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MRSA co-infection increases risk of flu-related mortality among children

During the 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic, many previously healthy children became critically ill, developing severe pneumonia and respiratory failure, sometimes fatal. The largest nationwide investigation to date of influenza in critically ill children, led by Children's Hospital Boston, found one key risk factor: Simultaneous infection with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) increased the risk for flu-related mortality 8-fold among previously healthy children.

7 Nov 2011

IFNa-kinoid shows promise against lupus

The first study to show results using active immunotherapy against the signaling protein interferon alpha in the treatment of lupus will be presented this week at the American College of Rheumatology Annual Scientific Meeting in Chicago.

7 Nov 2011

Human Genome Sciences to present abstracts regarding BENLYSTA, SLE at ACR/ARHP meeting

Human Genome Sciences, Inc. announced today that several abstracts related to BENLYSTA (belimumab) and systemic lupus erythematosus will be presented at the annual meeting of the American College of Rheumatology/ Association of Rheumatology Health Professionals, being held in Chicago, IL from November 4 to November 9, 2011.

5 Nov 2011

Supplemental dose of pneumonia vaccine recommended for age-eligible patients

In a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, healthcare providers are being urged to administer a supplemental dose of the 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine to age-eligible patients as they come in for visits.

5 Nov 2011

Angolan health officials on high alert after polio case confirmed

Health officials in the northern Angolan province of Uige are on high alert "after a 14-month-old boy tested positive for polio, which has made a resurgence in the country, UNICEF said Thursday," Agence France-Presse reports (11/3).

5 Nov 2011

Viewpoints: Romney's plan to cut the debt; congressional squabbles on spending; spurning insurers' concerns about new labels

First, eliminate every government program that is not absolutely essential. There are many things government does that we may like but that we do not need. … For example: Repeal ObamaCare, which would save $95 billion in 2016. …Eliminate Title X family planning programs benefiting abortion groups like Planned Parenthood. … Second, return federal programs to the states where innovation, cost management and reduction of fraud and abuse can far exceed what Washington achieves. I will block grant Medicaid and workforce training, saving well over $100 billion in 2016.

5 Nov 2011

Investment in USAID has saved millions of lives, is critical for U.S. security

In this Politico opinion piece, Brian Atwood and colleagues, all former USAID administrators in previous Democratic or Republican administrations and current advisers to the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition, write, "Over the last half-century, USAID has had an extraordinary record of accomplishment. Using less than one percent of the U.S. budget annually, the American people have demonstrated their deepest values through USAID programs, saving tens of millions of lives worldwide with immunization programs, oral rehydration therapy, treatment for HIV/AIDS and work on other diseases."

4 Nov 2011

GSK, Alnylam collaborate to apply VaxiRNA technology for influenza vaccine production

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a leading RNAi therapeutics company, announced today it has formed a collaboration with GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) focused on Alnylam's VaxiRNATM technology for certain GSK vaccine products, including influenza. VaxiRNA is a new RNAi technology for the enhanced production of viruses used in the manufacture of vaccine products. GSK, a leading vaccine manufacturer, is the first company to form a collaboration accessing this new platform.

2 Nov 2011

Thyroid researcher to receive ATA's John B. Stanbury Pathophysiology Medal

Each year, the American Thyroid Association (ATA) recognizes the outstanding research contributions of one of its members to a greater understanding of thyroid physiology or the pathophysiology of thyroid disease, with its presentation of the John B. Stanbury Pathophysiology Medal at its Annual Meeting.

29 Oct 2011

Number of polio cases in Pakistan exceeds total number reported in three other endemic countries, report says

According to a report published earlier this month in Virology Journal by a team at the bioinformatics laboratory of the Centre for Excellence in Molecular Biology (CEMB) in Lahore, Pakistan, that country is reporting more polio cases than Nigeria, India and Afghanistan -- the three other countries where the disease is endemic -- combined, SciDev.Net reports.

29 Oct 2011

GAVI Alliance brings life-saving pneumococcal vaccine to Nicaragua

In this post in PBS NewsHour's blog "The Rundown," senior correspondent Ray Suarez reports on his time in Nicaragua with the NewsHour's global health unit for the national rollout of a pneumococcal pneumonia immunization campaign.

28 Oct 2011

TEDMED 2012 conference to take place in Washington, DC

TEDMED, the world's leading multi-disciplinary conference on the future of health and medicine, today announced that the 2012 edition of the conference will take place in Washington, DC at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts from April 11-13, 2012.

28 Oct 2011

DRC government, UNICEF campaign immunizes 14M children against polio

"Thousands of vaccination teams have traversed the vast Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) on foot, by motorbike, boat and car, in a campaign to immunize at least 14 million children against polio, the U.N. Children's Fund (UNICEF) said," IRIN reports.

28 Oct 2011

EC approves Pfizer's pneumococcal conjugate vaccine, Prevenar 13

Pfizer Inc. announced today that the European Commission has approved the Company's pneumococcal conjugate vaccine, Prevenar 13 (pneumococcal polysaccharide conjugate vaccine, for active immunization for the prevention of vaccine-type invasive disease caused by Streptococcus pneumoniae in adults aged 50 years and older.

27 Oct 2011

U.N. officials warn Yemen facing humanitarian, health disasters

High-level officials from UNICEF and the World Food Programme (WFP) this week warned that "routine immunization of children has dropped by 40 percent in some areas of Yemen, leading to outbreaks of polio and measles and reflecting a growing collapse of public services in a country that is on the brink of a humanitarian disaster," IRIN reports.

27 Oct 2011

IAC enters cooperative agreement with NCIRD

The Immunization Action Coalition (IAC), one of the nation's premier sources of immunization information, and the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases (NCIRD) of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are entering into a cooperative agreement that will distribute IAC's highly regarded publications to pediatricians, family physicians, and other healthcare professionals involved in providing immunization services. The award is for $1.4 million over five years.

27 Oct 2011

Study: pGJA-P/VAX vaccine shows promise against dental caries

In a report on a preclinical investigation titled "Flagellin Enhances Saliva IgA Response and Protection of Anti-caries DNA Vaccine," lead author Wei Shi, Wuhan Institute of Virology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and his team of researchers demonstrate that anti-caries DNA vaccines, including pGJA-P/VAX, are promising for preventing dental caries. However, challenges remain because of the low immunogenicity of DNA vaccines.

27 Oct 2011

Gardasil vaccine safe and effective against anal cancer

A large, international clinical trial led by doctors at the University of California, San Francisco indicates that a vaccine to prevent anal cancer is safe and effective, according to a study reported in the Oct. 27, 2011 issue of New England Journal of Medicine.

27 Oct 2011

Addressing barriers to successful immunization programs important while vaccine development progresses

Immunizations can be a cost-effective means of disease prevention, but "[t]o reach the fully realized stage of cost-effectiveness, ... it is vital to acknowledge -- and more importantly, address -- the barriers that often prevent them from either being as cheap or as widely used as needed," Forbes contributor Sarika Bansal writes in a Forbes opinion piece.

27 Oct 2011

Routine HPV vaccine for boys advised by health advisory panel

A government advisory panel on Tuesday decided that the vaccine against cervical cancer causing virus – HPV (Human Papilloma Virus) should also be given to boys, in part to help prevent the cancer-causing virus through sex. The HPV virus has been recommended for girls aged 9 to 26 since 2006.

26 Oct 2011