Vaccine News and Research

Latest Vaccine News and Research

Rate of seasonal flu vaccination doubles national average at Johns Hopkins East Baltimore medical campus

A campaign that makes seasonal flu vaccinations for hospital staff free, convenient, ubiquitous and hard to ignore succeeds fairly well in moving care providers closer to a state of "herd" immunity and protecting patients from possible infection transmitted by health care workers, according to results of a survey at The Johns Hopkins Hospital.

12 Feb 2010

HIV transmission among male partners: CFAR scientists discover origin of strains

A team of scientists, led by a virologist from the University of California, San Diego's Center for AID Research (CFAR), has discovered the origin of strains of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) among men who have sex with men. The study, which may be important in developing prevention strategies for HIV, will appear in Science Translational Medicine on February 10, 2010.

12 Feb 2010

Mayo Clinic Health Letter features comprehensive coverage of the liver

The liver, the largest internal organ, is the body's ultimate multitasker. While the liver is not glamorous or sentimental -- there are no love songs about a broken liver -- it simultaneously plays a key role in the body's metabolic, digestive and regulatory systems.

12 Feb 2010

Anti-PC antibody linked to reduced risk of arteriosclerosis

The chances of suffering a stroke are linked to the presence of a certain type of antibody in the immune system, a new study from Karolinska Institutet shows. The researchers hope to be able to develop a vaccine that can mobilise the body's own defence against arteriosclerosis and stroke.

12 Feb 2010

Encouraging results from Circassia's ToleroMune ragweed allergy T-cell vaccine phase II clinical trial

Circassia Ltd, a specialty biopharmaceutical company focused on allergy, today announced that its ToleroMune(R) ragweed allergy T-cell vaccine achieved positive results in a recently completed phase II clinical trial. Ragweed allergy is particularly common in America, where it affects approximately 25% of the population. Circassia's latest clinical results follow two earlier successful phase II studies with the company's T-cell vaccine against cat allergy.

12 Feb 2010

Also in Global Health News: China's health care system; Breastfeeding practices in Pakistan; HIV transmission in MSM; Abu Dhabi joins malaria fight

The Los Angeles Times examines China's transition to "Western-style privatized medicine" through the government's "$124-billion overhaul, chiefly to improve service in rural areas." The article details the efforts of a woman from Inner Mongolia to get care in Beijing for her ailing father and looks at climbing health care costs and the growing "black market for medical care" (Pierson, 2/11).

12 Feb 2010

Antibodies also contribute to severe dengue virus-induced disease, confirms La Jolla Institute for Allergy & Immunology

A leading immunology research institute has validated the long-held and controversial hypothesis that antibodies - usually the "good guys" in the body's fight against viruses - instead contribute to severe dengue virus-induced disease, the La Jolla Institute for Allergy & Immunology announced today. The finding has major implications for the development of a first-ever vaccine against dengue virus, a growing public health threat which annually infects 50 to 100 million people worldwide, causing a half million cases of the severest form.

12 Feb 2010

Emory-UGA IPIRC to host symposium on H1N1 virus

The Emory - University of Georgia Influenza Pathogenesis and Immunology Research Center will host a symposium April 18 - 20 at the Emory Conference Center featuring an international roster of speakers.

11 Feb 2010

Intellect Neurosciences: Several significant stakeholders commit funds

Intellect Neurosciences, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company focused on development of disease-modifying therapeutic agents for Alzheimer's disease ("AD"), announced today that several of its significant shareholders (the "Interested Shareholders") have agreed in principle to provide interim funding to the Company and assist the Company in its efforts to restructure its balance sheet.

11 Feb 2010

Also in global health news: N. Korea harvest; Zimbabwe’s health system; malaria parasite; training India's rural health workers; Myanmar recovery; health in Uganda

ZimOnline examines Zimbabwe's health system, which the country's health minister, Henry Madzorera, says has improved, but is still in need of additional progress.

11 Feb 2010

CINJ researchers develop new vaccine strategy for pancreatic cancer

More than 42,500 people in the United States were diagnosed with pancreatic cancer last year and nearly 35,200 died from the disease, according to The American Cancer Society.

11 Feb 2010

Majority of parents worry about safety of H1N1 vaccine

Ask any health professional who cares for children and they will tell you: When H1N1 flu hits, it can be very severe. In the last four months of 2009, nearly 240 children died in the United States from H1N1 flu—more than three times as many child deaths as in a typical non-H1N1 flu season.

10 Feb 2010

sanofi-aventis reports 2009 fourth-quarter and full-year net earnings

Commenting on the Group's 2009 performance, sanofi-aventis Chief Executive Officer Christopher A. Viehbacher said, "2009 was the first year of implementation of our new strategy. Major steps have already been achieved in strengthening our growth platforms and reinforcing our R&D pipeline while delivering a double-digit EPS(1) growth".

10 Feb 2010

Second-quarter fiscal 2010 results announced by Bioniche Life Sciences

Bioniche Life Sciences Inc., a research-based, technology-driven Canadian biopharmaceutical company, today announced financial results for its Fiscal 2010 second quarter, ended December 31, 2009.

10 Feb 2010

Insight into mechanism H. pylori uses to evade the immune system

Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) is the causal agent of chronic gastritis, ulcer and gastric cancer. It has the potential to persist in the human stomach for decades, sometimes causing neither harm nor clinical symptoms. Nevertheless, on some occasions, depending on the host immune system and the strain causing the infection, the outcome can be very serious. To maintain the infection, the bacterium must adapt to survive the host defences. One way to accomplish this is to sequentially change the external proteins on the bacterial surface.

10 Feb 2010

New method may help assess impact and cost-effectiveness of flu vaccination campaigns

A new study (doi:10.1016/j.vaccine.2010.01.002), published by Elsevier this month in Vaccine (http://www.elsevier.com/locate/vaccine) describes a new method that assesses the impact and cost-effectiveness of a range of vaccination options.

10 Feb 2010

New research suggests closantel drug may be useful in combating river blindness

Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute have discovered a potential new use for the drug closantel, currently the standard treatment for sheep and cattle infected with liver fluke. The new research suggests that the drug may be useful in combating river blindness, a tropical disease that is the world's second leading infectious cause of blindness for humans.

10 Feb 2010

Glide Pharma to utilize $4.3M funding for progressing octreotide programme into clinical development

Glide Pharma, a specialty pharmaceutical company focused on the needle-free administration of solid dose therapeutics and vaccines, today announced that it has completed an oversubscribed GBP2.7 million ($4.3 million) investment round. The fundraising was supported by a number of existing institutional and private investors, including Hygea VCT and Oxford Technology VCTs. The company has now completed four successful investment rounds, securing funding totalling approximately GBP10 million.

10 Feb 2010

Sartorius releases preliminary unaudited figures for fiscal 2009

Today Sartorius, a leading international process and laboratory technology provider, released its preliminary unaudited figures for fiscal 2009. In the reporting period, business in both Group divisions showed substantially divergent trajectories.

From Sartorius 10 Feb 2010

VSV has potential to be genetically modified to serve as anti-cancer agent

Vesicular stomatitis virus, or VSV, has long been a model system for studying and understanding the life cycle of negative-strand RNA viruses, which include viruses that cause influenza, measles and rabies.

10 Feb 2010