Every two years, the International Society for Influenza and other Respiratory Virus Diseases (ISIRV) hosts the Options for the Control of Influenza meeting, which is the only global scientific meeting dedicated to influenza (flu). The goal of this gathering is to bring together leading researchers, practitioners, industry representatives and policy makers from all over the world to “explore and advance our understanding of influenza and its impact on human and animal health.”
The 2024 OPTIONS XII Conference was held in Brisbane, Australia and hosted several global organizations and partners for various sessions and presentations on current influenza research and studies. This year’s 4-day meeting highlighted Pacific Island and First Nations Health. Knowledge exchange and networking sessions were held and there were also presentations on influenza policy and advocacy. Interdisciplinary sessions on various topics, including other respiratory diseases such as RSV and COVID-19 and the current bird flu situation in the US, were also included in the agenda.
Chelsey Griffin, from the PIVI team, attended the conference to share the findings of two projects, which were the result of collaborations between CDC and the Task Force for Global Health. The first project showed that health workers in low- and middle-income countries who had received a flu vaccine were more likely to recommend a flu vaccination to their patients. The analysis looked at both health workers’ knowledge, attitudes, practices, and perceptions (KAPP) in nine low- and middle- income countries in 2023-2024. The findings highlight the impact of established influenza vaccination programs on flu vaccine uptake and recommendation. Investments in vaccination programs for health workers can increase flu vaccination recommendations and uptake.
The second project showed that countries with established flu vaccination programs among health workers prior to the COVID-19 pandemic had smoother COVID-19 vaccine rollouts, and achieved higher COVID-19 vaccine coverage, compared with those that did not. This project included seventeen countries and was conducted during the post-vaccination roll-out period of the COVID-19 pandemic (2021-2022), which offered a unique opportunity to gather real-time evidence to answer key questions related to pandemic readiness. This project contributes to the growing body of evidence demonstrating the value of flu vaccine programs as an important pandemic preparedness tool. This work will soon be submitted for peer review and publication.
Both projects expand the global evidence base supporting the positive impact influenza programs and prior experience with influenza vaccination have on various factors, such as vaccine uptake and attitudes towards vaccination.
PIVI also sponsored Rovena Daja from Albania, to travel to Brisbane and present her findings from her project titled, “The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Behavior of Pregnant Women and Parents of Children Regarding Vaccination.” Her findings highlight a need to improve the attitudes and beliefs of people, specifically pregnant women and parents, toward COVID-19/influenza vaccination.’
Finally, PIVI also joined WHO to co-host an informal side-discussion to review progress in achieving the goals of WHO’s Global Influenza Strategy, 2019-2030 and to get feedback on developing a plan to accelerate influenza prevention and control globally. More to come on this initiative in the coming months.
The ISIRV Options conference is held every two years, and the next is scheduled to be held in Washington, DC, in 2026. For more information about ISIRV and future Options for Influenza conferences, please visit the website: isirv Home.