Researchers have successfully tested two candidate vaccines that may eventually be used together to confer immunity against HIV infection. Their findings are published in the Dec. 15 issue of the Journal of Infectious Diseases, now available online.
Going into another flu season, a new study reports that hospitalizing children for influenza may cost up to three or four times the previously accepted estimates. Pediatric researchers from the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia say their finding strengthens the economic justification for broadly vaccinating children against flu. The cost of influenza-related hospitalizations in children was about $13,000 each — compared to prior estimates of $3,000 to $4,000.
It’s flu season, but it may not be the best time to schedule your child’s flu shot, according to one Penn State physician and researcher. Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center pediatrician Ian M. Paul recently studied vaccination records of two high-risk pediatric groups — infants less than age 2 years and children with asthma — and found that year-round scheduling of flu shot appointments contributes significantly to better vaccination rates.
The Public Health Agency of Canada is recommending that health care providers in Canada not prescribe amantadine to treat and prevent influenza during the current flu season. This recommendation is based on test results from the 2005-2006 flu season and initial results from the 2006-2007 season.
Merck & Co., Inc. announced that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has added Merck’s cervical cancer vaccine, GARDASIL? [Quadrivalent Human Papillomavirus (Types 6, 11, 16, 18) Recombinant Vaccine] to the CDC’s Vaccines for Children (VFC) contract for girls and women aged 9 to 18. GARDASIL was approved on June 8 by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for use in girls and women ages 9 to 26 years. GARDASIL is the world’s first and only vaccine available for the prevention of HPV types 16- and 18-related cervical cancer, cervical pre-cancers (CIN 2/3 and AIS), vulvar pre-cancers (VIN 2/3) and vaginal pre-cancers (VaIN 2/3) and for the prevention of genital warts and low-grade cervical lesions (CIN 1) caused by HPV types 6, 11, 16 and 18.
Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) has awarded its highest honor, for the promotion of high public health standards among vulnerable populations, to William H. Foege, former Director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and a founder of the Task Force for Child Survival and Development, and Anthony S. Fauci, Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID). The two recipients have dedicated their lives to protecting people in this country and throughout the world from infectious diseases.
Dr. Jeanne Santoli is an MD and a Master in Public Health. She is Deputy Director of the Immunization Services Division at the National Centers of – National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases at CDC. In a recent press conference, she told that when there is disease present in a community, individuals may still benefit from vaccinations, so the vaccine is the best way to protect yourself against influenza.
In the wake of growing number of mumps cases in the US, the American medical authorities have updated their vaccination recommendations & asked for utilizing every opportunity to provide immunization to high-risk populations.
Merck & Co., Inc. announced that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) voted unanimously to recommend that adults 60 years of age and older be vaccinated with ZOSTAVAX? [Zoster Vaccine Live (Oka/Merck)] to help prevent shingles (herpes zoster), a frequently painful disease marked by a blistering rash.
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.