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SUMMARY:Accounting for prior immunity and evolutionary uncertainty when va
 ccinating against influenza and other antigenically variable pathogens - D
 r Sam Wilks (University of Cambridge)
DTSTART:20210416T140000Z
DTEND:20210416T150000Z
UID:TALK158812@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Theodora Anderson
DESCRIPTION:Twice yearly the WHO influenza vaccine strain selection commit
 tee meets to select which strains to include in the seasonal influenza vac
 cine for the upcoming season\, trying to balance the need to update the va
 ccine to protect against upcoming antigenic variants and the need to maint
 ain protection against current variants that may continue to circulate.  U
 nderstanding antigenic variation and epidemiological trends features heavi
 ly in this process but an often under-emphasised component is how pre-exis
 ting immunity in the recipient population varies and influences these deci
 sions.  This talk will centre around our work to model and understand the 
 role of population pre-vaccination immunity in determining optimal vaccine
  strain choices under such circumstances\, including efforts to anticipate
  antigenic changes and get ahead of the evolutionary curve in a situation 
 where time from vaccine strain selection to administration may be as long 
 as 6-9 months.
LOCATION:Zoom
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