[Catch-up vaccination of worldwide newcoming (adopted, refugee or migrant) children in France]. / Mise à jour des vaccinations de l'enfant arrivant de l'étranger (adopté, réfugié ou migrant) en France.

In France, international adoption includes around to 90,000 children since 1980 and near 300,000 immigrant children were counted in 2008. This population is heterogeneous, according to age and country of origin, and its large number. It is not easy to completely and surely assess the vaccine status of the child. Due to a great variability of individual situations, it is not possible to have systematic and unchangeable rules. This article aims to give an update of catch-up vaccination of internationally adopted or refugee or migrant children in France. The vaccination status of a child who recently arrived in France is complex and has to be adapted to his country of origin. Some of them were never vaccinated whereas the vaccine status of others is uncertain or unknown. Three parameters have to be considered: the age of the child, the country of origin, and sometimes serology in the case of doubts of his vaccine status. Catch-up vaccination of foreign children has to be adapted to French vaccine recommendations, as a reference, and to vaccines already administered to the child.

[Update on vaccine research. Proceedings of the 15th annual conference on vaccine research organized by the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases]. / Actualités en matière de recherche vaccinale. Compte-rendu de la 15(e) conférence annuelle sur la recherche vaccinale organisée par la National Foundation for Infectious Diseases.

Every year, the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases brings together more than 300 participants to review progress in vaccine research and development and identify the most promising avenues of research. These conferences are among the most important scientific meetings entirely dedicated to vaccine research for both humans and animals, and provide a mix of plenary sessions with invited presentations by acknowledged international experts, parallel sessions, poster sessions, and informal exchanges between experts and young researchers. During the Fifteenth Conference that took place in Baltimore in May 2012, various topics were addressed, including the scientific basis for vaccinology; exploration of the immune response; novel vaccine design; new adjuvants; evaluation of the impact of newly introduced vaccines (such as rotavirus, HPV vaccines); vaccine safety; and immunization strategies. The new techniques of systems biology allow for a more comprehensive approach to the study of immune responses in order to identify correlates of protection and to design novel vaccines against chronic diseases such as AIDS or malaria, against which natural immunity is incomplete.

[Current events in vaccination]. / Actualités en matière de vaccination.

The annual meeting of the Infectious Disease Society of America (IDSA) ; which brought together nearly 5000 participants from over 80 countries in Vancouver, Canada, October 21 to 24, 2010 ; provided a review of the influenza (H1N1) 2009 pandemic, evaluated vaccination programmes and presented new vaccines under development. With 12,500 deaths in the United States in 2009-2010, the influenza (H1N1) 2009 pandemic was actually less deadly than the seasonal flu. But it essentially hit the young, and the toll calculated in years of life lost is high. The monovalent vaccines, whether live attenuated or inactivated with or without adjuvants, were well tolerated in toddlers, children, adults and pregnant women. In order to protect infants against pertussis, family members are urged to get their booster shots. The introduction of the 13-valent Pneumococcal conjugated vaccine in the beginning of 2010 may solve - but for how long ? - the problem of serotype replacement, responsible for the re-increasing incidence of invasive Pneumococcal infections observed in countries that had introduced the 7-valent vaccine. The efficacy of a rotavirus vaccine has been confirmed, with a reduction in hospitalization in the United States and a reduction in gastroenteritis-related deaths in Mexico. In the United States, vaccination of pre-adolescents against human papillomavirus (HPV) has not resulted in any specific undesirable effects. Routine vaccination against chicken pox, recommended since 1995, has not had an impact on the evolution of the incidence of shingles. Vaccination against shingles, recommended in the United States for subjects 60 years and over, shows an effectiveness of 55 %, according to a cohort study (Kaiser Permanente, Southern California). Although some propose the development of personalized vaccines according to individual genetic characteristics, the priority remains with increasing vaccine coverage, not only in infants but also in adults and the elderly. Vaccine calendars that cover a whole lifetime should be promoted, since the vaccination of adults and seniors is a determining factor of good health at all ages.

[Current events in vaccination]. / Actualités en matière de vaccination.

The annual meeting of the Infectious Disease Society of America (IDSA); which brought together nearly 5000 participants from over 80 countries in Vancouver, Canada, October 21 to 24, 2010; provided a review of the influenza (H1N1) 2009 pandemic, evaluated vaccination programmes and presented new vaccines under development. With 12,500 deaths in the United States in 2009-2010, the influenza (H1N1) 2009 pandemic was actually less deadly than the seasonal flu. But it essentially hit the young, and the toll calculated in years of life lost is high. The monovalent vaccines, whether live attenuated or inactivated with or without adjuvants, were well tolerated in toddlers, children, adults and pregnant women. In order to protect infants against pertussis, family members are urged to get their booster shots. The introduction of the 13-valent Pneumococcal conjugated vaccine in the beginning of 2010 may solve--but for how long?--the problem of serotype replacement, responsible for the re-increasing incidence of invasive Pneumococcal infections observed in countries that had introduced the 7-valent vaccine. The efficacy of a rotavirus vaccine has been confirmed, with a reduction in hospitalization in the United States and a reduction in gastroenteritis-related deaths in Mexico. In the United States, vaccination of pre-adolescents against human papillomavirus (HPV) has not resulted in any specific undesirable effects. Routine vaccination against chicken pox, recommended since 1995, has not had an impact on the evolution of the incidence of shingles. Vaccination against shingles, recommended in the United States for subjects 60 years and over, shows an effectiveness of 55%, according to a cohort study (Kaiser Permanente, Southern California). Although some propose the development of personalized vaccines according to individual genetic characteristics, the priority remains with increasing vaccine coverage, not only in infants but also in adults and the elderly. Vaccine calendars that cover a whole lifetime should be promoted, since the vaccination of adults and seniors is a determining factor of good health at all ages.

[Distribution of neutralizing measles serum antibodies according to age in women of childbearing age in France in 2005-2006]. / Distribution en fonction de l'âge de la concentration sérique des anticorps neutralisants antirougeole chez les femmes en âge de procréer en France en 2005-2006.

UNLABELLED: Measles-vaccine coverage (MVC) increased significantly only beginning in 1983 based on the official recommendations. The majority of women born after 1983 should have vaccine-acquired rather than naturally derived immunity. Passively transferred measles antibodies (Mab) are expected to provide protection to offsprings during their 1st few months of life. OBJECTIVE: Compare neutralizing Mab titers according to age in women aged 12-40 years, i.e., born before and after 1983. METHODS: A multicenter seroepidemiological study was conducted in France in 2005-2006; 210 outpatient or hospitalized women were enrolled and classified into 4 age groups (12-18, 19-22, 23-30, and 31-40 years). Mab titers were assessed using a reference plaque reduction neutralization assay (protection threshold > 120 mIU/ml). RESULTS: Ninety-four percent of subjects had a Mabs titer greater than 120 mIU/ml. Women born before 1983 had significantly higher geometric mean titers (GMTs) of Mabs than those born after 1983(1358 mIU/ml vs. 731 mIU/ml [p<0.001]). The comparison of the 4 cohorts showed a significant decrease (p<0.001) in GMTs of Mab in the female population with increasing age (670, 771, 1173, and 1821 mUI/ml, respectively, in the 12-18, 19-22, 23-30, and 31-40 years age groups). For the 1st time in France, we show in women of childbearing age that in 2005-2006 neutralizing Mab GMTs were far above protective threshold for all age groups. Women in younger age groups (with high MVC) have significantly lower Mab titers. A lower passive transfer of Mab to their offsprings could result in a shorter period of measles protection and question the measles vaccine 1st dose at 1 year.

[Varicella vaccine]. / Vaccin varicelle.

A live virus attenuated vaccine was developed from the OKA strain (isolated from vesicles in the OKA child, 3 years of age, presenting with a benign varicella). The vaccine was completed after 11 propagation at 34 degrees C on HELF cells. The vaccine is a lyophilized preparation of a live attenuated virus, obtained by propagation of the virus in MRC-5 human diploid cell culture, titering between 1500 and 5000 cfu (colony forming unit per milliliter). This attenuated virus, contrary to the wild virus, is thermo-sensitive (39 degrees C). The rate of seroconversion after administration of one vaccine dose in healthy children, from 12 months to 12 years of age, ranges from 93% to 100% (Table 1). In controlled studies, the efficiency for the prevention of varicella in children reaches at least 85% with a 2-4 years follow-up. The prevention of severe forms is at least 95%.