Vaccine News and Research

Latest Vaccine News and Research

Researchers discover how HIV-infected people develop very powerful antibody responses

Wits researchers have played a pivotal role in an AIDS study published today in the journal, Nature Medicine, which describes how a unique change in the outer covering of the virus found in two HIV infected South African women enabled them to make potent antibodies which are able to kill up to 88% of HIV types from around the world.

23 Oct 2012

Interim results from CEL-SCI's Multikine Phase III study on head and neck cancer

CEL-SCI Corporation announced today that an interim review of the safety data from its open label, randomized, controlled, pivotal Phase III study of Multikine (Leukocyte Interleukin, Injection) investigational immunotherapy by an Independent Data Monitoring Committee (IDMC) raised no safety concerns.

23 Oct 2012

Glioblastoma multiforme can originate from cortical neurons

Scientists have long believed that glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), the most aggressive type of primary brain tumor, begins in glial cells that make up supportive tissue in the brain or in neural stem cells. In a paper published October 18 in Science Express, however, researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies have found that the tumors can originate from other types of differentiated cells in the nervous system, including cortical neurons.

23 Oct 2012

Sanofi presents overview of Phase II and III trials for quadrivalent influenza vaccine

Sanofi Pasteur, the vaccines division of Sanofi, presented today an overview of Phase II and Phase III clinical trials for its investigational quadrivalent influenza vaccine (QIV).

23 Oct 2012

Primary care physicians miss hepatitis vaccine targets

Primary care physicians are failing to meet guidelines for hepatitis A virus and hepatitis B virus vaccination in patients with chronic hepatitis C infection, according to US research.

22 Oct 2012

Bipartisan support for foreign assistance improves, saves lives abroad

Briefly recapping a history of foreign aid policy since 1920, former Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.) and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee (R) write in a Politico opinion piece, "Credit for America's global leadership role belongs to both major political parties and Americans of all stripes" who "have always been guided by the notion that all lives have equal value, regardless of where someone was born."

22 Oct 2012

Researchers continue hunt for AIDS vaccine

"Finding a safe, effective AIDS vaccine has, thus far, proved elusive even after some $8 billion invested from 2001-2011 into vaccine research and development," PlusNews reports in an article examining ongoing HIV vaccine research efforts. "Scientists point to HIV's Houdini-like ability to escape immune system attack, and less-than-strategic use of funds over the past decade, as reasons for the continued hunt," the news service writes.

22 Oct 2012

NPR series on polio examines efforts to fight disease in India

In its ongoing series examining efforts to eradicate polio, NPR's "All Things Considered" on Thursday examined India's continuing efforts to stamp out the disease, noting the country "marked a milestone when the World Health Organization struck it from the list of polio-endemic countries in February after no new cases were reported for more than a year."

20 Oct 2012

Hutchinson Center's cancer epidemiologist to receive IARC Medal of Honor

Cancer epidemiologist John Potter, M.D., Ph.D., a senior adviser in the Public Health Sciences Division at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, has been selected to receive a medal of honor from the World Health Organization's International Agency for Research on Cancer for his research contributions in nutrition, diet and cancer.

20 Oct 2012

Stem cell study may help to unravel how genetic mutation leads to Parkinson's symptoms

By reprogramming skin cells from Parkinson's disease patients with a known genetic mutation, researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies have identified damage to neural stem cells as a powerful player in the disease.

20 Oct 2012

Viewpoints: Medicare not exempt from sequestration's impact; Obama's plan to have board cut Medicare 'has little chance of success'

Fact: Congress must pass and the president must sign legislation by the end of this year that reduces federal spending by $109 billion -- or the first year of automatic across-the-board cuts in both domestic and defense programs will go into effect.

20 Oct 2012

Shingles vaccine reduces risk of herpes zoster disease in older patients

Older adults who get the shingles vaccine have a nearly 50 percent reduced risk of developing the often debilitating disease, finds a new evidence review from The Cochrane Library.

20 Oct 2012

New data shows influenza-associated deaths among children, effectiveness of school vaccinations

New data being presented at IDWeek 2012TM shows the fatal risk that influenza poses even for children without underlying health conditions and the effectiveness of school-based vaccination programs in protecting student populations.

20 Oct 2012

Sanofi Pasteur files Fluzone sBLA with FDA for treatment of influenza

Sanofi Pasteur, the vaccines division of Sanofi, announced today that it has filed a Supplemental Biologics License Application (sBLA) with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for a quadrivalent formulation of its Fluzone (Influenza Virus Vaccine).

20 Oct 2012

Babies born to HIV positive mothers more likely to acquire measles

Non-infected babies born to HIV positive mothers should be vaccinated early against measles, to avoid them acquiring the virus or passing it on to others.

19 Oct 2012

Link between norovirus outbreaks and excess hospitalization and mortality in nursing homes

In a study that included more than 300 Medicare-certified nursing homes, rates of hospitalization and death were substantially increased during outbreaks of norovirus gastroenteritis vs. non-outbreak periods, according to a study appearing in the October 24/31 issue of JAMA.

19 Oct 2012

Lupus investigators receive LRI's first $1 million research grants

The Lupus Research Institute (LRI) today announced the first $1 million research grants given to lupus investigators by a private research organization.

19 Oct 2012

Political will, humanitarian effort, funding all needed to eradicate polio

Though "conflict and insecurity problems in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Nigeria have presented challenges to polio immunization, ... these are surmountable obstacles," Siddharth Chatterjee, chief diplomat and head of strategic partnerships and international relations at the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, writes in the International Peace Institute's Global Observatory.

19 Oct 2012

Global anti-tuberculosis campaign now ‘at a crossroads’

Tuberculosis care and control has improved dramatically over the last two decades, but numbers of cases and deaths are still high and multidrug resistant-TB is an under-reported and ever-increasing problem, suggest findings from the World Health Organization Global TB Report 2012.

18 Oct 2012

Trial results of first new TB vaccine candidate in 90 years expected next year

"Researchers will find out early next year whether the first new vaccine against tuberculosis [TB] for 90 years protects against a disease that was once neglected but is now resurgent worldwide," Financial Times reports.

18 Oct 2012