Vaccine News and Research

Latest Vaccine News and Research

GAVI Alliance audit expressed 'serious concerns of misuse of GAVI funds' in Sierra Leone, Reuters reports

The GAVI Alliance "has put on hold some $6 million earmarked for Sierra Leone after an audit showed misuse of previous funds, a document seen by Reuters showed," Reuters reports.

21 Dec 2012

Can crowdfunding be used effectively to advance HIV vaccine research?

"What will the next great leap forward be, and how can we make sure it gets tested ASAP?" Zachary Barnett, founder and executive director of Abzyme Research Foundation/ENDHIV.com, asks about HIV research in the Huffington Post's "Gay Voices" blog.

21 Dec 2012

Blogs respond to attacks against polio workers in Pakistan

The following blog posts were published in response to a series of attacks against polio workers in Pakistan this week, which have left eight dead since Monday.

21 Dec 2012

House passes bio-threat vaccines, Medicare coverage bills

The House passed several health measures Wednesday including bills on developing vaccines to thwart bio-threats and on Medicare coverage for immune deficiency care.

21 Dec 2012

Improvements in child survival a 'sweeping accomplishment'

"There is reason for optimism about the health of the world's youngest," columnist Tina Rosenberg writes in the New York Times "Opinionator" blog, noting, "A massive study published last week called the Global Burden of Disease report found that in the past 20 years, the death rate of children under five has dropped in every country in the world save three -- Kuwait, Tonga and Zimbabwe."

21 Dec 2012

Researchers create first ever atlas of immune cells in the human body

By analyzing tissues harvested from organ donors, Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC) researchers have created the first ever "atlas" of immune cells in the human body.

21 Dec 2012

UAB research succeeds in testing a vaccine against leishmaniasis

A research coordinated by the UAB has succeeded in testing a vaccine against leishmaniasis. The vaccine was tested with the best animal model existing, the golden hamster, and can be produced at low costs by using insect larvae.

21 Dec 2012

Study examines five varieties of cells after transplantation in the CNS

When different types of cells are transplanted with the intent of having them aid in repairing central nervous system (CNS) trauma, what is the fate and function of those cells? A Belgian research team carried out research aimed at answering this question by determining how five varieties of cells - neural stem cells, mouse embryonic fibroblasts, dendritic cells, bone marrow mononuclear cells (BMMNCs) and splenocytes - functioned and survived after transplantation in the CNS.

21 Dec 2012

Three more polio workers shot in Pakistan

"Three workers in a polio eradication campaign were shot in Pakistan on Wednesday, and two of them were killed, the latest in an unprecedented string of attacks over the past three days that has partially halted the U.N.-backed campaign," Reuters reports.

20 Dec 2012

Lancet reports on global efforts to develop malaria vaccine

The Lancet reports on global efforts to develop a malaria vaccine, writing, "Since the mid-1980s, various malaria vaccine candidates have been tested in the hope of finding a molecule that can provide long-lasting immune protection against the disease that still kills 600,000 to 1.2 million people in sub-Saharan Africa each year. However, none has yet made it into routine use."

20 Dec 2012

Positive top-line results from Idera’s IMO-3100 Phase 2a trial on plaque psoriasis

Idera Pharmaceuticals today announced that 48% of patients with moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis (12 of 25) treated with IMO-3100, a selective antagonist of Toll-like Receptors (TLRs) 7 and 9, demonstrated improvements in Psoriasis Area Severity Index (PASI) scores of 35% to 90% from baseline at the completion of a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled Phase 2a clinical trial of two dose levels of IMO-3100 administered for four weeks, with a four-week follow-up period.

20 Dec 2012

Biologic changes after delivery may prevent development of chronic pain

Chronic pain from childbirth is remarkably rare, according to a study from the January issue of Anesthesiology. Additionally, in a second study, researchers at Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, N.C., found the biologic changes after delivery may prevent the development of pain.

19 Dec 2012

Continued U.S. leadership crucial to building on global progress against TB

Tuberculosis (TB) "is the second leading cause of death due to infectious disease worldwide; taking approximately 1.4 million lives in 2011 alone," Rep. Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.), a co-chair of the TB Elimination Caucus, writes in an opinion piece in The Hill's "Congress Blog".

19 Dec 2012

Australian scientists receive grants for research on cancer, malaria and rheumatoid arthritis

Scientists at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute in Melbourne, Australia, have received more than $16 million in Australian Government funding to pursue research into cancer, malaria, rheumatoid arthritis and the immune system, it was announced today.

19 Dec 2012

No evidence for man flu according to preliminary results from UK Flusurvey

Preliminary results from the first month of the UK Flusurvey run by scientists at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine suggest there is no evidence for “man flu” and reveal that reports of flu-like illness are highest among children.

19 Dec 2012

Georgia State researcher discover new process to make one-time flu vaccine

A new process to make a one-time, universal influenza vaccine has been discovered by a researcher at Georgia State University's Center for Inflammation, Immunity and Infection and his partners.

19 Dec 2012

Tumor cells manipulate unfolded protein response

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine report that tumor cells use stress signals to subvert responding immune cells, exploiting them to actually boost conditions beneficial to cancer growth.

19 Dec 2012

Meeting participants discuss HHS framework for funding H5N1 avian influenza research

CIDRAP News reports on a two-day meeting at the National Institutes of Health during which "researchers, biosecurity experts, and others" discussed the "crafting of a framework for funding H5N1 avian influenza gain-of-function studies." The meeting "is the latest chapter in an intense scientific controversy that was triggered by the publication of two recent studies involving lab-engineered H5N1 strains that showed signs of being transmissible in mammals," according to the news service.

19 Dec 2012

Blogs discuss conference on neglected diseases

Several blogs recently reported on issues discussed last week during a conference sponsored by Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), the Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi), and the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York, titled "Lives in the Balance: Delivering Medical Innovations for Neglected Patients and Populations."

18 Dec 2012

Global travel, climate warming could create right conditions for chikungunya outbreaks in the U.S.

Global travel and climate warming could be creating the right conditions for outbreaks of a new virus in this country, according to a new Cornell University computer model.

18 Dec 2012