Development of an intranasal, universal influenza vaccine in an EU-funded public-private partnership: the FLUniversal consortium.

Influenza is a significant global health problem, causing disease and hospitalisations in elderly individuals and infants. While updated vaccines are available every year, their effectiveness is moderate at best. FLUniversal is a European Union funded consortium, aiming to develop a universal influenza vaccine by bringing together partners with expertise in different areas of vaccine development.

A Retrospective Test-Negative Case-Control Study to Evaluate Influenza Vaccine Effectiveness in Preventing Influenza Among Immunocompromised Adults With a Solid Organ Transplant.

Vaccination may prevent influenza in solid organ transplant (SOT) recipients. This study evaluates the influenza vaccine effectiveness (VE) in this high-risk population in the Netherlands. We also compared disease progression and 30-day mortality between vaccinated and unvaccinated influenza patients.

Using Laboratory Test Results for Surveillance During a New Outbreak of Acute Hepatitis in 3-Week- to 5-Year-Old Children in the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Ireland, and Curaçao: Observational Cohort Study.

Background: In March 2022, a concerning rise in cases of unexplained pediatric hepatitis was reported in multiple countries. Cases were defined as acute hepatitis with serum transaminases >500 U/L (aspartate transaminase [AST] or alanine transaminase [ALT]) in children aged 16 years or younger. We explored a simple federated data analytics method to search for evidence of unreported cases using routinely held data.

Use of proxy indicators for automated surveillance of severe acute respiratory infection, the Netherlands, 2017 to 2023: a proof-of-concept study.

BackgroundEffective pandemic preparedness requires robust severe acute respiratory infection (SARI) surveillance. However, identifying SARI patients based on symptoms is time-consuming. Using the number of reverse transcription (RT)-PCR tests or contact and droplet precaution labels as a proxy for SARI could accurately reflect the epidemiology of patients presenting with SARI.

Patients' Perspectives and Feasibility of Home Monitoring in Acute Care: The AcuteCare@Home Flash Mob Study.

To determine patients' perspectives on home monitoring at emergency department (ED) presentation and shortly after admission and compare these with their physicians' perspectives. Forty Dutch hospitals participated in this prospective flash mob study. Adult patients with acute medical conditions, treated by internal medicine specialties, presenting at the ED or admitted at the admission ward within the previous 24 h were included.

Clinical Subphenotypes of Staphylococcus aureus Bacteremia.

Background: Staphylococcus aureus bacteremia (SAB) is a clinically heterogeneous disease. The ability to identify subgroups of patients with shared traits (subphenotypes) is an unmet need to allow patient stratification for clinical management and research. We aimed to test the hypothesis that clinically relevant subphenotypes can be reproducibly identified among patients with SAB.

A Targeted LC-MRM Proteomic Approach for the Diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 Infection in Nasopharyngeal Swabs.

Since its first appearance, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 quickly spread around the world and the lack of adequate PCR testing capacities, especially during the early pandemic, led the scientific community to explore new approaches such as mass spectrometry (MS). We developed a proteomics workflow to target several tryptic peptides of the nucleocapsid protein. A highly selective multiple reaction monitoring-cubed (MRM) strategy provided a sensitivity increase in comparison to conventional MRM acquisition.

Evaluation of pragmatic oxygenation measurement as a proxy for Covid-19 severity.

Choosing optimal outcome measures maximizes statistical power, accelerates discovery and improves reliability in early-phase trials. We devised and evaluated a modification to a pragmatic measure of oxygenation function, the [Formula: see text] ratio. Because of the ceiling effect in oxyhaemoglobin saturation, [Formula: see text] ratio ceases to reflect pulmonary oxygenation function at high [Formula: see text] values.

[Influenza vaccination as secondary prevention for cardiovascular disease].

Influenza infection increases the risk of cardiovascular complications and mortality in patients with heart disease. In patients with coronary artery disease influenza vaccination has been shown to reduce cardiovascular mortality, but high-quality evidence was missing. New trial data from a RCT in patients shortly after myocardial infarction has confirmed the significant reduction of the risk of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) and cardiovascular death after influenza vaccination.

[Prehospital triage of undifferentiated syndromes in the ambulance].

Increasing complexity due to an ageing population, a shortage of healthcare professionals and the rising costs are major concerns for the acute care in the coming years. Innovative triage methods in the ambulance could improve appropriate care for patients with subacute undifferentiated syndromes. A proportion of these patients should not be transferred to an emergency department.

Influenza Season and Outcome After Elective Cardiac Surgery: An Observational Cohort Study.

Background: An asymptomatic respiratory viral infection during cardiac surgery could lead to pulmonary complications and increased mortality. For elective surgery, testing for respiratory viral infection before surgery or vaccination could reduce the number of these pulmonary complications. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between influenzalike illness (ILI) seasons and prolonged mechanical ventilation and inhospital mortality in a Dutch cohort of adult elective cardiac surgery patients.

A comparison of the effectiveness of different doses of tocilizumab and sarilumab in the treatment of severe COVID-19: a natural experiment due to drug shortages.

Objectives: Interleukin (IL)-6 inhibitors are administered to treat patients hospitalized with COVID-19. In 2021, due to shortages, different dosing regimens of tocilizumab, and a switch to sarilumab, were consecutively implemented. Using real-world data, we compare the effectiveness of these IL-6 inhibitors.

Viral clearance, pharmacokinetics and tolerability of ensovibep in patients with mild to moderate COVID-19: A phase 2a, open-label, single-dose escalation study.

Aim: To assess viral clearance, pharmacokinetics, tolerability and symptom evolution following ensovibep administration in symptomatic COVID-19 outpatients.

Methods: In this open-label, first-in-patient study a single dose of either 225 mg (n = 6) or 600 mg (n = 6) of ensovibep was administered intravenously in outpatients with mild-to-moderate COVID-19 symptoms. Pharmacokinetic profiles were determined (90-day period).

COVID-box Experiences of Patients and Health Care Professionals (COVID-box Project): Single-Center, Retrospective, Observational Study.

Background: During the COVID-19 pandemic, several home monitoring programs have described the success of reducing hospital admissions, but only a few studies have investigated the experiences of patients and health care professionals.

Objective: The objective of our study was to determine patients' and health care professionals' experiences and satisfaction with employing the COVID-box.

Methods: In this single-center, retrospective, observational study, patients and health care professionals were asked to anonymously fill out multiple-choice questionnaires with questions on a 5-point or 10-point Likert scale.

Home monitoring reduced short stay admissions in suspected COVID-19 patients: COVID-box project.

https://bit.ly/39vvngH

Effectiveness of oseltamivir in reduction of complications and 30-day mortality in severe seasonal influenza infection.

Objectives: The benefit of oseltamivir treatment in patients admitted with influenza virus infection and the design of studies addressing this issue have been questioned extensively. As the burden of influenza disease is substantial and oseltamivir treatment is biologically plausible, this study assessed the clinical benefit of oseltamivir treatment in adult patients admitted with severe seasonal influenza virus infection in daily practice.

Patients And Methods: A multi-centre, retrospective cohort study was conducted to compare the effectiveness of treatment with and without oseltamivir <48 h after admission in patients admitted with laboratory-confirmed influenza virus infection in three large hospitals in the Netherlands.

Incidence and costs of hospitalized adult influenza patients in The Netherlands: a retrospective observational study.

Objective: Influenza virus infections cause a high disease and economic burden during seasonal epidemics. However, there is still a need for reliable disease burden estimates to provide a more detailed picture of the impact of influenza. Therefore, the objectives of this study is to estimate the incidence of hospitalisation for influenza virus infection and associated hospitalisation costs in adult patients in the Netherlands during two consecutive influenza seasons.

Expression and production of the SERPING1-encoded endogenous complement regulator C1-inhibitor in multiple cohorts of tuberculosis patients.

Background: To facilitate better discrimination between patients with active tuberculosis (TB) and latent TB infection (LTBI), whole blood transcriptomic studies have been performed to identify novel candidate host biomarkers. SERPING1, which encodes C1-inhibitor (C1-INH), the natural inhibitor of the C1-complex has emerged as candidate biomarker. Here we collated and analysed SERPING1 expression data and subsequently determined C1-INH protein levels in four cohorts of patients with TB.

Clinical factors, C-reactive protein point of care test and chest X-ray in patients with pneumonia: A survey in primary care.

In patients with an acute lower respiratory tract infection (LRTI), general practitioners (GPs) often find it challenging to decide to prescribe antibiotics or not. C-reactive protein (CRP) point of care test (POCT), and chest X-ray are diagnostic tests that can optimize the treatment decision. However, their usefulness in clinical practice is unknown.

Repetitive urinary tract infections and two prostatic masses: Prostatic soft tissue infection with Actinomyces neuii.

Actinomyces infection is a tissue destructive, low-grade infection that often resembles malignancy. We report the case of a 70-year-old male with repeated, culture-negative urinary tract infections while intermittently catheterized. At presentation, the patient reported a new episode of urinary tract infection with white discharge in his urine.

Non-lytic antibiotic treatment in community-acquired pneumococcal pneumonia does not attenuate inflammation: the PRISTINE trial.

Background: The inflammatory response in pneumococcal infection is primarily driven by immunoreactive bacterial cell wall components [lipoteichoic acid (LTA)]. An acute release of these components occurs when pneumococcal infection is treated with β-lactam antibiotics.

Objectives: We hypothesized that non-lytic rifampicin compared with lytic β-lactam antibiotic treatment would attenuate the inflammatory response in patients with pneumococcal pneumonia.

Complement Component C1q as Serum Biomarker to Detect Active Tuberculosis.

Tuberculosis (TB) remains a major threat to global health. Currently, diagnosis of active TB is hampered by the lack of specific biomarkers that discriminate active TB disease from other (lung) diseases or latent TB infection (LTBI). Integrated human gene expression results have shown that genes encoding complement components, in particular different C1q chains, were expressed at higher levels in active TB compared to LTBI.