease (pooled efficacy = 73% and 85%, respectively). In developing countries, small early trials for the first generation vaccines failed to provide protection against rotavirus disease (pooled efficacy = 20%), however, trials of the second generation vaccines yielded substantial improvements in efficacy in developing countries (pooled efficacy of 51%), leading to a global recommendation for rotavirus vaccine introduction by WHO. Future efforts for these vaccines should focus on optimizing the efficacy and delivery of these vaccines in challenging target populations of Asia and Africa with the greatest burden of severe rotavirus disease.

Human Vaccines
Volume 6, Issue 7 July 2010
http://www.landesbioscience.com/journals/vaccines/toc/volume/6/issue/6/

Commentaries

China’s emerging vaccine industry
Jan Hendriks, Yan Liang and Bing Zeng

Abstract
The Chinese vaccine industry is developing rapidly due to an emerging and large market for current and new vaccines, a large potential for local vaccine manufacturing both in the public and private domain, and a governmental orientation towards national vaccine self-sufficiency. There are currently over 40 companies and institutions manufacturing a large variety of traditional (EPI) and some new vaccines. The innovative development capacity of state vaccine institutions is stimulated by significant government investments. Various Chinese influenza manufacturers were in 2009 among the first worldwide to obtain national license for their pandemic H1N1 flu vaccines. It is of interest to note that private but also governmental entities are committed to raise manufacturing quality standards to reach WHO prequalification. It is expected that WHO prequalification for at least one product from a Chinese manufacturer will have been obtained by 2011. This will open the door to the global market for Chinese vaccines.