Measles News and Research

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Measles is a highly contagious, serious disease caused by a virus. It remains a leading cause of death among young children globally, despite the availability of a safe and effective vaccine. An estimated 197 000 people died from measles in 2007, mostly children under the age of five.

Measles is caused by a virus in the paramyxovirus family. The measles virus normally grows in the cells that line the back of the throat and the lungs. It is a human disease not known to occur in animals.

HPV vaccine enjoys wide support from medical and public health communities

The vaccine that protects against the potentially cancer-causing human papillomavirus (HPV) enjoys wide support in the medical and public health communities. Yet state laws to require young girls to be vaccinated as a requirement for middle school attendance have aroused controversy with parents, politicians, and even medical and public health experts disagreeing about whether such laws are appropriate.

4 Nov 2010

SYMBICORT improves lung function in African American asthma patients compared to budesonide alone

AstraZeneca announced today that results from TITAN, a 12-week study of SYMBICORT® (budesonide/formoterol fumarate dihydrate) Inhalation Aerosol in African American patients with moderate to severe persistent asthma, showed significant improvement in lung function for patients taking SYMBICORT compared with those using budesonide alone.

3 Nov 2010

Clear guidelines needed for consistent diagnosis and treatment of childhood stroke

Researchers are calling for clear guidelines on childhood stroke after a study, published in the November issue of Acta Paediatrica, found wide variations in time lag to diagnosis, investigation and treatment.

1 Nov 2010

Merck reports $342 million net income for 2010 third quarter

Merck & Co., Inc. today announced financial results for the third quarter of 2010. The company reported non-GAAP (generally accepted accounting principles) earnings per share (EPS) for the third quarter of $0.85, which excludes purchase accounting adjustments, restructuring costs, merger-related expenses and a $950 million legal reserve.

29 Oct 2010

Scientists identify potential new treatment for Nipah and Hendra viruses

Scientists at Weill Cornell Medical College have identified a potential new treatment for the Nipah and Hendra viruses, two lethal and emerging viruses for which there is currently no treatment or vaccine available. The approach could also lead to new therapies for measles, mumps and the flu. The new research appears in today's edition of the prestigious journal Public Library of Science (PLoS) Pathogens.

29 Oct 2010

Bivalent oral polio vaccine produces better immune response than more commonly used trivalent vaccine, study says

The bivalent oral polio vaccine (bOPV) was found to induce a significantly higher immune response than the existing trivalent oral polio vaccine (tOPV), according to a study published on Tuesday in the journal Lancet, Reuters reports.

27 Oct 2010

WHO Western Pacific meeting addresses immunization, TB control, women's health

The WHO Regional Committee for the Western Pacific meeting continued with leaders discussing regional immunization goals, public health emergencies, TB control, and the health effects of urbanization, multiple news outlets report.

15 Oct 2010

Study finds vaccination rates in decline for children covered by private health plans

A new report shows that vaccination rates among two-year-olds covered by private insurance plans dipped by almost four percentage points last year." At the same time, vaccination rates for children covered by Medicaid were edging up by less than 1%.

15 Oct 2010

Reuters examines experts' concerns about global polio eradication effort

Reuters examines the global effort to eradicate polio and how failure to eliminate the disease could affect future global health undertakings.

15 Oct 2010

Anti-vaccination group loses charitable status

An anti-vaccination group that has been in the news for all the wrong reasons recently has been stripped of its charitable status after the state government found its fund raising appeals had not been conducted in good faith. The Australian Vaccination Network (AVN) came into news when in July it was ordered to publish a disclaimer on its website stating the group was anti-vaccination and its material should not be read as medical advice.

14 Oct 2010

Justices wrestle with issue of protecting vaccine makers

The Supreme Court is grappling with the question of how much protection the 1986 National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act was meant to provide vaccine manufacturers against lawsuits. The case involves Hannah Bruesewitz, whose parents claim that a Wyeth-manufactured D.T.P. vaccine she received as an infant in 1992 led to developmental problems.

14 Oct 2010

Today's Opeds: Individual mandate in court, on ballot and in campaigns

The first federal court decision on the constitutionality of the new health care reform law upheld its validity and dealt a well-deserved setback to opponents who are trying to overturn it.

14 Oct 2010

Vaccine lawsuits – Justices divided

The US Supreme Court is seemingly divided over the lawsuits on childhood vaccines. The Justices acquiesced that the Congress has done its bit to shield vaccine-makers from suits by the few who have had an adverse reaction to a vaccine approved by the Food and Drug Administration. Now the matter revolves around whether those hurt by vaccines have the right to sue manufacturers if they can prove that a safer version was available.

12 Oct 2010

Mammography, vaccines still raise questions in consumers' minds

NPR reports on two preventive measures that, despite years of research, still have consumers wondering what to do.

12 Oct 2010

Spanish mothers more concerned about the safety of childhood vaccines

Researchers from the University of Alicante (UA) taking part in the European VACSATC project have studied mothers' and fathers' opinions on vaccinating their children in five countries. The results of the survey show that Spanish mothers are more resistant than those in other countries to the idea of paying for vaccines, while 20.9% expressed some concern about the safety of vaccines.

8 Oct 2010

Data shows Take Care Clinics’ quality of care exceeds national benchmarks

Take Care Health Systems, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Walgreens and the nation's largest and most comprehensive manager of convenient care clinics and worksite health and wellness centers, today announced that an analysis of de-identified data collected through the company's electronic medical record (EMR) system by the Jefferson School of Population Health showed that the quality of care delivered in Take Care Clinics for treatment of pharyngitis (inflammation of the throat) and upper respiratory infections (URI) meets or exceeds the quality of the care delivered in other settings.

5 Oct 2010

Dangers of not vaccinating children

Deadly diseases are making a comeback. Pertussis, or whooping cough, has killed nine infants this year in California, and outbreaks of measles and Hib meningitis have struck U.S. communities in the past three years.

5 Oct 2010

Outbreak of whooping cough mirrors challenges in developing world, global health official says

The outbreak of whooping cough in Texas, California, and other states this year underscores the critical importance of widespread vaccination coverage, both locally as well as around the world, said a leading global health official attending conferences on world affairs and immunization in Fort Worth this week.

29 Sep 2010

Tamir's compounds perform better than Ganciclovir for Cytomegalovirus disease: Study

Tamir Biotechnology, Inc. announced today that scientists supported by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) reported test results confirming two of our lead compounds outperformed market leader Roche's drug Ganciclovir in cell culture and plaque reduction assay (the gold standard) for Cytomegalovirus (CMV) disease. Additionally, antiviral activity was also apparent against other human herpesviruses, namely, HSV-1 (cold sores), HSV-2 (genital herpes), and Varicella-Zoster Virus (VZV) (chicken-pox and shingles).

29 Sep 2010

V.P. Biden pledges to 'sustain long-term' aid for Pakistan; U.S. concerned about aid branding

Vice President Joe Biden and British Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg recently said the U.S. and Britain would provide "'sustained long-term' support to Pakistani flood victims," Agence France-Presse reports.

28 Sep 2010

Measles News and Research

Further Reading

HPV vaccine enjoys wide support from medical and public health communities

SYMBICORT improves lung function in African American asthma patients compared to budesonide alone

Clear guidelines needed for consistent diagnosis and treatment of childhood stroke

Merck reports $342 million net income for 2010 third quarter

Scientists identify potential new treatment for Nipah and Hendra viruses

Bivalent oral polio vaccine produces better immune response than more commonly used trivalent vaccine, study says

WHO Western Pacific meeting addresses immunization, TB control, women's health

Study finds vaccination rates in decline for children covered by private health plans

Reuters examines experts' concerns about global polio eradication effort

Anti-vaccination group loses charitable status

Justices wrestle with issue of protecting vaccine makers

Today's Opeds: Individual mandate in court, on ballot and in campaigns

Vaccine lawsuits – Justices divided

Mammography, vaccines still raise questions in consumers' minds

Spanish mothers more concerned about the safety of childhood vaccines

Data shows Take Care Clinics’ quality of care exceeds national benchmarks

Dangers of not vaccinating children

Outbreak of whooping cough mirrors challenges in developing world, global health official says

Tamir's compounds perform better than Ganciclovir for Cytomegalovirus disease: Study

V.P. Biden pledges to 'sustain long-term' aid for Pakistan; U.S. concerned about aid branding

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