Estimating strain-specific and overall efficacy of polyvalent vaccines against recurrent pathogens from a cross-sectional study.

ABSTRACT: Evaluating vaccine efficacy for protection against colonization with bacterial pathogens is an area of growing interest. Colonization of the nasopharynx is an asymptomatic carrier state responsible for person-to-person transmission. It differs from most clinical outcomes in that it is common, recurrent, and observed only in its prevalent state. To estimate rates of acquisition and clearance of colonization requires repeated active sampling of the same individuals over time, an expensive and invasive undertaking. Motivated by feasibility constraints in efficacy trials with colonization endpoints, investigators have been estimating vaccine efficacy from cross-sectional studies without principled methods. We present two examples of vaccine studies estimating vaccine efficacy from cross-sectio

SUBMITTER: Auranen K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3622115 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature