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Despite its benign characteristics, chickenpox is a childhood disease responsible for complications and deaths, particularly in the high-risk population. VariZIG ® , not commercialized in France, is a good alternative for seronegative individuals exposed to the virus and not eligible for vaccination. The efficacy of routine vaccination has been demonstrated with a decrease in chickenpox incidence and with the development of herd immunity. Over time, the protective antibody titer of vaccinated people decreases and can be maintained by two doses of the vaccine. A tetravalent measles-mumps-rubella-chickenpox vaccine, used in the United States, has a good tolerability in spite of the occurrence of fever and febrile seizures. Routine vaccination would contribute to make savings in France, by reducing direct and indirect costs of chickenpox., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.)

Infectious bronchitis (IB) control has a strong impact on poultry farming, because of the necessary epidemiological knowledge for planning the best strategy, the optimal strain association, the priming and boosting interventions. Broiler farming is even more problematic given the short and intense productive cycle, which requires an early onset of protection against most of the infectious threats, possibly with limited respiratory post-vaccination reactions that would have a direct impact on the bird health and productivity. For this purpose, gel vaccination has been proposed as a new approach for infectious bronchitis virus (IBV) control and vaccine intake, kinetics and compatibility of combined strains administered by gel have been analyzed in this study. After gel vaccination with single and combined 1/96 and B-48 strains on 4 groups of commercial broilers, a 21-d-long experimental trial has been conducted to monitor the vaccine safety by clinical assessment and vaccine kinetics by strain-specific real-time RT-PCR on choanal cleft swabs. The vaccine strains administered by gel were safe and negligible respiratory signs were detected, even when combined. Vaccine titers were compared among groups and within the same group among a 10-bird pooled sample and 10 swabs from individually sampled birds. 1/96 strain early reached high titers in all animals, while B-48 presence was less constant even though it was detected in almost all birds before the trial end. The individual and pooled sample comparison revealed a partial overestimation of vaccine titers in the pooled samples and the loss of the prevalence data, although the trend portrayed by the pooled swabs closely followed the individual ones.

Despite the potential for protection against a broad spectrum of pathogens, the availability of an increased number of effective vaccines could lead to a significant reduction in vaccination coverage as the result of issues with implementation of new vaccines within existing protocols. To overcome these problems, the development of combined vaccines has been promoted. The use of combined vaccines offers a number of potential benefits, including a reduction in the number of patient visits, reduced complications associated with multiple intramuscular injections, decreased costs of stocking and administering separate vaccines, and a lowering of the risk of delayed or missed vaccinations. The hexavalent vaccine includes antigens against diphtheria, tetanus, acellular pertussis (DTaP), hepatitis B (HBsAg), poliomyelitis (P1, P2, P3) and Haemophilus influenzae type B (Hib) infections. The primary goal of this review is to discuss the immunogenicity, efficacy, safety and tolerability of several hexavalent preparations that are either commercially available or still under development., (© 2013 The Authors Clinical Microbiology and Infection © 2013 European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases.)

Background: Varicella is often considered to be a benign disease of childhood. In fact, varicella is associated with serious complications and mortality even among healthy individuals., Discussion: Although the course of varicella can be uncomplicated, it can also be associated with serious complications such as pneumonia, fluid and electrolyte disturbances, skin and soft tissue infections and central nervous system disturbances. Worldwide studies have confirmed the high frequency of disease as well as the resultant morbidity, mortality and medical resource use. A quadrivalent vaccine is now available in certain countries to protect against measles, mumps, rubella and varicella (MMRV). Countries that have initiated routine vaccination pro- grams have reported substantial reductions in morbidity and mortality as well as improved health outcomes. The MMRV vaccine facilitates coverage against all four diseases, and would be expected to improve compliance as well as coverage of varicella., Conclusions: Universal vaccination programs with MMRV should be considered as a way to reduce the medical and economic impact of varicella. The MMRV vaccine provides a means to achieve universal coverage.

Background: Measles-mumps-rubella immunization rates among young children depend on the awareness and responsibility of parents and physicians. In order to improve immunization programmes, it is important to enhance our knowledge about attitudes of physicians in regard to MMR immunization. A random sample of 1013 general practitioners was interviewed by telephone in December 1994, with the collaboration of the BVA Institute. The large majority of French physicians (86%) have a favourable opinion about MMR immunization that they systematically propose to each child aged 12-24 months. However, barriers remain among some physicans. Favourable opinion about MMR immunization to infants was less frequent among physicians aged 41-50 years, homeopaths, those practicing in Southern France, those asking for higher payment to patients, those who are treating a small proportion of patients receiving public medical aid, those not convinced about the role of physicians in health education, those who experienced side-effects of immunization and those who are not personnally immunized against hepatitis B. Eradication of measles, mumps and rubella in France will be only achieved through a stronger and well-argumented information of physicians supported by health professional organizations.