Date: 17th – 18th June 2017
Location: Beijing, China
APACI working with the Chinese Preventive Medicine Association (CPMA) in association with the China CDC held a symposium on Seasonal Influenza Vaccination Policy Development and Implementation in Beijing on 17 – 18 of June 2017.
ProgramAPACI would like to thank our collaborators Chinese Preventive Medicine Association (CPMA) and China CDC.
Session 1: Global perspectives
Session 2: Factors contributing to influenza vaccine policy development and implementation
Siddhivinayak Hirve (WHO) Influenza seasonality in the tropics and subtropics: when to vaccinate and with what formulation?
Session 3: China perspective
Session 4: Regional perspectives
Chansay Pathammavong (Laos) Country report: national seasonal influenza vaccination policy and coverage in Lao
Biographies
Professor Sang-Moo Kang
Center for Inflammation, Immunity and Infection, and Department of Biology, Georgia State University, USA
Current influenza vaccines based on the hemagglutinin protein are strain specific and do not provide good protection against drifted viruses or emergence of new pandemic strains. Development of an influenza vaccine that provides broadly cross protective immunity has been a scientific challenge for over half a century. An influenza vaccine that can
confer cross-protection against influenza A strains with antigenically differences is highly desirable for improving public health. Virus-like particles (VLPs) can be produced in cell cultures by a self-assembly process using recombinant genetic engineering technology. VLPs composed of multimeric protein complexes with or without lipid bilayer membranes are similar to virus in structure and morphology, but lack the viral genome potentially permitting safer vaccine candidates. We found that viral vaccine antigens that are presented on VLPs were hundred fold higher immunogenic and capable of conferring effective protection even in the absence of adjuvants compared to the same protein antigens in a soluble form.
To develop a cross protective vaccine, we generated influenza VLPs containing the highly conserved M2 protein in a membrane-anchored form, and investigated their immunogenicity and breadth of protection. A tandem repeat of M2e epitope sequences (M2e5x) of human, swine, and avian origin influenza A viruses, which was genetically engineered and expressed on VLPs (M2e5x VLPs), provided a wide range of protection against H1, 2009 H1N1 pandemic, H3, and H5 influenza viruses. In addition, M2e5x VLPs were found to be a stronger inducer of M2 immunity than live influenza A viruses.
We found a strategy to overcome the strain-specific protection of current human seasonal vaccines by implementing a new concept of supplementation with M2e5x VLP vaccine. Human split vaccines supplemented with M2e5x VLPs were highly effective in improving the breadth of cross protection compared to the split vaccine alone. In studies of protective immune mechanisms, Fc receptors, alveolar macrophages and dendritic cells were found to play a criticla role in providing M2 immune mediated protection. The results further provide evidence that developing universal influenza vaccines would be feasible with advancing VLP vaccine technology.
Dr Siu Lun (John) Tam
APACI Director and Chairman – Hong Kong
Dr John Tam is currently the Visiting Professor at the Department of Applied Biology and Chemical Technology of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University. He also serves as the Director and Chairman of the Asia-Pacific Alliance for the Control of Influenza, a position he held over 15 years ago as the founding chairman. Dr Tam had worked as Technical Officer of the Initiative for Vaccine Research at the World Health Organization (WHO), Geneva, Switzerland and was
responsible for the global research and development of seasonal and pandemic influenza vaccines as well as the focal point for influenza policy development under SAGE and the technical lead for the WHO Global Action Plan for Influenza Vaccines. He also served as Scientist at the Global Influenza Programme of WHO, Geneva and was responsible for the development and implementation of the WHO Public Health Research Agenda for Influenza including the coordination of influenza vaccine research and global seasonal influenza vaccine recommendations. John also worked in a leading role in the pharmaceutical industry on vaccine research and development. Prior to these, he was Professor in the Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, the Chinese University of Hong Kong for 15 years. Dr Tam received his B.Sc. and M.Sc. degrees from the University of Toronto majoring in virology, microbiology and biochemistry, and his Ph.D. degree from the University of Hong Kong on virology. John has been active in the field of medical virology and his interest included influenza and other viral respiratory tract infections, viral diarrhoeal diseases, viral hepatitis and virus-associated cancers. He had published over 180 peer-reviewed articles relating to his fields of interest. During the outbreak of avian influenza in Hong Kong in 1997 and the SARS outbreak in Asia in 2003, John had served as advisor to the WHO, the Hong Kong government and other regional health authorities. He received the Bronze Bauhinia Star (B.B.S.) medal from the Government of Hong Kong SAR in 2004.
Raymond C.W. Hutubessy (WHO)
Raymond C.W. Hutubessy, PhD in Health Economics, Erasmus University, Rotterdam, the Netherlands. In 1997 he joined the World Health Organization (WHO) at the WHO country office in Bangkok, Thailand. He subsequently worked at WHO headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland in 1999 where he was involved in the WHO CHOICE project and economic policy research in the Russian Federation at the Stop TB department. Since 2005 he joined the Immunization, Vaccine and Biologicals Department as a lead economist where he sponsors and conducts research in
vaccine economics and modelling of vaccine preventable diseases. Finally he has been responsible as the Executive Secretary of the WHO Immunization and Vaccines related Implementation Research (IVIR) Advisory Committee (formerly QUIVER-AC) since its inauguration in 2007.
Presentation: Seasonal influenza vaccination policy development: considerations for pandemic preparedness
Presentation: Economic burden analysis of seasonal influenza
Zijian Feng (China)
Professor Zijian Feng, MD, MPH, is currently Deputy Director of China Center for Disease Control and Prevention (China CDC). Prior to this he also held several positions at the China CDC. These include: Director of the Public Health Emergency Center, Director of Office for Disease Control and Emergency Response; Director of the General Administration Office; Associate Director, Office for Disease Control and Emergency Response, and Associate Director, Center of Immunization Program.
He also worked at the Henan Provincial CDC between 1986 and 2000. He graduated from the Chinese Union Medical University with a Master in Public Health and obtained his MD majoring in public health from Henan Medical University. Dr Feng is a member of the Emergency Response Consultative Committee and also a member of the Immune Programming Consultative Committee – all of the Ministry of Health, China.
Dr Feng is also editor of Chinese Journal of Preventative Medicine, Chinese Journal of Vaccines and Immunization and Journal of Modern Preventative Medicine.He has published over 100 articles in international journals and Chinese journals, including the Lancet, the New Engalnd Journal of Medicine, PLoS Medicine, BMJ, Clinical Infectious Diseases, Journal of Infectious Diseases, Emerging Infectious Diseases and Vaccine.
Alba María Ropero-Álvarez (PAHO)
Alba Maria Ropero Alvarez is a Regional Advisor on Immunization in the Family, Gender, and Life Course Department at the Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization. A public health professional with more than 17 years of international experience, she was previously Assistant Director of Communicable Diseases and Chief of the Infectious Disease Program at the Ministry of Health in Colombia.
Alba Maria’s areas of expertise include the development and implementation of regional and worldwide Immunization Program policies and strategies, emergency outbreak response, monitoring and evaluation, and research projects. Her work also focuses on surveillance and vaccination strategies for the control, elimination, and eradication of vaccine-preventable diseases such as Influenza, Yellow Fever, and Hepatitis.
As a Regional Advisor on Immunization in the Americas, Alba Maria is also leading efforts on Maternal Immunization, including the coordination of the Working Group with the participation of different Institutions, including WHO, CDC, Emory University, and representatives of Ministries of Health, among others.
Presentation: Influenza vaccine policy, usage and collective procurement in the Americas: the PAHO experience
Jolita Mereckiene (HPSC, Ireland)
Jolita Mereckiene graduated from Vilnius University faculty of Medicine in Lithuania in 1997. Following university graduation she started her carrier working on the regional level in Vilnius Public Health Centre. During period up to 2001 she was involved in variety of work, mainly in field of gastrointestinal diseases. In 2001 she became a head of Department of Infectious Diseases Control and Prevention in the same institution. The main responsibilities were managing work in the department, establishing electronic
database for infectious diseases in Vilnius region, outbreak investigation and analytical studies. In addition she took part in Lithuanian-Swedish project for Sexual Transmitted Infections (STI).
Following 8 years working in public health in Lithuania she entered European Programme for Intervention Epidemiology Training (EPIET). She worked in area of infectious disease as EPIET fellow in Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC) in Ireland. She was involved in research project for influenza and pneumococcal vaccine uptake, in surveys for legionella and Hib infection, in Norwalk infection and tuberculosis outbreak investigation in Ireland and measles outbreak investigation in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
After she completed EPIET training in late 2007 she started to work with (Vaccine European New Integrated Collaboration Effort) VENICE project in Ireland. During this period she was involved in conducting VENICE surveys on seasonal influenza vaccination at EU level. In addition, she is also involved in IPD surveillance and calculation of vaccination coverage for seasonal influenza vaccine among those aged 65 and over in Ireland.
Presentation: Influenza vaccine policy and implementation in Europe: the VENICE experience
Dan Jernigan (USA)
Daniel B. Jernigan, M.D., M.P.H., is the Director of the Influenza Division in the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases (NCIRD) at CDC. Prior to his appointment, Dr. Jernigan served as Deputy Director of the Influenza Division from 2006 to 2014. He is a captain in the United States Public Health Service, and serves as the Senior Medical Officer and Senior Public Health Service officer for the Influenza Division. As Director, he is responsible for oversight and direction of approximately 320 staff
members working to reduce the global burden of disease and death due to seasonal, animal-associated, and pandemic influenza.
Aeron Hurt (Australia)
Associate Professor Aeron Hurt is the Deputy Director (Acting) of the WHO Collaborating Centre for Reference and Research on Influenza and heads the Antiviral Susceptibility Analysis Surveillance Unit and Research group. Aeron is a world leader in influenza antiviral research and regularly acts as an external Temporary Advisor to the WHO. He has completed a number of short-term consultancies for the Vietnamese Ministry of Health, the WHO, and the Australian Government related to influenza surveillance,
epidemiology and laboratory analysis. Aeron is on the Editorial board of the journals Antiviral Research, Virology Journal and Infection, Ecology and Epidemiology. Aeron completed a PhD in influenza virology at Monash University and holds an honorary Principal Fellow appointment with the University of Melbourne.
Presentation: Antiviral resistance surveillance and treatment protocol development
James Fielding (Australia)
Dr James Fielding is an epidemiologist at the Victorian Infectious Diseases Reference Laboratory, Royal Melbourne Hospital, at the Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity in Melbourne, Australia. With an undergraduate degree in microbiology, he completed postgraduate studies in applied infectious diseases epidemiology, and a PhD on influenza epidemiology and vaccine effectiveness following the 2009 pandemic. James has worked in infectious disease surveillance, investigation and control at state,
national and international levels. He lectures in infectious diseases epidemiology, and teaches scientific writing and surveillance workshops in the Western Pacific region. James’ research interests are in the epidemiology of vaccine-preventable diseases, particularly varicella-zoster virus, influenza and measles.
Presentation: Vaccine effectiveness estimates
Aronrag Meeyai (Thailand)
Dr Aronrag Meeyai’s research interest is in epidemiological and economic modelling of infectious disease control interventions (using a mixture of mathematical models, statistical, and economic analysis) to support evidence-based public health decision making. In particular, recent work has helped inform immunisation policy on vaccines for dengue and seasonal influenza in Thailand.
Song Ying (China)
Dr Song Ying serves as a Senior Program Officer for the Centers for Disease Control (U.S. CDC) Influenza Program at the U.S. Embassy, China. Before she joined the U.S. CDC in 2007, Dr Song worked at China CDC, the Italian Embassy and the Chinese Ministry of Health on HIV/AIDS, human capacity building and maternal and child health since 1997. She served as a physician from 1991-1994. Dr Song graduated from Hunan Medical University with a clinical medicine major, and received her master’s degree on medical
science from the Medical Center of Peking University in 1997 master in public health at Johns Hopkins School of Public Health in 2002.
Abraham Palache (IFPMA)
Dr. Palache (1952) started in April 2013 a private company FluPal Consultancy BV. FluPal Consultancy BV provides expertise and services to Abbott and other third parties in the field of Influenza and influenza vaccinology.
He worked as from 1980 for Abbott Biologicals (formerly Solvay) in Weesp, The Netherlands in the functions of Clinical Research Project leader, Director Public Affairs for influenza and till 2013 as Global Government Affairs Director, Vaccines.
Dr. Palache received his MSc degree in Biochemistry at the University of Amsterdam in 1980. After graduation, he initiated his professional career as a Clinical Research Associate at Solvay Pharmaceuticals in the Netherlands. He gained a lot of experience in clinical development of new drugs in various fields. Prior to his current position, he held different ‘Clinical Group-leader’ functions.
He was an Influenza Research Fellow at the Dutch National Influenza Centre: Erasmus University, Rotterdam (current chair: Professor A. Osterhaus), where he received his PhD in Medical Science in 1991.
He is a co-founder of the European Scientific Working Group on Influenza (ESWI, 1992).
Since 2001 he is member of the External Affairs Working Group of the Association of the European Vaccine Manufacturers (EVM) and in 2005 he joined the Influenza Working Group, which he co-chaired in 2009.
In 2003 he became founding member of IFPMA’s Influenza Vaccine Supply International Task Force (IVS) and since 2004 he chairs the Policy Practice and Communication subgroup (PPC) of this organization. In 2006 he joined the APACI (Asian Pacific Advisory Committee Influenza) group as an industry representative.
Dr. Palache is author of over 50 papers most of which were published in peer-reviewed medical scientific journals. He is co-author of the Rapid Reference book Influenza which is published by Elsevier in 2006 and translated in 5 languages.
Presentation: Global seasonal influenza vaccine dose distribution: addressing needs in Asia-Pacific region
Dayan Wang (China)
Professor Wang is acting Director of Chinese National Influenza Center, National Institute for Viral Disease Prevention and Control, China CDC and acting Director of WHO Collaborating Center for Reference and Research on Influenza. Professor Wang is mainly engaged in the surveillance of influenza virus and researches related to variation and evolution of influenza virus.
Luzhao Feng (China)
Chief, Branch of Respiratory Infectious Diseases, Division for Infectious Diseases, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (China CDC). Dr. Feng is charged with developing and supervising China’s respiratory infectious disease surveillance systems, including seasonal and novel influenza viruses, and other respiratory infections. He is also responsible for the development of China’s national strategy for control and prevention of respiratory infectious diseases. His research interests include the
epidemiology, disease burden, transmission dynamics, and surveillance of infectious diseases such as seasonal and avian influenza, pneumococcal and Hib diseases. His research on vaccines for these diseases, including their efficacy, effectiveness, and cost effectiveness, aims to help develop immunization services and evidence-based vaccination recommendations and policy.
Kunling Shen (China)
Shen Kunling is the Professor, Doctoral Supervisor and Physician Director. She has studied as a Visiting Scholar in Switzerland Infectious Disease Control Center, Australia Sydney Alexander Children’s Hospital and Medical College of Wisconsin. She has been serving as the current Chinese Medical Association Pediatrics Chairman, Committee Member of the International Academy of Pediatrics, Committee Member of the Asian Academy of Pediatrics, Vice President of Pediatricians Branch of the Chinese Medical
Association, Leader of Chinese Medical Association breathing professional team, Committee Member of the tenth Pharmacopoeia and Committee Member of Chinese Medical Association breathing surgeon branch.
Hongjie Yu (China)
Professor Yu is Professor of Infectious Disease, School of Public Health, Fudan University. Director, Division for Infectious Diseases, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (China CDC)
Dr Yu graduated with his MD in 1994, after which he immediately joined the Expanded Program on Immunization Division of the China CDC, spending seven years in Liaoning province eradicating polio and elimination of measles. After being selected in 2001 to train in China CDC’s new field epidemiology training
program, he was appointed after only two years in 2003 to Chief of the Respiratory Infectious Disease Branch of the Office for Disease Control and Emergency Response, China CDC, where he remained until accepting a new position as the Deputy director of the Office for Disease Control and Emergency Response in 2006. As of 2010, he is also guest researcher at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA, USA. In 2012, he was promoted to his present role as the Acting Director, Division for Infectious Diseases, China CDC.
His research interests include the epidemiology, transmission dynamics, and surveillance of infectious diseases such as SARS, avian and swine influenza, Hand Food Mouth Disease, Rabies, Brucellosis, and Streptococcus suis, as well as seasonal influenza, pneumococcal and Hib diseases. His research on vaccines for these diseases, including their efficacy, safety, and cost effectiveness, aims to help develop immunization services and evidence-based vaccination recommendations and policy.
Kanta Subbarao (Australia)
Dr. Kanta Subbarao is the Director of the WHO Collaborating Centre for Reference and Research on Influenza at the Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity and Professor, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, The University of Melbourne. She is a virologist and a physician with specialty training in pediatrics and pediatric infectious diseases. Previously, she was Chief of the Emerging Respiratory Viruses Section of the Laboratory of Infectious Diseases, NIAID, NIH in Bethesda (2002-2016)
and Chief of the Molecular Genetics Section of the Influenza Branch at the CDC in Atlanta (1997-2002). Dr. Subbarao’ s research is focused on newly emerging viral diseases of global importance including pandemic influenza, severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) coronaviruses. She is a Fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology and the Infectious Diseases Society of America. She serves on the Editorial Board of PLoS Pathogens and mBio.
Presentation: Country report: seasonal influenza vaccination and coverage in Australia
Sudhir Kumar Satpathy (India)
A medical doctor, specialized in social and preventive medicine, public health and epidemiology, has a distinguished professional career of 37 years mainly serving developing countries like India and Nigeria. He has worked with Govt. of India, NGOs (PHFI), International agencies and private sector in a lead role. His major contribution is capacity building of public health professional, mentoring public health students, establishing quality assurance mechanism in public health facilities, initiation of surveillance system for SARS, Influenza, and expansion of public health education in India and Nigeria.
Shelley de la Vega (The Philippines)
Dr. Shelley de la Vega, MD, MSc, FPCGM, is a Professor of the Department of Medicine, University of the Philippines College of Medicine and founding Director of the Institute on Aging, and past Director of the Institute of Health Policy, University of the Philippines Manila – National Institutes of Health. She is the Vice President of the Philippine Foundation for Vaccination. She assists the Department of Health, DSWD, National Academy of Science and Technology and various NGOs as technical consultant.
Dr. Shelley is the first president of Philippine College of Geriatric Medicine, Philippine Medical Association and Philippine College of Physicians. She is the founding Director for The Center of Healthy Aging, and the former Chief of the Section of Geriatrics at The Medical City Ortigas. She pioneered the establishment of the first Geriatric Multidisciplinary Outpatient Clinic in the Philippines at the Philippine General Hospital.
Presentation: Country report: The Philippines
Pham Quang Thai (Viet Nam)
Pham Quang Thai, M.D, MPhil. PhD Vice Head of Epidemiology Dept., National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology (NIHE) since 2011. He is an expert on the EPI.
Dr. Thai has professional experiences thanks to many courses of FETP at Thailand, Master of Philosophy at Norway, and PhD at the United Kingdom. As one of duties in his works, Thai has also involved in some stages of vaccine development when managing immunization programs in Viet Nam. Thai also works
with some international and local organizations and vaccine companies to run vaccine trials.
Thanks to more than 16 years working at Epidemiology Dept. of NIHE, Thai has close relationship with all Pasteur institutes in Viet Nam as well as Provincial Preventive Medicine centers which are the back born of Preventive Medicine system in Vietnam. His work relates to infectious disease surveillance and response. Furthermore, he also works as coordinator for several projects including Oxford-NIHE (Infectious Diseases Research Development Program).
Thai is now researching Epidemiology of Influenza and its intervention. His new project is on the difference adaptation of individual to influenza vaccine when immune background are already known from 10 year cohort.
Burma Alexanderyn (Mongolia)
Head, Division of National Influenza Surveillance, NIC, NCCD, Member of the Board Committee of NCCD, MoH (since February, 2012), Epidemiology Team Leader, US/Mongolia Cooperative Agreement Project, Development of Influenza Surveillance Network (since 2004).
Pediatrician (graduated in 1994 from the Faculty of Pediatrics, Irkutsk Medical University, Irkutsk, Russian Federation), Master of Health Sciences (1998), epidemiologist (2002-2003), PhD candidate of Department
of Virology, Graduate School of Medicine, Tohoku University, Japan (since 2011/12 fiscal year).
Dr A.Burma is working as an epidemiologist, NCCD since 2002. She has more than 20 research articles, reviews, and reports and translated materials published in Mongolian and 2 manuscripts in the peer-reviewed international journals and more than 10 poster presentations and abstracts in international Conferences and Congresses.
She has awarded by title of: Outstanding Health Worker of Mongolia in 2011.
Presentation: Country report: national seasonal influenza vaccination policy and coverage in Mongolia
Cissy Kartasasmita (Indonesia)
Cissy Kartasasmita is Professor of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, Padjadjaran University, Indonesia. She participated in the Indonesian Ministry of Health’s Health Technology Assessment on Influenza in Adults and Children in 2003 and is a member of the Immunization Working Group of the Indonesian Society of Pediatricians.