Modelling Influenza Vaccination Outcomes

Abstract

Modelling response to influenza vaccination can improve our understanding of how proposed factors, older age, past exposure to influenza viruses, and health disorders, used together, affect antibody production after influenza vaccination. Knowledge about this may be important when planning influenza vaccination protocols. This problem will be emphasized especially in the future, when many alternative vaccines and vaccination approaches are likely to be allowed for a routine use. A major difficulty, in modelling response to influenza vaccination, is how to identify health parameters, suitable for general use. To deal with the complexity of this task, we reached out for the concept of a systems biology and machine learning methods. Based on this approach, we showed that it is possible to construct useful models of influenza vaccination outcomes. In addition, by varying criteria for definition of the model’s outcome measure, that is, of low antibody response to influenza vaccination, we showed that a set of health parameters, albeit limited, are necessary for model to achieve a wider practical use

Improving Influenza Vaccination Rates— A Straightforward Task or a Multifaceted Challenge?

“…In regard to chronic diseases, stages of a disease development, co-morbid conditions, or just biochemical subclinical disorders, may all contribute to the differences of the immune response [21]. Understanding of how these multiple factors work together is possible only by using mathematical models and computer-based methods [22,23]. Computer simulations based on using these methods should complement (and precede) observational studies [24].…”

Influenza vaccination for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: understanding immunogenicity, efficacy and effectiveness

“…While it is known that malnutrition can impact the immune system by decreasing cellular immunity and resulting in poor resolution of inflammation, its effect on vaccine responses is not as well established [Gupta et al 2010]. Protein malnutrition and impaired glucose metabolism have been associated with low antibody responses to the influenza vaccination in older people, whilst micronutrient deficiency of vitamin E is also associated with poor vaccine response [Hara et al 2005;Trtica-Majnaric et al 2012]. One study reported no significant difference in improvement during hospitalization for an acute exacerbation in patients with COPD who had nutritional supplementation compared with those who did not [Vermeeren et al 2004].…”