Vaccine News and Research

Latest Vaccine News and Research

Pennsylvania to distribute 340,000 doses of influenza vaccine to most in need

Pennsylvania Department of Health Secretary Dr. Calvin B. Johnson today announced that the Department of Health will distribute about 340,000 doses of influenza vaccine that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has made available to Pennsylvanians most in need.

10 Nov 2004

Domestic ducks could pose new avian Influenza threat

Domestic ducks may be acting as a silent reservoir for the H5N1 Avian Influenza virus, which is highly pathogenic for chickens, and may thus have acquired an important new role in the transmission of the virus to other poultry and, possibly, to humans as well, three international agencies warned today.

10 Nov 2004

Heart jacket effective treatment for heart failure

The concept is simple: to halt deterioration of the heart muscle, wrap it in a mesh-like net to prevent further enlargement in patients with heart failure. It's like a jacket for the heart.

10 Nov 2004

Morton Grove Pharmaceuticals increases production of antiviral flu drug, Amantadine

During the current flu vaccine shortage, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Department of Health and Human Services, has issued guidance recommending the use of certain alternative antiviral medications.

8 Nov 2004

Hong Kong launches flu vaccination programme

To prevent the spread of flu in the coming peak season, it is important that the public and private sectors work together to provide influenza vaccinations to members of the public.

8 Nov 2004

Testosterone may impede immunity

Decreasing testosterone boosts immunity because testosterone helps control T-lymphocytes, the attack cells of the immune system, according to Mayo Clinic-led research in laboratory animals.

8 Nov 2004

Link between immune protein and longer survival in melanoma patients

Immune responses to prevent or delay the spread of melanoma, a deadly form of skin cancer, are more likely to prolong survival in patients if their immune cells carry a special kind of marker on the surface, according to a team of researchers at the University of Virginia Health System.

5 Nov 2004

Britain should adopt universal hepatitis B immunisation

The United Kingdom is one of the few developed countries that have not implemented universal immunisation. Because the burden of hepatitis B was low and individual rights were considered paramount, a policy of selective immunisation of high-risk groups, such as health care workers, homosexual men, and drug addicts, has been followed.

5 Nov 2004

VaxGen gets $877.5 million to supply 75 million doses of anthrax vaccine

VaxGen announced today that the U.S. government has awarded the company an $877.5 million contract to supply 75 million doses of anthrax vaccine for civilian defense.

4 Nov 2004

New York redistributes existing flu vaccine supplies

New York State Health Commissioner Antonia C. Novello, M.D., M.P.H., Dr.P.H., has announced the New York State Department of Health has begun distribution of its current supply of flu vaccine to help address the needs of local health departments and children served by a federal vaccination program.

4 Nov 2004

Vaccine contributions to health highlighted at PAHO meeting

Vaccine programs in the Americas have made major contributions to improving health in the Americas and new vaccines could go even further, said Dr. D.A. Henderson, a global expert who chairs a Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) technical group here today.

4 Nov 2004

Mumps cases amongst young adults continue to increase

Following a continued increase in cases of mumps amongst teenagers and young adults in recent years, the Health Protection Agency’s local teams have been working with schools and universities where outbreaks have taken place, to ensure that students are vaccinated.

4 Nov 2004

Study shows possible solution to the current flu vaccine shortage

A new study led by the Saint Louis University’s Center for Vaccine Development may provide a solution to the current flu vaccine shortage in the U.S. The team found a possible way to double the available supply of influenza vaccine for adults between the ages of 18 and 60.

4 Nov 2004

$73 million to tackle infectious diseases such as West Nile virus and influenza

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), has awarded 14 contracts totaling more than $73 million to fund the Large-Scale Antibody and T Cell Epitope Discovery Program, an initiative aimed at quickly identifying the regions of selected infectious agents that elicit immune reactions.

1 Nov 2004

New vaccines to counter biological agents such as anthrax

Scientists at Imperial College London and Hammersmith Hospital are to help develop new vaccines in case of a terrorist release of biological agents such as anthrax.

1 Nov 2004

Program triples hepatitis B vaccination rates in targeted regions of rural China

The Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation and the China Foundation for Hepatitis Prevention and Control (CFHPC) announced the results of a collaborative grassroots education and vaccination program designed to fight the spread of one of China's most pressing health problems -- hepatitis B.

1 Nov 2004

U.S. Department of Health & Human Services has announced progress toward expanding the nation's supply of vaccines for flu season

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has identified about 5 million doses of influenza vaccine from foreign manufacturers; HHS has been able to recoup an additional 300,000 doses of the injectable vaccine originally bought for federal employees and the military; and a major pneumonia vaccine manufacturer plans to triple its production.

29 Oct 2004

Scientists decode the genome sequence of Cryptosporidium hominis, one of the most common causes of waterborne diseases in humans

A team of scientists at Tufts University School of Veterinary Medicine has helped decode the genome sequence of Cryptosporidium hominis, an insidious parasite identified as one of the most common causes of waterborne diseases in humans and classified by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as a potential bioterrorist agent.

29 Oct 2004

Trojan horse technique offers potential new therapeutic approach to Alzheimer's disease

A potential new therapeutic approach to Alzheimer's disease protects brain cells in culture by drastically reducing the neurotoxic amyloid protein aggregates that are critical to the development of the disease.

29 Oct 2004

Study suggests safer immunization approach to Alzheimer's

Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago have had preliminary success with a method of immunization intended to dissolve the plaques in brain tissue that are associated with Alzheimer's disease.

28 Oct 2004