Vaccine News and Research

Latest Vaccine News and Research

Better communication needed with at-risk communities for HIV vaccine trials

Better communication is needed around HIV vaccine trials to ensure those in at-risk communities understand the process and continue to participate, according to a new University of Toronto study.

8 Sep 2011

FDA to review bone drugs; CDC reports parasite may be a risk to blood supply

Two advisory panels of the Food and Drug Administration will consider on Friday whether to recommend requiring women who use popular bone drugs like Fosamax to take "drug holidays" because of rising concerns about rare side effects with long-term use, according to people involved in the review.

7 Sep 2011

ImmunoCellular provides update on ICT-107 Phase II trial for glioblastoma multiforme

ImmunoCellular Therapeutics, Ltd., a biotechnology company focused on the development of novel immune-based cancer therapies, provided an update today on clinical trial site activity and patient enrollment for its Phase II clinical trial of ICT-107, the Company's dendritic cell based cancer vaccine candidate targeting multiple tumor antigens for the treatment of glioblastoma multiforme.

7 Sep 2011

March of Dimes urges all pregnant women to get influenza immunization

Getting a flu shot during pregnancy protects the mom-to-be from what could be a very serious – even fatal – illness and can protect her newborn who is too young to receive his or her own immunization.

7 Sep 2011

Genetically modified M. smegmatis vaccine shows promise against TB

An experimental vaccine composed of a genetically modified bacterium closely related to the bacterium that causes tuberculosis (TB) has been found to protect mice against TB infection, according to a study appearing online September 4 in the journal Nature Medicine.

7 Sep 2011

Youth immunization rates encouraging: CDC report

According to a survey by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) out Monday, more and more American adolescents are receiving recommended vaccines.

6 Sep 2011

Researchers discover how yeast cells identify, attach to human tissue and cause infection

Researchers are a step closer towards creating a new class of medicines and vaccines to combat drug-resistant and deadly strains of fungal infections, following a new study published today in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

6 Sep 2011

Teenagers use medicines frequently without receiving targeted information about risks and benefits

A large proportion of teenagers regularly and frequently take some form of medication without receiving targeted information about the risks and benefits, according to a review of current research, to be presented at the annual congress of the International Pharmaceutical Federation.

5 Sep 2011

IKEPLUS immunization completely eliminates TB bacteria from infected tissues

A potential vaccine against tuberculosis has been found to completely eliminate tuberculosis bacteria from infected tissues in some mice. The vaccine was created with a strain of bacteria that, due to the absence of a few genes, are unable to avoid its host's first-line immune response.

5 Sep 2011

Einstein researchers develop tuberculosis vaccine candidate

Researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University report in the September 4 online edition of Nature Medicine that they have developed a tuberculosis (TB) vaccine candidate that proved both potent and safe in animal studies.

5 Sep 2011

Researchers discover protein signals responsible for preserving anti-viral antibodies

Our immune system is capable of a remarkable feat: the ability to remember infections for years, even decades, after they have first been encountered and defeated. While the antibodies we make last only about a month, we retain the means of making them for a lifetime.

3 Sep 2011

Scientists discover highly conserved mechanism governing brain development

If you think today's political rhetoric is overheated, imagine what goes on inside a vertebrate embryo. There, two armies whose agendas are poles apart, engage in a battle with consequences much more dire than whether the economy will recover---- they are battling for whether you (or frogs or chickens) will have a forebrain.

3 Sep 2011

UCF, UF receive $5.5 million NIH grant for hemophilia research

At a time when research funding is hard to come by, a University of Central Florida and University of Florida partnership has landed almost $5.5 million in National Institutes of Health highly competitive grants for hemophilia research.

3 Sep 2011

Finland national health institute finds link between H1N1 flu vaccine and children's narcolepsy

"Finland's national health institute said on Thursday its latest research on previously found links between children's narcolepsy and GlaxoSmithKline's Pandemrix vaccine against H1N1 swine flu also involved a genetic risk factor," Reuters reports.

3 Sep 2011

NPR examines legacy of Walter Reed Army Medical Center's Institute of Research in battle against malaria

"As the Walter Reed Army Medical Center decamps from its D.C. campus this month and merges with the Bethesda Naval Hospital five miles away," NPR reports on the legacy of "the center's Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, housed for the past decade on its own campus in Maryland, just outside Washington, as one of the world's premier research centers for infectious diseases."

3 Sep 2011

New IDSA/PIDS guidelines can thwart pneumonia in children

Immunizations, including a yearly flu vaccine, are the best way to protect children from life-threatening pneumonia, according to new guidelines from the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society and the Infectious Diseases Society of America.

2 Sep 2011

Special journal edition chronicles 3-D structures of important antibacterial, bioterrorist targets

The September issue of the online scientific journal Acta Crystallographica: Structural Biology and Crystallization Communications (Acta Cryst F) will consist entirely of work done at the Seattle Structural Genomics Center for Infectious Disease (SSGCID), a consortium of researchers from Seattle BioMed, Emerald BioStructures, the University of Washington and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.

2 Sep 2011

Shah announces additional $23M U.S. pledge for Horn of Africa at Minnesota public forum on famine

At a public forum on the famine in the Horn of Africa held at the Humphrey School of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota on Wednesday, USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah "announced the U.S. is pledging an additional $23 million in grants to support famine relief efforts, bringing the total commitment from the United States to $600 million," the Associated Press/KSTP reports.

2 Sep 2011

Engineered virus shows promise in cancer therapy via bloodstream

Scientists have engineered a virus that when injected into the blood, can selectively target cancer cells throughout the body. The virus attacked only tumours, leaving the healthy tissue alone, in a small trial on 23 patients, according to the journal Nature.

2 Sep 2011

Tamiflu resistant flu found in Newcastle, Australia

The influenza pandemic has gathered a lot of action, advice and coverage over the last few years. In 2009, an international H1N1 influenza pandemic led to concerns that there would be a repeat of the 1918 influenza pandemic which resulted in millions of deaths worldwide. The World Health Organization recorded over 37,000 cases of the H1N1 pandemic influenza in Australia and 193 confirmed deaths.

2 Sep 2011