Tetanus News and Research

RSS

Tetanus is a severe, frequently fatal disease caused by an exotoxin produced by Clostridium tetani, a bacterium that is found in the environment. Tetanus is not transmitted from person to person. Rather, Clostridium tetani enters the body through an open wound, including lacerations, abrasions and puncture wounds. The toxin causes neuromuscular dysfunction, with rigidity and spasms of skeletal muscles. The muscle spasms usually start in the jaw (which is why the disease is sometimes called "lockjaw") and neck and may spread to many other muscles, leading to generalized paralysis.

Preventable infectious diseases cause two-thirds of child deaths: The Lancet

Preventable infectious diseases cause two-thirds of child deaths, according to a new study published today by The Lancet. Experts from the World Health Organization and UNICEF's Child Health Epidemiology Reference Group assessed data from 193 countries to produce estimates by country, region and the world.

12 May 2010

New York Times examines global fight against HIV/AIDS

Several articles in the New York Times examine the global fight against HIV/AIDS. "Uganda is the first country where major clinics routinely turn people away" because they lack funding, the newspaper writes in an article that reports "money for [HIV/AIDS] treatment has stopped growing."

11 May 2010

Immunization campaigns to be launched simultaneously in 112 countries and territories

For the first time, immunization campaigns are being launched simultaneously tomorrow in 112 countries and territories in the World Health Organization Regions of the Americas, Eastern Mediterranean and Europe, with the goals of expanding immunization coverage and raising awareness of the importance of vaccines.

24 Apr 2010

Merck to market and distribute MBL's Td vaccine in the U.S.

MassBiologics of the University of Massachusetts Medical School and Merck & Co., Inc. announced today that they have entered into an agreement that provides Merck with exclusive rights to market and distribute MBL's tetanus and diphtheria toxoids adsorbed (Td) vaccine in the United States, with the exception of Massachusetts, where MBL will continue distributing the vaccine.

21 Apr 2010

New pilot program to boost HPV and Tdap vaccination rates among women

Obstetrician/gynecologist offices may be the ideal venue for boosting vaccination rates among women, say researchers at Duke University Medical Center. They reported today on a successful pilot program focused on providing HPV and Tdap vaccines to non-pregnant and post-partum women.

21 Apr 2010

MinuteClinic helps patients take control of allergies with treatment services seven days a week

As trees blossom and shed their pollen and grasses and weeds germinate in yards and fields across America, allergy sufferers are retreating indoors with seemingly no relief in sight. MinuteClinic, the walk-in medical clinic inside select CVS/pharmacy stores, can help patients breathe easier and take control of their allergies this spring with treatment services available seven days a week, including weekday evening hours.

16 Apr 2010

MinuteClinic launches health condition monitoring services for diabetes, asthma and high cholesterol patients

MinuteClinic, the largest provider of retail-based medical clinics in the United States, has introduced a series of convenient health condition monitoring services to help patients previously diagnosed with diabetes, asthma, high cholesterol and high blood pressure overcome the challenges of living with their conditions. Health condition monitoring is available at MinuteClinic locations in CVS/pharmacy stores in 20 states and the District of Columbia. MinuteClinic is the retail health care division of CVS Caremark (CVS).

2 Apr 2010

GSK offers free vaccines for low income adults without insurance coverage

GlaxoSmithKline today announced the launch of the GSK Vaccines Access Program, which will provide the company's adult vaccines free of charge to eligible, low income individuals who do not have insurance coverage for vaccines. The program will cover the company's FDA-approved vaccines for Hepatitis A, Hepatitis B, tetanus, diphtheria, and pertussis for eligible persons ages 19 and older.

29 Mar 2010

China Biologic Products' fourth quarter revenue rises 185.6%

China Biologic Products, Inc., one of the leading plasma-based biopharmaceutical companies in the People's Republic of China, operating through its indirect majority-owned subsidiaries, Shandong Taibang Biological Products Co. Ltd and Guiyang Dalin Biologic Technologies Co., Ltd. and its equity investment in Xi'an Huitian Blood Products Co., Ltd., today reported financial results for the fourth quarter and year ended December 31, 2009.

24 Mar 2010

GAVI calls meeting with existing, potential donors

The GAVI Alliance has "asked existing and potential donors to a meeting in The Hague on March 25 and 26 to challenge them to 'make a strong impact' on childhood death rates," Reuters reports. "GAVI, which is supported by the World Health Organization, the World Bank, UNICEF, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and vaccine makers, says it has 40 percent of the $7 billion it needs between now and 2015 to help" immunize of millions of children in developing countries by 2015, according to the news service.

16 Mar 2010

False positives in screening tests

In many jurisdictions, tests for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) are required screening for pregnant women. Some even suggest screening the entire population for HIV. The rationale is to administer powerful antiretroviral drugs to healthy individuals to "prevent transmission."

10 Mar 2010

Supreme Court to hear case on vaccine side effects

The Associated Press: The Supreme Court will hear a case to decide whether drug makers can be sued by families who claim their children have suffered health problems from vaccines, going against a 1986 federal law that shields drug makers from most lawsuits and instead sets up a federal vaccine court to handle disputes.

10 Mar 2010

Tetanus, hepatitis vaccination campaign launched in Chile amid fears of disease outbreaks

"Chile launched a hepatitis and tetanus vaccination campaign Friday and doctors warned of outbreaks of diarrhea and infection among thousands of people displaced by the earthquake and the tsunami that heavily damaged or destroyed 36 hospitals and made garbage dumps of coastal towns and cities," the Associated Press reports. So far, no dysentery outbreaks or other communicable diseases had been reported, Chile's health ministry said, adding that it believed it had adequate amounts of tetanus and hepatitis vaccinations.

9 Mar 2010

Boosting immune response to vaccinations: Role of aluminium adjuvants

An imminent publication in Trends in Immunology by a leading researcher in the bioinorganic chemistry of aluminium, Dr Christopher Exley, Reader in Bioinorganic Chemistry at The Birchall Centre, Keele University in Staffordshire, has now gone some way to giving the fullest possible explanation of how aluminium adjuvants work in boosting the immune response to vaccination.

4 Mar 2010

Senate Committee report addresses U.S. government response to Haiti

A Senate Foreign Relations Committee report, written by two Senate staffers, who just returned from Haiti where they assessed relief efforts, draws attention to "immediate shelter and sanitation concerns" and voices "concern about the coordination of Washington's U.S. government response to Haiti," Politico's Laura Rozen writes on her blog. A link to the text of the report appears on Politico's Web site.

24 Feb 2010

BioCrossroads' Indiana Seed Fund invests $400,000 in Bioscience Vaccines

BioCrossroads' Indiana Seed Fund has invested in Bioscience Vaccines, Inc. to accelerate the development of biologic materials, which may boost the effectiveness of a wide range of life-saving vaccines.

19 Feb 2010

Researchers develop technology to preserve vaccines in tropical temperatures

A team of British researchers have developed a simple, low-cost method to preserve vaccines in tropical climates, which they say could help to revolutionalize vaccination campaigns in developing countries, Reuters reports.

19 Feb 2010

American Red Cross raises $32M in mobile giving for ongoing relief efforts in Haiti

Hundreds of thousands of cell phone users have made $10 donations to the American Red Cross Haiti Relief and Development Fund by sending the word "Haiti" to 90999, raising a record-shattering $32 million in mobile giving for the ongoing relief efforts.

12 Feb 2010

sanofi-aventis reports 2009 fourth-quarter and full-year net earnings

Commenting on the Group's 2009 performance, sanofi-aventis Chief Executive Officer Christopher A. Viehbacher said, "2009 was the first year of implementation of our new strategy. Major steps have already been achieved in strengthening our growth platforms and reinforcing our R&D pipeline while delivering a double-digit EPS(1) growth".

10 Feb 2010

New report finds low adult vaccination rates in U.S.

A new report, Adult Immunization: Shots to Save Lives, released today by the Trust for America's Health (TFAH), the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA), and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) found that more than 30 percent of adults ages 65 and older had not been immunized against pneumonia in 36 states as of 2008.

5 Feb 2010