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First demonstration of a vaccine for Parkinson's

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) School of Medicine working with scientists at Elan Pharmaceuticals, have reported promising results in mice of a vaccine approach to treating Parkinson’s and similar diseases. These results appear in the June edition of the journal Neuron.

15 Jun 2005

Dendritic cell vaccination can dramatically speed up the immunization process

Parents often wonder why it takes a year or more and multiple shots to fully immunize their children against diseases like diphtheria and pertussis.

12 Jun 2005

Findings could lead to a new approach in diagnosing and treating Alzheimer’s disease

The human body has its own defense against brain aging: the innate immune system, which helps to clean the brain of amyloid-beta waste products. However, UCLA researchers discovered that some patients with Alzheimer’s disease have an immune defect making it difficult to clean away these wastes.

From MP Biomedicals, LLC 10 Jun 2005

The MeNZB vaccine will work

The New Zealand Ministry of Health followed an internationally accepted process for licensing the MeNZB vaccine.

9 Jun 2005

One-time whooping cough vaccination at 11 years of age may potentially be cost-effective

Despite childhood vaccination rates at all-time highs, pertussis (whooping cough) has re-emerged over the past two decades, especially among adolescents, adults, and young infants. Because of this resurgence, federal health policymakers are considering a national booster vaccination program.

6 Jun 2005

Whooping cough vaccine may be introduced in New Zealand

The New Zealand's Ministry of Health has confirmed, as a whooping cough epidemic continues to sweep the country, that a new vaccine to control the spread of whooping cough may be introduced next year.

5 Jun 2005

New vaccine against whooping cough is effective in teens and adults

The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) has announced that a study to be published in the June 22/29 issue found that a new vaccine against whooping cough is effective in teens and adults, carriers of the contagious respiratory disease so dangerous to infants.

3 Jun 2005

Immunising against influenza

New Zealanders who were immunised against influenza last year are likely to have some protection against the current influenza viruses hitting schools around the country.

2 Jun 2005

Indonesia vaccinates millions against polio

In an attempt to eradicate an outbreak of polio, Health officials in Indonesia will vaccinate millions of children this week. The vaccination programme is a massive response by the government to try to stamp Indonesia's first outbreak of polio in a decade.

31 May 2005

Guyana Health Minister outlines progress at World Health Assembly

Guyana Health Minister Dr. Leslie Ramsammy has outlined health progress being made in his country despite high levels of poverty and major floods that affected hundreds of thousands of people earlier this year.

23 May 2005

Health Protection Agency publishes report on the benefits of vaccination to children's health

The Health Protection Agency today publishes its first national report on the current status of the UK’s universal vaccine programmes, which protect children against a range of childhood diseases including measles, mumps, rubella and meningitis.

23 May 2005

New combination vaccine effective against plague

Plague, a bacterium that ravaged Europe in the Middle Ages and is today one of the most feared potential agents of bio-terrorism, may have met its match, according to Wake Forest University School of Medicine scientists.

18 May 2005

Polio vaccination launched despite objection from religious group

A partnership between Mali's Ministry of Health and the UN children's fund UNICEF launched a third and final phase of polio immunisation on May 13th, aiming to reach 3.6 million children. Regardless of recent opposition from religious leaders, the three day programme plans to inoculate all children five years and under.

15 May 2005

Annual flu shots to be recommended for everyone in the U.S.

Public health advocates in the U.S. are predicting that within five years, annual flu shots will be recommended by the government for every American and not just young children, the elderly and other at-risk people.

15 May 2005

No link between MMR jab and Crohn's disease

A research paper published in 1998, which claimed the MMR jab was in some way linked to autism and Crohn's disease, the inflammatory bowel disease, caused MMR vaccination numbers to fall across the country.

12 May 2005

Six million doses of polio vaccine shipped to Yemen

Six million doses of monovalent oral polio vaccine type 1 (mOPV1) have been shipped to Yemen, as part of emergency measures to stop the ongoing polio outbreak in the country.

11 May 2005

Vaccine against Alzheimer's disease may still be on the cards

A new, but modified, trial of an Alzheimer's vaccine has begun in the U.S. despite an earlier one being abandoned in 2002 due to safety concerns.

10 May 2005

Fragile US vaccine system needs improvement

A comprehensive system of vaccine development in the U.S. resulted in a reduction of 87 to more than 99 percent in illness from ten vaccine-preventable diseases during the twentieth century. These dramatic successes should not be taken for granted, however, as the vaccine system now faces numerous challenges in manufacturing and development, according to a review article in the May/June issue of Health Affairs.

10 May 2005

Americans willing to pay more for greater vaccine coverage

How much is it worth to you and your family to have a health insurance plan that covers the latest innovations in adult and childhood vaccines for certain types of cancer or even influenza and pneumonia?

10 May 2005

Australia helps stop Polio spread in Indonesia

Australia has responded quickly and generously with a $1 million contribution to help prevent the spread of an outbreak of polio in the Indonesian Province of West Java, the Parliamentary Secretary for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Mr Bruce Billson, announced recently.

10 May 2005