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GERMS
Volume 14
Issue 3
10.18683/germs.2024.1441
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GERMS is published by MDPI from Volume 25 Issue 4 (2025). Previous articles were published by another publisher in Open Access under a CC-BY (or CC-BY-NC-ND) licence, and they are hosted by MDPI on mdpi.com as a courtesy and upon agreement with the former publisher Infection Science Forum S.R.L..
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Communication

Synthesizing and Assessing Influenza Vaccine Evidence: Strengths and Limitations of the Recent ECDC Report on the Effectiveness of New and Enhanced Influenza Vaccines. Communication on: The “European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control. Systematic Review Update on the Efficacy, Effectiveness and Safety of Newer and Enhanced Seasonal Influenza Vaccines for the Prevention of Laboratory Confirmed Influenza in Individuals Aged 18 Years and Over. Stockholm: ECDC; 2024”

by
George Kassianos
1,*,
Rok Civljak
2,3,
Gerrit Adrianus van Essen
4,
Oana Falup Pecurariu
5,
Filipe Froes
6,
Andrey Galev
7,
Kadri Kõivumägi
8,
Zuzana Kristufkova
9,
Ernest Kuchar
10,
Jan Kyncl
11,12,
Helena C. Maltezou
13,
Miloš Marković
14,
Anne Mosnier
15,
Raúl Ortiz de Lejarazu Y Leonardo
16,
Alessandro Rossi
17 and
Jörg Schelling
18
1
Family Physician, 61 Plough Lane, Wokingham RG40 1RQ, England, UK
2
Department for Infectious Diseases, University of Zagreb School of Medicine, Zagreb, Croatia
3
Department for Acute Respiratory Infections, Dr. Fran Mihaljevic University Hospital for Infectious Diseases, Zagreb, Mirogojska 8, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia
4
Chair of the Dutch Influenza Foundation, Paladijnenweg 30, 3813 DJ Amersfoort, The Netherlands
5
Children's Clinical Hospital, Faculty of Medicine, Transilvania University, 56 Nicolae Bălcescu Street, Brașov, Romania
6
Chest Department, Hospital Pulido Valente, CHULN/ULSSM, Alameda das Linhas Torres 117, 1769-001 Lisbon, Portugal
7
Military Medical Academy, Str G. Sofiiski 3, Bulgaria
8
University of Tartu, Institute of Clinical Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, L. Puusepa 8, 50406 Tartu, Estonia
9
Department of Epidemiology, Faculty of Public Health, Slovak Medical University, Limbová str. 14, 833 03 Bratislava, Slovakia
10
Department of Pediatrics with Clinical Assessment Unit, Medical University of Warsaw, Zwirki i Wigury 63A, 02-091 Warszawa, Poland
11
Department of Infectious Diseases Epidemiology, National Institute of Public Health, Srobarova 48, 100 00 Prague 10, Prague, Czech Republic
12
Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Third Faculty of Medicine, Charles University, Ruska 87, 100 00 Prague 10, Prague, Czech Republic
13
National Public Health Organization, 3-5 Agrafon Street, Marousi, Athens, 15123, Greece
14
Institute of Microbiology and Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Belgrade, Dr Subotica 1, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia
15
Open Rome, 57 rue d’Amsterdam, 75008 Paris, France
16
Hospital Clínico Universitario and University of Valladolid, C/ Rondilla Sta. Teresa s/n, 47010 Valladoild, Spain
17
University of Perugia, Italian College of General Practitioner and Primary Care, Piazzale Settimio Gambuli, 1, 06129 Perugia, Italy
18
General Practitioner, Röntgenstr. 2, 82152 Martinsried, Germany
 
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Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
GERMS 2024, 14(3), 301-305; https://doi.org/10.18683/germs.2024.1441
Submission received: 23 August 2024 / Revised: 28 September 2024 / Accepted: 29 September 2024 / Published: 30 September 2024
Versions Notes

Abstract

High quality research is critical for evidence-based decision making in public health and fundamental to maintain progress and trust in immunization programs in Europe. In 2024 the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) conducted an update of the 2020 systematic review to capture more recent evidence on of the efficacy, effectiveness of influenza vaccines in individuals aged 18 years and older in the prevention of laboratory-confirmed influenza. While this report was highly anticipated due to the strength of the protocol and processes put in place, during our assessment, we expressed two chief concerns. We are concerned by the grading of the evidence certainty applied and being unable to reproduce some data extracted in the report from the primary sources. While the systematic review benefited of strong methods and processes, the execution of the research protocol warrants revision due to the issues discussed. We encourage the ECDC to work towards an updated review within a reasonable time frame to avoid misinterpretation by decision-making bodies across Europe.
Keywords: influenza; vaccines; effectiveness; laboratory-confirmed influenza; influenza hospitalization influenza; vaccines; effectiveness; laboratory-confirmed influenza; influenza hospitalization

Share and Cite

MDPI and ACS Style

Kassianos, G.; Civljak, R.; van Essen, G.A.; Pecurariu, O.F.; Froes, F.; Galev, A.; Kõivumägi, K.; Kristufkova, Z.; Kuchar, E.; Kyncl, J.; et al. Synthesizing and Assessing Influenza Vaccine Evidence: Strengths and Limitations of the Recent ECDC Report on the Effectiveness of New and Enhanced Influenza Vaccines. Communication on: The “European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control. Systematic Review Update on the Efficacy, Effectiveness and Safety of Newer and Enhanced Seasonal Influenza Vaccines for the Prevention of Laboratory Confirmed Influenza in Individuals Aged 18 Years and Over. Stockholm: ECDC; 2024”. GERMS 2024, 14, 301-305. https://doi.org/10.18683/germs.2024.1441

AMA Style

Kassianos G, Civljak R, van Essen GA, Pecurariu OF, Froes F, Galev A, Kõivumägi K, Kristufkova Z, Kuchar E, Kyncl J, et al. Synthesizing and Assessing Influenza Vaccine Evidence: Strengths and Limitations of the Recent ECDC Report on the Effectiveness of New and Enhanced Influenza Vaccines. Communication on: The “European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control. Systematic Review Update on the Efficacy, Effectiveness and Safety of Newer and Enhanced Seasonal Influenza Vaccines for the Prevention of Laboratory Confirmed Influenza in Individuals Aged 18 Years and Over. Stockholm: ECDC; 2024”. GERMS. 2024; 14(3):301-305. https://doi.org/10.18683/germs.2024.1441

Chicago/Turabian Style

Kassianos, George, Rok Civljak, Gerrit Adrianus van Essen, Oana Falup Pecurariu, Filipe Froes, Andrey Galev, Kadri Kõivumägi, Zuzana Kristufkova, Ernest Kuchar, Jan Kyncl, and et al. 2024. "Synthesizing and Assessing Influenza Vaccine Evidence: Strengths and Limitations of the Recent ECDC Report on the Effectiveness of New and Enhanced Influenza Vaccines. Communication on: The “European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control. Systematic Review Update on the Efficacy, Effectiveness and Safety of Newer and Enhanced Seasonal Influenza Vaccines for the Prevention of Laboratory Confirmed Influenza in Individuals Aged 18 Years and Over. Stockholm: ECDC; 2024”" GERMS 14, no. 3: 301-305. https://doi.org/10.18683/germs.2024.1441

APA Style

Kassianos, G., Civljak, R., van Essen, G. A., Pecurariu, O. F., Froes, F., Galev, A., Kõivumägi, K., Kristufkova, Z., Kuchar, E., Kyncl, J., Maltezou, H. C., Marković, M., Mosnier, A., Leonardo, R. O. d. L. Y., Rossi, A., & Schelling, J. (2024). Synthesizing and Assessing Influenza Vaccine Evidence: Strengths and Limitations of the Recent ECDC Report on the Effectiveness of New and Enhanced Influenza Vaccines. Communication on: The “European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control. Systematic Review Update on the Efficacy, Effectiveness and Safety of Newer and Enhanced Seasonal Influenza Vaccines for the Prevention of Laboratory Confirmed Influenza in Individuals Aged 18 Years and Over. Stockholm: ECDC; 2024”. GERMS, 14(3), 301-305. https://doi.org/10.18683/germs.2024.1441

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