When to update COVID-19 vaccine composition
Vaccines against different SARS-CoV-2 variants have been approved, but continued surveillance is needed to determine when the antigen composition of vaccines should be updated, together with clinical studies to assess vaccine efficacy.
WHO Webinar Series on Trust and Pandemic Preparedness. The shifting landscape of trust: history, leadership & communities
The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted trust as an important determinant of successful pandemic response. The second webinar in the series examines historical trust infrastructures that build and maintain trust within communities.
News
Reports
Policy & Recommendations
The European public health response to the COVID-19 pandemic: Lessons for future cross-border health threats
The early lessons from the pandemic underlined that challenges to health systems and economies, including supply chain problems and vaccine hesitancy, could no longer be overcome by European Union Member States acting alone.
Respiratory Syncytial Virus Prefusion F Protein Vaccine in Older Adults
Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is an important cause of acute respiratory infection, lower respiratory tract disease, clinical complications, and death in older adults.
The Journey to RSV Vaccines — Heralding an Era of Structure-Based Design
After a 1960s RSV vaccine was found to enhance disease in previously unexposed infants, development was put on hold. But structure-based design has led to effective RSV vaccines that now await approval.
Evidence for an aquatic origin of influenza virus and the order Articulavirales
The emergence of novel disease-causing viruses in mammals is part of the long evolutionary history of viruses. Tracing these evolutionary histories contextualises virus spill over events and may help to elucidate how and why they occur.
Effectiveness of bivalent mRNA booster vaccination against SARS-CoV-2 Omicron infection, the Netherlands, September to December 2022
The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) Omicron variant has been dominant in Europe since January 2022, causing large waves of infections because of high transmissibility and escape from vaccine- and infection-induced immunity.
Epidemiological features and trends in the mortality rates of 10 notifiable respiratory infectious diseases in China from 2004 to 2020: Based on national surveillance
The aim of this study is to describe, visualize, and compare the trends and epidemiological features of the mortality rates of 10 notifiable respiratory infectious diseases in China from 2004 to 2020.
Influenza vaccination in patients affected by diabetes
The effects of vaccination appear to be more effective when using higher-dose and quadrivalent vaccines, although subgroup-specific separate analyses in patients with diabetes are lacking.
European Parliament sets up new Public Health subcommittee
The subcommittee will deal with programmes and specific actions in the field of public health, pharmaceutical and cosmetic products, health aspects of bioterrorism, the European Medicines Agency, and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control.
Defining the Burden of Disease of RSV in Europe: estimates of RSV-associated hospitalisations in children under 5 years of age. A systematic review and modelling study
RSV infections cause an estimated 22-50 million episodes of acute lower respiratory infections (ALRI) every year in children younger than 5 years.
International Day of Women and Girls in Science: EU had almost 7 million female scientists in 2021
In 2021, there were 6.9 million female scientists and engineers in the EU, 369 800 more than in 2020, accounting for 41% of total employment in science and engineering.
