Immunization News and Research

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Study examines alternative immunization schedule occurrence rates in Washington State

Seventy-seven percent of Washington state pediatricians report that they are sometimes or frequently asked to provide alternative childhood vaccine schedules for their patients, according to a new study from Seattle Children's Research Institute. Researchers also found that 61 percent of Washington state pediatricians are comfortable using an alternative schedule when asked by a parent.

30 Nov 2011

Shots reduce risk of chicken pox

Infants below the age of one may be too young to get the chicken pox vaccine but far fewer of them got the itchy rash after the U.S. started routinely vaccinating older children in 1995, according to a new study.

29 Nov 2011

Many kids missing vaccinations owing to parental refusal: Report

Figures reveal that more parents are opting out of school shots for their kids. In eight states now, more than one in 20 public school kindergarten children aren't getting all the vaccines required for attendance.

29 Nov 2011

EC extends therapeutic indication for Soliris to treat atypical hemolytic uremic syndrome

Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced that the European Commission (EC) has extended the therapeutic indication for Soliris® (eculizumab) to include the treatment of pediatric and adult patients with atypical hemolytic uremic syndrome (aHUS).

29 Nov 2011

New glycoconjugate vaccine prototype more effective than traditional vaccines

Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) researchers have created a vaccine that is more potent than traditional vaccines available today. The glycoconjugate vaccine prototype is 100 times more effective than traditional glycoconjugate vaccines. Their work is published in the December 2011 issue of Nature Medicine.

29 Nov 2011

Pediatricians frequently asked to provide alternative childhood vaccine schedules

29 Nov 2011

Office Ally selected as approved EHR vendor for Arizona REC

Office Ally announced today that it has been selected as an approved electronic health record (EHR) vendor for the Arizona Regional Extension Center (REC).

28 Nov 2011

Mass immunization with cervical cancer vaccine switched to a more effective variety

Cervarix is currently offered to girls aged 12 and 13 years to protect against strains of the sexually transmitted human papillomavirus (HPV), which causes most cases of cancer of the cervix, the neck of the womb. Cervarix was picked by the Labour government for the first four-year phase of the NHS programme in 2008 because it offered ‘best overall value’ and more than five million doses have been given.

27 Nov 2011

Financial incentives effective at altering 'simple' behaviors in socially disadvantaged groups

Financial incentives work for doctors. Could they work for patients, too? Could they encourage them to change unhealthy behaviors and use preventive health services more? In some cases, yes, according to Dr. Marita Lynagh from the University of Newcastle in Australia, and colleagues. Their work, looking at why financial incentives for patients could be a good thing to change risky health behaviors, indicates that incentives are likely to be particularly effective at altering 'simple' behaviors e.g. take-up of immunizations, primarily among socially disadvantaged groups.

21 Nov 2011

GAVI Alliance to fund roll-out of vaccines against cervical cancer, rubella in developing countries

The GAVI Alliance "has agreed to fund the roll-out of vaccines against cervical cancer in developing countries, offering protection against a disease that kills one woman every two minutes," Reuters reports.

19 Nov 2011

IDSA supports 'Get Smart About Antibiotics Week'

With antibiotic-resistant infections increasingly common, and a dangerous lack of new infection fighters in the drug development pipeline, it's more important than ever to use existing antibiotics appropriately. This week, infectious disease experts are helping to educate consumers, health care providers, and policymakers about when antibiotics can help, when misuse of these lifesaving drugs can do more harm than good, and the tremendous need for new antibiotics to protect patients.

18 Nov 2011

IAC executive director wins ECBT Immunization Leadership Award

The Immunization Action Coalition (IAC) is proud to announce that its executive director, Deborah Wexler, MD, has been selected as the honoree of the Every Child By Two Immunization Leadership Award. Every Child By Two (ECBT), founded by former First Lady Rosalynn Carter and former First Lady of Arkansas Betty Bumpers, is dedicated to protecting all children from vaccine-preventable diseases.

17 Nov 2011

Encouraging results from KAEL-GemVax GV1001 Phase II trial on NSCLC

KAEL-GemVax, a leading oncology biopharmaceutical company, today announced that results from a Phase II trial (CTN-2006) in Stage III non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients vaccinated with the telomerase peptide GV1001 after chemoradiotherapy and an 8-year update from a phase I/II trial have been published in the November issue of Clinical Cancer, the journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.

15 Nov 2011

Pregnant women, new mothers benefit from text4baby mobile service

Researchers at UC San Diego Health System's Department of Reproductive Medicine and the National Latino Research Center (NLRC) at Cal State San Marcos University recently presented data at the American Public Health Association Conference in Washington D.C., demonstrating the impact of text4baby, a free mobile service that provides pregnant women and new mothers in San Diego with maternal, fetal and newborn health information via text messages and connects them to national health resources.

15 Nov 2011

IVI receives WHO prequalification for new oral cholera vaccine

Shanchol-, a new oral cholera vaccine developed through the International Vaccine Institute (IVI), an international organization established by the United Nations and based in Seoul, recently received prequalification from the World Health Organization.

13 Nov 2011

Third annual World Pneumonia Day to be observed on Saturday

The third annual World Pneumonia Day will be observed on Saturday.

11 Nov 2011

UC Santa Barbara's ImmuNet project focuses on targeted immunizations for infants, children

The University of California, Santa Barbara announced today that it will receive funding through Grand Challenges Explorations, an initiative created by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation that enables researchers worldwide to test unorthodox ideas that address persistent health and development challenges. Professors Elizabeth Belding and Amr El Abbadi in the Computer Science Department will pursue an innovative global health research project, titled "ImmuNet: Targeted Immunizations for Infants and Children".

8 Nov 2011

Private sector companies should contribute to GAVI Matching Fund

The GAVI Alliance has "announced a major new initiative aimed at engaging private sector leaders: the GAVI Matching Fund," through which "the British Government's Department for International Development (DFID) and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will provide a 100 percent match of contributions to GAVI from corporations and foundations as well as their customers, members and employees," Bill Roedy, former CEO of MTV Networks and a GAVI Alliance envoy, writes in a post on the Huffington Post's "Impact" blog.

8 Nov 2011

Live virus used in polio vaccine can evolve and infect, warns TAU researcher

Health professionals and researchers across the globe believe they are on the verge of eradicating polio, a devastating virus which can lead to paralysis and death. Despite successful eradication in most countries, there are still four countries where the virus is considered endemic -- and many more in which the virus still lurks.

8 Nov 2011

Georgia Tech/CDC project focuses on microneedle patches for polio vaccination

Mark Prausnitz, Regents' professor in Georgia Tech's School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, will pursue an innovative global health research project focused on using microneedle patches for the low-cost administration of polio vaccine through the skin in collaboration with researchers Steve Oberste and Mark Pallansch of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

8 Nov 2011