Immunization News and Research

RSS

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

BMA calls for mass child vaccinations for hepatitis B virus (HBV)

The British Medical Association (BMA) has today called for all children in the UK to be immunised against a potentially fatal liver disease caused by the hepatitis B virus (HBV).

9 May 2005

Polio threat originates in Nigeria 2 years after it was banished in most countries

Almost two years after radical Islamic preachers in Nigeria influenced parents against having their children vaccinated against polio for fear it was part of a U.S. plot against Muslims, a Nigerian strain of the virus that causes the crippling disease has occurred as far away as Indonesia.

4 May 2005

Second polio case reported in Indonesia

Another case of polio has been diagnosed in the Javanese village where little 18-month-old Fikri Ramdani lives. Fikri is the first polio case confirmed in Indonesia in the latest re-appearance of the disease which has been virtually wiped out in the majority of developed countries.

4 May 2005

Polio strikes Indonesia

One decade after recording the last case of polio in Indonesia, a 20 month-old girl from Sukabumi district in West Java has been paralysed by poliovirus type one (P1). She had never been immunized against polio. Several more suspected cases have been identified in the immediate area and are being investigated.

4 May 2005

New Zealand Ministry of Health to consider Vaxigrip vaccine trial results

Pharmac and the New Zealand Ministry of Health are aware that Sanofi-Pasteur has been running a clinical trial to demonstrate the efficacy of their influenza vaccine, Vaxigrip.

4 May 2005

Polio alert after Indonesian child is stricken

After an 18-month-old boy was diagnosed with polio, Australian parents planning holidays in Indonesia have been warned to ensure babies and toddlers have been vaccinated for polio.

3 May 2005

Boostrix receives FDA approval as treatment for pertussis

GlaxoSmithKline today announced that its booster vaccine, Boostrix received approval from the United States (U.S.) Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

3 May 2005

Launching of Vaccination Week in the Americas

The Pan American Health Organization, PAHO, together with the governments of the United States, Mexico and Canada, will hold a press conference Monday, April 25 at 10 a.m. at the National Press Club to launch Vaccination Week in the Americas, a multi-country immunization campaign.

23 Apr 2005

Protection against 12 different communicable diseases available for infants and toddlers

In recognition of National Infant Immunization Week (April 24, 2005 through April 30, 2005), the Nassau County Department of Health urges all parents to ensure that their infants and toddlers are fully protected from the following vaccine preventable diseases: diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis (whooping cough), poliomyelitis, measles, mumps, rubella, hepatitis B, haemophilus influenza (meningitis), varicella (chickenpox), pneumococcal disease and influenza.

12 Apr 2005

Competition in health care may not result in better quality

For several decades, competition within the health care industry has been touted as the way to curb rising prices by reducing inefficient practices and improving quality and safety. But a study of 341 HMOs suggests that more competition may not automatically solve price and quality-of-care problems as hoped for by legislators, regulators and employers.

7 Apr 2005