People with diabetes still face a higher risk for influenza and its complications. National and international guidelines therefore advise that diabetes patients be annually vaccinated against influenza. But the attention for the impact of influenza on diabetes patients is low and so is the influenza vaccine uptake in this group, despite the scientific evidence that influenza vaccination is beneficial for people with diabetes and WHO’s recommendation to routinely vaccinate 75% of all people at high risk.
To help increase influenza vaccination coverage, ESWI has now developed infographics that illustrate the risks of influenza infection for people with diabetes and the possible strategies to prevent such infection. Feel free to download and disseminate.

ESWI actively encourages the careers of promising influenza researchers. As part of that endeavour it disseminates awards for the best oral and the best poster presentation by a young scientist at its triennial ESWI Influenza Conferences.

During the recent  6th ESWI Influenza Conference in Riga, session chairs and co-chairs had been asked to evaluate Young Scientists contributions and from the collected scores, two laureates have been selected:

• Best Oral Presentation Award 2017 goes to Bernadeta Dadonaite, University of Oxford, for her talk entitled “Analysis of the higher order RNA structures present inside the Influenza A virus genome”
• Best Poster Presentation Award 2017 goes to Carina Conceiçao, University of Edinburgh, for her poster entitled “Avian Influenza A virus budding morphology: spherical or filamentous?”

Both prize winner will receive an official certificate. They will also receive free registration, travel and accommodation for the 7th ESWI Influenza Conference in 2020. In early 2020, they will be invited to submit an abstract of their latest influenza research, which will be assessed by the Conference Programme Committee in view of selecting the speakers for the 2020 Young Scientists Plenary Session.

Congratulations to Bernadeta and Carina!

People with diabetes face a higher risk for influenza and its complications. National and international guidelines therefore advise that diabetes patients be annually vaccinated against influenza.

The evidence that underpins these guidelines has long been fragmented and underexposed. Consequently, attention for the impact of influenza on diabetes patients is low and so is the influenza vaccine uptake in this group, despite WHO’s target to routinely vaccinate 75% of all people at high risk. It was therefore high time to assemble all currently available data about the impact of influenza on diabetes patients and to review current influenza prevention strategies. ESWI has undertaken this important endeavour and in its recently paper (published in Vaccine Journal on 12 September 2017), ESWI has reviewed the scientific base for recommending routine vaccination of diabetes patients against influenza.

Influenza is a serious public health problem. During winter seasons, it spreads easily through schools, hospitals, nursing homes, towns and businesses, while its impact is the highest in those most at risk, such as the elderly, young infants and pregnant women. In order to reduce the impact of seasonal influenza, efficient prevention and treatment strategies should be implemented. Preparedness, prevention and treatment strategies will be at the core of the Sixth ESWI Influenza Conference. The conference has a tailor-made programme track for public health officials/policy makers, specifically designed to foster the exchange of knowledge and practice at the interface of science and health policy. The final tailor-made programme is now ready. Click here to download the full programme schedule.