2^nd International conference on Flu November 01-02, 2016 San Francisco, California, USA

Flu Vaccine is an annual vaccination using a vaccine that is specific for a given year to protect against the highly variable influenza virus. Risk management and effectiveness of vaccines are important for public health. In the United States, NIAID laboratories are developing novel vaccine candidates for seasonal influenza viruses and for avian strains with pandemic potential. In late 2006, the NIAID Vaccine Research Center initiated the first human trial of an investigational DNA vaccine against the H5N1 avian influenza virus, a strain that has infected and continues to threaten humans. In addition, researchers in the NIAID Laboratory of Infectious Diseases are working with MedImmune to generate candidate live-attenuated vaccines for a broad range of influenza subtypes with pandemic potential. To date, five of these vaccine candidates have advanced to Phase I clinical trials. Many Ebola vaccine candidates had been developed in the decade prior to 2014, but none has yet been approved for clinical use in humans.

Influenza viruses are significant human respiratory pathogens that cause both seasonal, endemic infections and periodic, unpredictable pandemics. The pathologic changes described in the 1918 influenza pandemic is not significantly different from the histopathology observed in other less lethal pandemics or even in deaths occurring during seasonal influenza outbreaks. People with chronic pulmonary or cardiac disease, or diabetes mellitus, are at high risk of developing severe complications from influenza A viruses, which may include hemorrhagic bronchitis, pneumonia (primary viral or secondary bacterial), and death. Pathophysiology of influenza infection virus is transmitted through infected respiratory droplets that are aerosolised by coughing, sneezing, or talking. In influenza significant life-threatening pathological conditions that could be considered the cause of death included diffuse alveolar damage, extensive secondary pneumonia, extensive intraalveolar hemorrhage, viral pneumonitis, myocarditis and meningoencephalitis.

Three types of flu viruses: A, B, and C are present. Type A and B cause the annual influenza epidemics that have up to 20% of the population sniffling, aching, coughing, and running high fevers. Type C also causes flu; however, type C flu symptoms are much less severe. The flu is linked to between 3,000 and 49,000 deaths and 200,000 hospitalizations each year in the United States. The seasonal flu vaccine was created to try to avert these epidemics. Ebola share some common symptoms, such as fever, headache, fatigue and aches and pains. But there are big differences, too. Influenza causes cough, sore throat and runny nose, while Ebola does not. Ebola leads to vomiting and diarrhea within three to six days, severe weakness and stomach pain, as well as unexplained bleeding and bruising. There is lots of difference between flu and flu like illness. Influenza-like illness (ILI), also known as acute respiratory infection and flu-like syndrome/symptoms, is a medical diagnosis of possible influenza or other illness causing a set of common symptoms. The causes of influenza-like illness range from benign self-limited illnesses such as gastroenteritis, rhinoviral disease, and influenza, to severe, sometimes life-threatening, diseases such as meningitis, sepsis, and leukemia.

Over the recent years, the Influenza Vaccine market has witnessed double digit growth rate due to fear of an impending pandemic. The Influenza Vaccine market has grown at a CAGR of approximately 65% between 2008 and 2010 due to the havoc caused by H1N1 virus. However, H1N1 vaccine demand will decline due to waning threat of swine flu epidemic. The Influenza Vaccine market is expected to cross USD 4 billion in 2015. Among all the geographical regions, U.S. was the largest Influenza Vaccine market in the year 2010 closely followed by China. Top six players of influenza vaccine manufacturers occupy more than 75% of the total influenza vaccine market. Seasonal influenza vaccine brands like Fluarix & Flulaval were one of the leading players in the market in 2010. Other key players in this market include GlaxoSmithKline, Novartis, CSL, MedImmune, Sanofi-Pasteur, Solvay, Sinovac Biotech and Hualun Biologicals. Incase of Pediatric flu vaccine Starting in 2014-2015, CDC recommends use of the nasal spray vaccine (LAIV) for healthy children 2 through 8 years of age, when it is immediately available and if the child has no contraindications or precautions to that vaccine. Recent studies suggest that the nasal spray flu vaccine may work better than the flu shot in younger children.

Antiviral drugs are prescription medicines (pills, liquid, an inhaled powder, or an intravenous solution) that fight against the flu in your body. Antiviral drugs are different from antibiotics, which fight against bacterial infections. Studies show that flu antiviral drugs work best for treatment when they are started within 2 days of getting sick. There are three FDA-approved influenza antiviral drugs recommended by CDC this season to treat influenza. The brand names for these are Tamiflu® (generic name oseltamivir), Relenza® (generic name zanamivir), and Rapivab® (generic name peramivir). Tamiflu® is available as a pill or liquid and Relenza® is a powder that is inhaled. (Relenza® is not for people with breathing problems like asthma or COPD, for example.) Rapivab® is administered intravenously by a health care provider. Viral vectors and viral vaccines more and more play an important role in current medical approaches. Higher safety demands, that is, reduction of side effects, by regulatory authorities like Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and European Agency for the Evaluation of Medicinal Products (EMEA), nowadays force developers as well as manufacturers to improve their production and purification processes for viral vectors and vaccines. For influenza viral vaccines, manufacturers begin to switch from egg cultivation to mammalian cell culture systems.

These days success and challenges of vaccines on infants, children, pregnant women and elderly patient is major concern for influenza research. Evidence-based guidelines for immunization of infants, children, adolescents, and adults have been prepared by an Expert Panel of the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA). These guidelines are prepared for health care professionals who care for either immunocompetent or immunocompromised people of all ages. Vaccine innovation and human health researchers try to determine how well flu vaccines work to regularly assess and confirm the value of flu vaccination as a public health intervention in each season. Study results about how well a flu vaccine works can vary based on study design, outcome(s) measured, population studied and the season in which the flu vaccine was studied. These differences can make it difficult to compare one study’s results with another’s. rough the support of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and NIAID, researchers are developing various influenza vaccine delivery technologies that will help the United States and the world be better prepared to mount a speedy response to the next pandemic

Influenza outbreaks and epidemics pose ongoing risks to global human public health. Recently, human infections with A/H5N1 avian influenza viruses have heightened the potential for the emergence of an influenza A virus with pandemic potential. Laboratory identification of human influenza virus infections is commonly performed using direct antigen detection, virus isolation in cell culture, or detection of influenza-specific RNA by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). In recent years commercial influenza rapid diagnostic tests have become available. These are mostly antigen detection tests, which can produce results within 30 minutes. They can provide results in a clinically relevant time frame to complement the use of antiviral medications for treatment and chemoprophylaxis of influenza. Their wide availability has resulted in their increasing application to clinical situations, which may be inappropriate or where scientific data are lacking.

Immune responses to viral infections involve a complex orchestration between innate signals and adaptive responses of specific T and B cells. Advances in T-Cell Therapies and several antiviral compounds have been developed against influenza virus to interfere with specific events in the replication cycle. Among them, the inhibitors of viral uncoating (amantadine), nucleoside inhibitors (ribavirin), viral transcription and neuraminidase inhibitors (zanamivir and oseltamivir) are reported as examples of traditional virus-based antiviral strategies. Thus, the discovery of novel anti-influenza drugs that target general cell signaling pathways essential for viral replication, irrespective to the specific origin of the virus, would decrease the emergence of drug resistance and increase the effectiveness towards different strains of influenza virus. The genome of an influenza virus particle is encased in a capsid that consists of protein. The influenza A capsid contains the antigenic glycoproteins hemagglutinin (HA) and neuraminidase (NA). For genetic analysis Genome sequencing is used which is the process that determines the order, or sequence, of the nucleotides in each of the genes present in the virus’s genome. There are Next Generation Sequencing and Sanger reaction available methods for genome sequencing. Influenza viruses undergo continual antigenic variation, which requires the annual reformulation of trivalent influenza vaccines, making influenza unique among pathogens for which vaccines have been developed. Reverse genetics techniques are also proving to be important for the development of pandemic influenza vaccines, because the technology provides a means to modify genes to remove virulence determinants found in highly pathogenic avian strains.

Avian influenza, listed by the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE), has become a disease of great importance for animal and human health.Millions of animals have died, and concern is growing over the loss of human lives and management of the pandemic potential. Vaccinology for avian influenza is critical. Birds receiving a primary vaccination with Ad-NP+M1 and a secondary vaccination with MVA-NP+M1 exhibited reduced cloacal shedding as measured by plaque assay at 7 days post infection compared with birds vaccinated with recombinant viruses containing irrelevant antigen.  Since 2002, various wild bird species also have succumbed to infection with the Eurasian H5N1 HPAI viruses. The pathogenesis of AI is complex and the ability of these viruses to produce disease and death in avian species. Importance of continued investigation of the pathobiology of both low- and HPAIV infections in wild birds which is essential in the understanding of their epidemiology and, in turn, can contribute to the design and implementation of preventive and control measures to protect the health of humans and animals. The spread of swine flu around the world was classed by the World Health Organization (WHO) as a global pandemic. After 6 July 2009, the WHO stopped producing detailed worldwide figures. The WHO GISRS laboratories tested more than 39 635 specimens. 2980 were positive for influenza viruses, of which 1044 (35%) were typed as influenza A and 1936 (65%) as influenza B. Of the sub-typed influenza A viruses, 359 (46.6%) were influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 and 412 (53.4%) were influenza A(H3N2). Of the characterized B viruses, 155 (95.1%) belonged to the B-Yamagata lineage and 8 (4.9%) to the B-Victoria lineage. Public awareness of the human health risks of zoonotic infections has grown in recent years. Currently, concern of H5N1 flu transmission from migratory bird populations has increased with foci of fatal human cases. This comes on the heels of other major zoonotic viral epidemics in the last decade.


 

Public health surveillance and epidemiologic investigations are critical public health functions for identifying threats to the health of a community. In an emergency, public health surveillance is the ongoing systematic collection, analysis, interpretation, and management of public health-related data to verify a threat or incident of public health concern, and to characterize and manage it effectively through all phases of the incident. Surveillance data is used to identify and monitor the arrival of influenza, its geographic spread, intensity of activity, characteristics of those infected, as well as severity and changing trends in order to guide prevention and control recommendations.

The Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services has responsibility for preventing the introduction, transmission, and spread of communicable diseases in the United States. In IPR studies patent applications covering the virus itself, vaccines, treatment and diagnostics. Clinical studies of influenza involves development of drugs for the treatment  and/or prophylaxis of illness caused by influenz a viruses A and B, including both seasonal and  pandemic varieties. Sponsors considering development of antiviral drugs for the treatment or prophylaxis of disease with novel influenza strains, or in a pandemic influenza setting, are encouraged to consult this guidance and to communicate with the FDA through the pre-investigational new drug application (pre-IND) consultation program and frequently throughout drug development.

Surveillance Issues and Burden of Disease is the measure epidemiological levels and trends worldwide. The impact of a health problem can be measured by financial cost, mortality, morbidity, or other indicators. The severity of influenza disease in the United States can vary widely and is determined by a number of things including the characteristics of circulating viruses, the timing of the season, how well the vaccine is working to protect against illness, and how many people got vaccinated.

Influenza A and B types are able to cause epidemics, significant disease, and deaths. Type A viruses, cause severe symptoms, which are responsible for the highest burden of disease during seasonal epidemics. Influenza type B infections are usually milder and therefore more often detected in the context of localized outbreaks. Only type A viruses are responsible for the occasional worldwide pandemics.

Enterpreneurs from any field can exhibit their products and can give a presentation on their products which should be helpful in business development and marketing.