Vaccine
Volume 32, Issue 49, Pages 6591-6724 (20 November 2014)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/0264410X/32/49

Conference report
International meeting on influenza vaccine effectiveness, 3–4 December 2012, Geneva, Switzerland
Pages 6591-6595
Kathryn E. Lafond, John S. Tam, Joseph S. Bresee, Marc-Alain Widdowson
Abstract
On December 3–4 2012, the World Health Organization convened a meeting of influenza vaccine effectiveness (VE) experts from over 25 countries in Geneva, Switzerland, to review recent developments in the global influenza vaccine landscape and evaluate approaches to determining the effectiveness of influenza vaccine products among target populations. Vaccine manufacturers from Thailand, Vietnam, India, and Brazil shared recent advances illustrating the expansion of influenza vaccine production worldwide. Randomized controlled trials are underway in several low and middle-income countries including India, Thailand, Bangladesh, and South Africa, to fill knowledge gaps in target populations such as children and pregnant women. National and international networks in the United States, Canada, Europe, Latin America and Australia are conducting multi-site observational studies with shared methodologies to generate national influenza VE estimates and pool data for regional estimates. Standardized VE estimation methods are key to generating point estimates that are comparable internationally and across different settings.

Review
Vaccine administration in children with chronic kidney disease
Review Article
Pages 6601-6606
Susanna Esposito, Maria Vincenza Mastrolia, Elisabetta Prada, Carlo Pietrasanta, Nicola Principi
Highlights
:: Children with chronic kidney disease are at a higher risk for infectious disease morbidities.
:: Innate and acquired immune systems are damaged in children with chronic kidney disease.
:: Children with chronic kidney disease should complete immunization schedules.
:: Vaccination coverage in children with chronic kidney disease is lower than desired.
:: Close contacts of children with chronic kidney disease should complete age-appropriate vaccination schedules.

The budget impact of controlling wastage with smaller vials: A data driven model of session sizes in Bangladesh, India (Uttar Pradesh), Mozambique, and Uganda
Original Research Article
Pages 6643-6648
Wanfei Yang, Monika Parisi, Betsy J. Lahue, Md. Jasim Uddin, David Bishai
Highlights
:: This model was the first to generate data-driven wastage rates as an output.
:: Scenarios were modeled based on arrival distributions derived from field data.
:: Vaccine wastage is estimated for IPV in Bangladesh, India, Mozambique, and Uganda.
:: Switching to smaller vials can reduce wastage, but it does not guarantee lower costs.
:: Our model can be adapted to different vaccines prices and dose schedules.

Mapping vaccine hesitancy—Country-specific characteristics of a global phenomenon
Original Research Article
Pages 6649-6654
Eve Dubé, Dominique Gagnon, Emily Nickels, Stanley Jeram, Melanie Schuster
Abstract
The term vaccine hesitancy refers to delay in acceptance or refusal of vaccines despite the availability of vaccination services. Different factors influence vaccine hesitancy and these are context-specific, varying across time and place and with different vaccines. Factors such as complacency, convenience and confidence are involved. Acceptance of vaccines may be decreasing and several explanations for this trend have been proposed. The WHO Strategic Advisory Group of Experts (SAGE) on Immunization has recognized the global importance of vaccine hesitancy and recommended an interview study with immunization managers (IMs) to better understand the range of vaccine hesitancy determinants that are encountered in different settings. Interviews with IMs in 13 selected countries were conducted between September and December 2013 and various factors that discourage vaccine acceptance were identified. Vaccine hesitancy was not defined consistently by the IMs and most interpreted the term as meaning vaccine refusal. Although vaccine hesitancy existed in all 13 countries, some IMs considered its impact on immunization programmes to be a minor problem. The causes of vaccine hesitancy varied in the different countries and were context-specific, indicating a need to strengthen the capacity of national programmes to identify the locally relevant causal factors and to develop adapted strategies to address them.