Flu | Page 45 of 47 | SpiritIndia.com

Influenza :: Increase Vaccine Supply – Statement by Mike Leavitt, US

The World Health Organization (WHO) has taken a significant step forward in the global effort to prepare for an influenza pandemic by publishing the Global Pandemic Influenza Action Plan to Increase Vaccine Supply. In developing this plan through a consensus of the world?s experts in influenza, immunization, vaccine research, and manufacturing, the WHO has set the world?s sights on the decisive path forward to increase the global capacity to produce pandemic influenza vaccine.

Flu :: Israel resumed flu vaccinations – Health Minister Yaacov Ben-Yizri

Israel resumed flu vaccinations on Monday after the Health Ministry determined that the deaths of four men who had been inoculated in the past week were not linked to the vaccine.

Health :: Learning Katrina?s Lesson – serve the vulnerable in emergencies

On Tuesday and Wednesday of this week, over 150 community leaders and human service providers will come together to strengthen how vulnerable residents are readied for and helped during a disaster. Katrina?s Lesson: Reach Our Vulnerable Residents NOW is one of the first conferences of its kind in King County to unite private and public agencies in this effort.

Flu :: Asia fighting Bird Flu

“Asia has shown significant progress in preparing to fight the spread of the virus, but more help is needed to support Indonesia, where a majority of the country’s provinces have reported the presence of the disease”, United Nations official, David Nabarro.

Flu :: Australia ready for avian influenza or bird flu – Tony Abbott

The results of a massive health simulation conducted this week will be studied to improve Australia’s response to any future disease outbreak, Health Minister Tony Abbott says. More than 1,000 state and federal government officials took part in the $4.1 million exercise to test how prepared Australia is for an outbreak of avian influenza, or bird flu.

Influenza :: Novartis cell culture-derived influenza vaccine well tolerated and efficacious

Novartis (NYSE: NVS) announced today results of pivotal Phase III clinical trial data for its innovative cell culture-derived influenza vaccine demonstrating that it is highly capable of producing an immune response (“immunogenic”), one at least as strong as the traditional egg-derived influenza vaccine Aggripal? for each of the three influenza strains studied.

Health :: Racial disparities in preventive health care persist

The racial gap in preventive health care — such as Pap tests, mammograms, and prostate and colorectal cancer screenings — persists and might be larger than previously thought, a study published online in BMC Heath Services Research finds, the Washington Post reports. For the study, Kevin Fiscella, an associate professor of family medicine and community and preventive medicine at the University of Rochester’s School of Medicine, and colleagues compared self reports from patients and Medicare claims from their physicians to see when they were eligible for and last had screenings for several conditions.

Flu :: Getting a flu shot in October is a great way to ward off seasonal flu this winter.

Flu season typically lasts from December to March, but the ideal time for “high-risk” people to be inoculated with the flu vaccine is now through mid-November, says Dr. James Luby, an infectious disease expert at UT Southwestern Medical Center. Although vaccine shortages have been experienced in the past, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is reporting no short supplies this season.

Flu :: GlaxoSmithKline?s new generation flu vaccine shows a significant seroprotection

New data released today demonstrate significantly better immune responses in the age range 65 and above when vaccinated with GSK?s new generation (adjuvanted) seasonal flu vaccine compared to a traditional seasonal flu vaccine. These new data are highly important, since the disease burden and death toll is highest among the elderly in each flu season. The data, presented at the Influenza Vaccines for the World (IVW) 2006 Congress, showed the seroprotection rate (90.5%) achieved by the new adjuvanted vaccine in the elderly to be more than 25% higher than that reported in the age matched comparator group.

Influenza :: Switzerland to purchase GSK?s H5N1 influenza vaccine for pre-pandemic use

GlaxoSmithKline (plc) today announced that a supply contract has been signed by the Swiss Federal Office of Public Health and GlaxoSmithKline for 8 million doses of GSK?s H5N1 antigen influenza vaccine and its proprietary adjuvant for pre-pandemic use. The order provides enough doses, one per head of the entire Swiss population, to help prepare the immune system against the threat of a human influenza pandemic and is the first national programme to do so. Supply and stockpiling of the pre-pandemic vaccine is expected in early 2007 once the Swiss regulatory agency, Swissmedic, has reviewed and approved GSK?s regulatory file.