Vaccine News and Research

Latest Vaccine News and Research

UB researchers express concern about a new variant of Klebsiella pneumoniae

University at Buffalo researchers are expressing concern about a new, under-recognized, much more potent variant of a common bacterium that has surfaced in the U.S.

18 Feb 2012

University of Georgia researcher to develop first Chagas vaccine for pets

Chagas disease is the single most common cause of congestive heart failure and sudden death in the world. The devastating parasitic infection affects millions of people throughout Central and South America. But as global travel increases, it's becoming a greater threat in the United States and Europe as well.

17 Feb 2012

Four new drugs can extend survival and prognosis of prostate cancer

After a decade and a half of near stagnation, four new drugs could help make advanced prostate cancer a chronic illness instead of a terminal disease, a leading Colorado prostate cancer expert says.

17 Feb 2012

Indian authorities vaccinate children crossing India-Pakistan border; Distrust of polio vaccines grows in Pakistan

After going a year without recording a polio case, Indian health officials have begun vaccinating young children who cross the border to or from Pakistan at the Munabao railway station in Rajasthan state, BBC News reports.

17 Feb 2012

U of A researcher discovers new vaccine against HCV

A University of Alberta researcher and Canada Excellence Research Chair in Virology has made the discovery of a vaccine that will potentially help combat hepatitis C. Michael Houghton, who led the team that discovered the hepatitis C virus in 1989, announced his findings at the Canada Excellence Research Chairs Summit in Vancouver this afternoon. Currently, there are no vaccines against the disease available.

17 Feb 2012

IKK2 enzyme plays a key role in proliferation of lung cancer cells

Drugs targeting an enzyme involved in inflammation might offer a new avenue for treating certain lung cancers, according to a new study by scientists at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies.

17 Feb 2012

New way to improve vaccines against cancer and infectious diseases

Research groups from Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin and the University of Geneva have discovered a new way of improving vaccines against infectious diseases and for use in cancer therapies. Scientists have shown a basic new mechanism that stimulates the body's own alarm signals in case of viral infection to animate the immune system to maximum performance.

17 Feb 2012

Scientists track initial steps of type 1 diabetes mellitus

Scientists have taken a remarkably detailed look at the initial steps that occur in the body when type 1 diabetes mellitus first develops in a child or young adult.

17 Feb 2012

BioCryst fourth quarter revenues decrease to $5.2 million

BioCryst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced financial results for the fourth quarter and full year ended December 31, 2011.

16 Feb 2012

Midazolam autoinjector may effectively treat status epilepticus

Drug delivery into muscle using an autoinjector, akin to the EpiPen used to treat serious allergic reactions, is faster and may be a more effective way to stop status epilepticus, a prolonged seizure lasting longer than five minutes, according to a study sponsored by the National Institutes of Health. Status epilepticus is a potentially life-threatening emergency that causes 55,000 deaths each year.

16 Feb 2012

Combination of therapeutic cancer vaccines and chemotherapy shows promise

Therapeutic cancer vaccines, which stimulate the body's immune system to target and destroy cancer cells, are being used in combination with conventional chemotherapy with growing success, as described in several illuminating articles in Cancer Biotherapy and Radiopharmaceuticals, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc.

16 Feb 2012

New vaccine can prevent bacterial infection of orthopaedic implants

Methicillin resistant staph aureus (MRSA) infections are resistant to antibiotics and can cause a myriad of problems -- bone erosion, or osteomyelitis, which shorten the effective life of an implant and greatly hinder replacement of that implant. MRSA can result in prolonged disability, amputation and even death.

15 Feb 2012

Study shows how malaria parasite changes into banana form before sexual reproduction

New research from the University of Melbourne shows how the malaria parasite (Plasmodium falciparum) changes into a banana shape before sexual reproduction, a finding that could provide targets for vaccine or drug development and may explain how the parasite evades the human immune system.

14 Feb 2012

GAO finds big disparities in prices of some medical devices

News outlets examine a variety of health workplace issues, including a GAO report on medical device prices and efforts to get health workers vaccinated for the flu.

14 Feb 2012

Shortage of primary care doctors raises concerns

As the administration moves toward implementation of the health law, officials are seeking to bolster the number of primary care doctors. Also, hospitals are concerned about a possible measurement that would grade their efforts on patient safety.

14 Feb 2012

Obama's budget demonstrates his strong commitment to end HIV

"The budget President Obama outlined today yet again demonstrates his strong commitment to ending HIV by increasing funding for prevention and lifesaving care and treatment for those who cannot afford it in the United States," commented Carl Schmid, Deputy Executive Director of The AIDS Institute.

13 Feb 2012

Scientists test new 'therapeutic vaccine' against HIV on volunteers

Scientists from the Antwerp Institute of Tropical Medicine, Antwerp University Hospital and Antwerp University have tested a new 'therapeutic vaccine' against HIV on volunteers. The participants were so to say vaccinated with their own cells.

13 Feb 2012

DARPA awards fourth milestone payment of $3.56M to Medicago

Medicago USA Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Medicago Inc., a biotechnology company focused on developing highly effective and competitive vaccines based on proprietary manufacturing technologies and Virus-Like Particles (VLPs), today announced it has received the fourth milestone payment of US$3.56 million from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.

13 Feb 2012

First Edition: February 13, 2012

Today's early morning highlights from the major news organizations preview President Barack Obama's budget, which will be released today, and examine the lingering controversy over mandates on contraceptive coverage.

13 Feb 2012

Researchers discover a startling feature of early brain development

Researchers at the Salk Institute have discovered a startling feature of early brain development that helps to explain how complex neuron wiring patterns are programmed using just a handful of critical genes. The findings, published February 3 in Cell, may help scientists develop new therapies for neurological disorders, such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), and provide insight into certain cancers.

13 Feb 2012