NIH HCW Flu Study
About
Six hospitals across Australia are conducting a research study in collaboration with the World Health Organisation (WHO) Collaborating Centre for Reference and Research on Influenza and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine in the UK. The study aims to examine the immune response to influenza vaccination among hospital workers by measuring antibody levels in blood before and after vaccination. The study will also examine the risk of infection after vaccination by collecting nasal swabs and blood samples from health care workers who develop flu-like illness.
The participating hospitals are:
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The research study is funded by the US National Institutes of Health grant number
1R01AI141534-01A1. The US National Institutes of Health has also funded a research addendum to
study SARS-CoV-2 in the health care worker cohort, grant number
3R01AI141534-01A1S1 REVISED
Can I join?
Adults who are eligible for the free flu vaccine campaigns at the participating hospitals are invited to join. We especially need those not intending to be vaccinated and those who will be getting the flu vaccine for the first time. There are no restrictions on the health care worker roles that can be recruited into the study. All hospital staff, including clinical, research, administrative and support staff are welcome.
Eligibility criteria
- Personnel (including staff, honorary staff, students and volunteers) located at a participating hospital or healthcare service at the time of recruitment who are eligible for the hospital’s free vaccination programme
- Be aged ≥18 years old and ≤60 years old
- Have a mobile phone that can receive and send SMS messages
- Be willing and able to provide blood samples
- Be available for follow-up over the next 7 months
- Be able and willing to complete the informed consent process
What's involved?
- Participation will involve an initial visit before your vaccine, and follow up visits. The number of follow up visits depends on the arm of the study you enter. Most participants will have not more than 3 follow up visits, at approximately 7 days, 14 days and 7 months after vaccination. At each of these visits you will have a blood sample taken
- You will be asked to complete weekly symptom diaries (in form of an online survey)
- If you develop flu-like illness during the study, you will be asked to collect a nasal and/or throat swab for testing. If you test positive for flu or COVID-19, you will be asked to give additional samples during and after your illness
- The study will run for 4 years collecting samples from 2020 to 2023. The total time commitment for participating in this study is approximately 4 hours per year
- Participation is voluntary and you will be free to withdraw at any time.
Principal investigators
Coordinating sites
- Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity, Melbourne, VIC
- London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, UK
Participating sites
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Study coordinators
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What do my antibody titre results mean?
Antibody titres measure the amount of antibodies in your blood. Commonly, antibody titres of at least 40 indicate protection against the vaccine virus strain. This is sometimes called seroprotection or seropositivity. The degree of protection against the vaccine virus strain can vary by a number of factors including the level of exposure to influenza.
Further information on influenza vaccines can be found below:
Results
Tree of SARS-CoV-2 viruses isolated from participants over the course of the study
