Vaccine News and Research

Latest Vaccine News and Research

British scientist who discovered link with smoking and cancer, dies at 92

The British scientist Sir Richard Doll, who was the first scientist to expose the link between smoking and lung cancer, has died in hospital, after a short illness; he was 92.

25 Jul 2005

Bacteria use host's immune response to their competitive advantage

Millions of bacteria live within the recesses of our noses and upper respiratory tracts, waiting for a chance to infiltrate and infect. But long before these bacteria break through our immune defenses, they must first compete against other bacterial species to colonize the mucus-lined surfaces of our noses.

24 Jul 2005

British holiday maker dies of rabies after dog bite in Goa

Health officials in the UK have confirmed that a woman who was bitten by a dog on her holiday in Goa, India, has died from rabies.

23 Jul 2005

Role of IL-24 in regulating the immune system

Researchers at Introgen Therapeutics and their collaborators at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center have published new findings on the role of IL-24 in regulating the immune system in the current online issue of the Journal of Leukocyte Biology.

21 Jul 2005

Debate on autism link to vaccines fired up again

In a relatively unusual event, federal health officials called a news conference this week in an attempt to affirm the safety of vaccines.

21 Jul 2005

Brits stockpiling bird flu vaccine

A stockpile of 2 million doses of vaccine to fight the H5N1 strain of Asian bird flu will be accumulated by the British government.

21 Jul 2005

High rates of cervical cancer are indicators of larger problems in access to health care

The report also finds that cervical cancer mortality, which is higher in certain geographic areas and populations, is a marker for other health disparities.

21 Jul 2005

Sanofi pasteur gear up for influenza pandemic with new plant

Work has officially begun on the construction of a new sanofi pasteur manufacturing facility that will expand the ability of the United States to produce influenza vaccine for both routine influenza immunization and in case of a global influenza pandemic.

21 Jul 2005

New design for HIV vaccine trials in animals

Emory University researchers have proposed a new design for HIV vaccine trials in animals that would more closely mimic how humans are exposed to the virus - potentially giving AIDS researchers a more effective tool in developing successful treatments to prevent HIV infection.

20 Jul 2005

Moraxella catarrhalis found to be responsible for 10 percent of exacerbations of COPD

A ubiquitous bacterial strain thought to be uninvolved in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in fact is responsible for 2-4 million flare-ups of the condition that occur annually in the United States, researchers from the University at Buffalo have shown.

20 Jul 2005

Research examines the effect of visual impairment on Alzheimer's disease patients in nursing homes

One in three nursing home residents who have Alzheimer’s disease are not getting their vision corrected so they can see clearly, according to new Saint Louis University research in the July issue of the Journal of the American Medical Directors Association.

20 Jul 2005

America's Children: Key National Indicators of Well-Being 2005

The adolescent birth rate has reached another record low, the death rate for children between ages 1 and 4 is the lowest ever, young children are more likely to receive their recommended immunizations, and fourth graders are scoring better in math, according to a yearly compendium of statistics from federal agencies concerned with children.

20 Jul 2005

Intestinal hormone secretin should not be used to treat autism

The intestinal hormone secretin, considered by some to be a promising drug in the treatment of autism, does not improve the symptoms and should not be used to treat the disorder, according to a new review of studies.

19 Jul 2005

U.S. stockpile of anti-flu drugs is "totally inadequate"

The United States does not have nearly enough antiviral drugs on hand to fight a coming influenza pandemic, according to the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA).

19 Jul 2005

Results demonstrate the safety and tolerability of ABthrax treatment for Anthrax infection

Human Genome Sciences has announced that results published in the current issue of Clinical Infectious Diseases demonstrate that the first investigational agent against anthrax infection to be evaluated in a clinical study since the 2001 anthrax attacks in the United States, is safe, well tolerated and achieves the blood levels predicted by relevant animal models as necessary to afford significant protection from the lethal effects of the anthrax toxin

19 Jul 2005

Parental attitudes to MMR revealed

Experts say the results of a study, designed to assess parental attitudes to the measles, mumps and rubella triple vaccination have revealed that those parents opposed to the inoculation were less worried about the illnesses than those who support the MMR jab.

19 Jul 2005

Activist groups hinder important clinical trials of HIV medication

One promising approach to help stem the global HIV epidemic is to give commercial sex workers an HIV medication (such as the drug tenofovir) before they have high risk sex in the hope of reducing their chances of becoming infected, an approach called "pre-exposure prophylaxis" (PREP).

19 Jul 2005

First generation of HIV vaccines may be available within 10 years but availability doesn't guarantee uptake

Public health officials must be sensitive to concerns about stigma and fear of vaccine-induced infection if they want women to take advantage of HIV vaccines now under development, says a University of Toronto researcher.

18 Jul 2005

Tamiflu may treat avian flu virus

Experiments in mice show that an antiviral drug currently used against annual influenza strains also can suppress the deadly influenza virus that has spread from birds to humans, killing dozens of people in Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand since early 2004.

18 Jul 2005

Genome studies may help target new drugs to fight them

One parasite causes a deadly sleeping sickness in Africa. The second damages the internal organs of millions of Latin Americans. The third causes terrible lesions on the face or limbs of victims from Brazil to India.

18 Jul 2005