Vaccine News and Research

Latest Vaccine News and Research

HCV screening of prison inmate drug users: an interview with Dr. Arthur Kim, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School

Prisoners overall have a very high rate of past or present injection drug use, which is a major risk factor for HCV infection due to repeated exposures to needles.

1 May 2013

Measles outbreak prompts national vaccination catch-up program in UK

Health officials in the UK have announced a national catch-up program to target 10–16 year olds who did not receive the combined measles, mumps, and rubella vaccination in early childhood due to fears about links with autism.

30 Apr 2013

Somalia launches pentavalent vaccine with support from GAVI, UNICEF, WHO

"Coinciding with World Immunization Week, the Somali government announced on 24 April its intention to vaccinate all children under the age of one with a new five-in-one vaccine, known as a pentavalent vaccine, funded by the GAVI Alliance, with [UNICEF] and the [WHO] as implementing partners," IRIN reports.

30 Apr 2013

Glide Pharma awarded contract from Pfenex Inc. to develop a solid formulation of recombinant anthrax vaccine

Glide Pharma® today announced the award of a sub-contract from Pfenex Inc. to develop a solid formulation containing the recombinant Protective Antigen (rPA) from Bacillus anthracis expressed in Pfēnex Expression Technology™ suitable for delivery with the Glide SDI® (solid dose injector). This approach will address two important logistical constraints of the currently available vaccine, namely, long term stability during storage and ease of administration.

30 Apr 2013

Continued work needed in vaccine development

Reflecting on World Immunization Week, April 21-28, Angeline Nanni, director of market access at Aeras, discusses the "remarkable results" of expanded immunization programs in a guest post on the Global Health Technologies Coalition's "Breakthroughs" blog.

30 Apr 2013

Collaborative research network to understand spread of infectious diseases

The Models of Infectious Disease Agent Study is a collaborative research network funded by the National Institutes of Health that uses computational, statistical and mathematical models to understand the spread of infectious diseases such as influenza, pertussis, West Nile disease, dengue fever and cholera.

30 Apr 2013

Chart presents timeline of HIV prevention options

The Center for Global Health Policy's "Science Speaks" blog examines a chart, titled "HIV Prevention Options Timeline," which "was part of AVAC Director Mitchell Warren's presentation at a Jhpiego-sponsored" event on Thursday, titled "The Present and the Future of HIV Prevention."

30 Apr 2013

Blog examines role of Islamist leadership in combating polio

Noting the Global Vaccine Summit held in Abu Dhabi last week, Ayesha Malik, a campaigner at the Muslim-led campaigning charity MADE in Europe, writes in a post in the charity's blog about the role of Islamic leadership in the global push to eradicate polio.

30 Apr 2013

Al Jazeera programs examine vaccine funding, efforts to fight malaria, TB, HIV

Al Jazeera's "Inside Story" on Friday examined whether funding and political will can keep pace with efforts to vaccinate every child worldwide. The 25-minute video program, "with presenter Shiulie Ghosh, discusses with guests: Kate Elder from Doctors Without Borders; Adel Mahmoud, a global health specialist at Princeton University, and former president of Merck Vaccines," Al Jazeera writes.

30 Apr 2013

Researchers say tiny thymus teaches immune system to ignore foreign bacteria in gut

The tiny thymus teaches the immune system to ignore the teeming, foreign bacteria in the gut that helps you digest and absorb food, researchers say.

30 Apr 2013

Forecasting outbreak of dengue fever with warning system

With the help of a warning system which measures the risk of dengue incidence using precipitation and air temperature, it is possible to forecast the outbreak of dengue fever up to 16 weeks in advance.

29 Apr 2013

Baby boomers need to get tested for hepatitis C

If you were born during 1945-1965, talk to your doctor about getting tested for hepatitis C. Baby boomers are five times more likely than other adults to be infected. In fact, 75 percent of adults with hepatitis C were born during these years.

29 Apr 2013

Opinion pieces address World Malaria Day

On Thursday, the international community recognized World Malaria Day, observed annually on April 25. This year's theme was "Invest in the future. Defeat malaria."

29 Apr 2013

NIH halts large clinical trial of HIV vaccine candidate

"The National Institutes of Health on Thursday halted a study testing an experimental HIV vaccine after an independent review board found the vaccine did not prevent HIV infection and did not reduce the amount of HIV in the blood," Reuters reports (Steenhuysen, 4/25).

29 Apr 2013

Protein C4BP is possibly suitable as transporter for drugs, say researchers

The protein C4BP is similar to a spider in its spatial form with eight "arms". The structure of the "spider body" has recently been described in detail by researchers from the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research in Braunschweig and the Technische Universit-t Darmstadt.

29 Apr 2013

Pfizer reports that Prevenar 13 Phase 3 study meets all primary, secondary objectives

Pfizer Inc. presented today the results from a Phase 3 study investigating immunogenicity, tolerability and safety of Prevenar 13 (Pneumococcal polysaccharide conjugate vaccine [13-valent, adsorbed]) in adults 18 to 49 years of age.

From Pfizer, Inc. 29 Apr 2013

First Edition: April 26, 2013

Today's headlines include reports that some Democratic senators have concerns about the health law's roll out as well as other news about the measure's implementation.

26 Apr 2013

Researchers call H7N9 bird flu strain 'one of the most lethal'; first case outside China reported by Taiwan

Chinese scientists have confirmed for the first time that a new strain of bird flu that has killed 23 people in China has been transmitted to humans from chickens.

26 Apr 2013

Calcipotriol drug offers a potential treatment option for fibrotic diseases

Liver fibrosis results from an excessive accumulation of tough, fibrous scar tissue and occurs in most types of chronic liver diseases. In industrialized countries, the main causes of liver injury leading to fibrosis include chronic hepatitis virus infection, excess alcohol consumption and, increasingly, nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH).

26 Apr 2013

Thermo Fisher Scientific brings several innovations in bioprocessing technologies and systems

Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc., the world leader in serving science, today debuted several innovations in bioprocessing technologies and systems that address the evolving requirements of drug discovery and production for global biopharmaceutical and pharmaceutical manufacturers.

From Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. 26 Apr 2013