Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a common cause of acute lower respiratory tract infections (ALRI) and hospitalisations among young children and is globally responsible for many deaths in young children, especially in infants below 6 months of age. Furthermore, RSV is a common cause of severe respiratory disease and hospitalisation among the elderly. The development of new candidate vaccines and monoclonal antibodies highlights the need for reliable surveillance of RSV. In the European Union (EU), no up-to-date general recommendations on RSV surveillance are currently available. Based on outcomes of a workshop with 29 European experts in the field of RSV virology, epidemiology and public health, we provide recommendations to develop a feasible and sustainable national surveillance strategy for RSV that will enable harmonisation and data comparison at the European level. We discuss three surveillance components: active sentinel community surveillance, active sentinel hospital surveillance, and passive laboratory surveillance, using the EU acute respiratory infection (ARI) and WHO extended severe acute respiratory infection (SARI) case definitions. Furthermore, we recommend the use of quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) based assays as the standard detection method for RSV and virus genetic characterisation, if possible, to monitor genetic evolution. These guidelines provide a basis for a good quality, feasible and affordable surveillance of RSV. Harmonisation of surveillance standards at European and global level will contribute to the wider availability of national level RSV surveillance data for regional and global analysis, and estimation of the RSV burden and impact of the future immunisation programmes.

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How frequently autoantibodies against angiotensin‐converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) occur in patients infected by SARS‐CoV‐2 is understudied and limited to investigations on a small sample size. The presence of these antibodies may contribute to the long‐lasting effects of COVID‐19 observed in some individuals, particularly if IgG‐class antibodies would emerge in patients. This study assessed the prevalence of IgG autoantibodies against ACE2 in 1139 patients infected with SARS‐CoV‐2 and examined their relationship with severity, demographic characteristics, and status of vaccination against influenza. The overall prevalence of anti‐ACE IgG antibodies in our cohort was 1.5%. Most of these individuals were men (76.5%) and underwent mild COVID‐19, but some severe and asymptomatic cases were also observed. Patients with severe infection had twofold higher titers than mild and asymptomatic cases. Age, comorbidities, and influenza vaccination status were not related to antibody prevalence. The prevalence of IgG anti‐SARS‐CoV‐2 antibodies (against nucleocapsid protein and S2 subunit, but not against receptor‐binding domain) was higher in the subset with ACE2 autoantibodies. Further research is required to understand the potential spectrum and duration of effects of IgG autoantibodies against ACE2 in patients after SARS‐CoV‐2 infection, particularly concerning long COVID‐19.

There is evidence that vaccination against seasonal influenza can improve innate immune responses to COVID-19 and decrease disease severity. However, less is known about whether it could also impact the humoral immunity in SARS-CoV-2 infected patients. The present study aimed to compare the SARS-CoV-2 specific humoral responses (IgG antibodies against nucleocapsid; anti-N, receptor binding domain; anti-RBD, subunit S2; anti-S2, and envelope protein; anti-E) between non-hospitalized, COVID-19 unvaccinated, and mild COVID-19 convalescent patients who were and were not vaccinated against influenza during the 2019/2020 epidemic season (n = 489 and n = 292, respectively). The influenza-vaccinated group had significantly higher frequency and titers of anti-N antibodies (75 vs. 66%; mean 559 vs. 520 U/mL) and anti-RBD antibodies (85 vs. 76%; mean 580 vs. 540 U/mL). The prevalence and concentrations of anti-S2 and anti-E antibodies did not differ between groups (40–43%; mean 370–375 U/mL and 1.4–1.7%; mean 261–294 U/mL) and were significantly lower compared to those of anti-RBD and anti-N. In both groups, age, comorbidities, and gender did not affect the prevalence and concentrations of studied antibodies. The results indicate that influenza vaccination can improve serum antibody levels produced in response to SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Influenza is an infectious disease caused by influenza A and B viruses. Children are the group which is the most exposed to influenza and influenza-like infections. They are considered as carriers of influenza infections in the population. In the epidemic season 2015/2016 more than 8000 samples were tested, of which over 30 % specimens were collected from patients aged 0-14 years. In 42.3 % cases the influenza or influenza-like viruses were confirmed. The most common subtype was A/H1N1/pdm09. Analysis of positive specimens was categorized into three smaller groups 0-4, 5-9, 10-14. Differences in the frequency of virus detections in younger age groups appeared. This study has shown that children are a very important group in the spread of the influenza virus in the population. A higher percentage of vaccinated children would decrease the number of infected patients in the whole population.