Vaccination News

THE cervical cancer vaccine being held out as an alternative to Gardasil may offer much longer-lasting protection, according to its maker.

Drug giant GlaxoSmithKline, which is trying to stop the Government agreeing to a vaccination program using only Gardasil, says its treatment, Cervarix, has the strength to protect women vaccinated at school until they turn 55.

Continue reading "Cervical cancer vaccine's rival 'lasts longer'. Or so GSK claims." »

Federal Service on Consumer Rights Supervision has withdrawn six series of Grippol flu vaccine. Roughly a million doses are being recalled from circulation on 68 cases of strong allergic response in nine regions of Russia. In two regions, the authorities independently stopped vaccination. The loss of vaccine producer, federal-run Microgen, is estimated at $2 million.

Chief of Federal Service on Consumer Rights Supervision (Rospotrebnadzor), Gennady Onishchenko, announced yesterday the withdrawal of six series of Grippol vaccine on strong allergic response to the preparation. Sixty eight people in nine regions of Russia suffered from it as of yesterday. All victims had laryngeal edema, palpitation and breathing troubles.

Continue reading "Flu Vaccine Withdrawn on Strong Allergy" »

Another news just hit all news agencies' websites. The only question that I have is how much did these experts get paid to voice their message that can lead to major fear and panic. How much did GSK and Roche pay? And why the normal influenza vaccines can be helpful against bird-flu virus?! What is the reason of this move? Do GSK and Roche need to flush their stock of vaccines because their expiration date is getting close, again?

Leading scientists say the UK government is failing to take advantage of scientific developments in the fight to prevent a flu pandemic.

A Royal Society and Academy of Medical Sciences report says more than one anti-viral drug should be stockpiled.

It warns the H5N1 virus can develop resistance to Tamiflu, and says the drug Relenza should also be stockpiled. 

Continue reading "Experts call for better flu plans" »

The second batch of vaccination, which is underway in 63 out of64 cities and provinces nationwide, is scheduled to be complete by late this month, said the Department of Animal Health under the country's Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Vietnam, to prevent reoccurrence of bird flu outbreaks, is intensifying fights against fowl smuggling, and monitoring poultry transport and trade.

Continue reading "Vietnam completes bird flu vaccination in 2006" »

HORSHOLM, Denmark, Nov. 20 (UPI) -- ALK-Abello said Monday it launched its tablet-based vaccine against grass pollen allergy, Grazax, in Germany.

"The launch of Grazax is the culmination of years of research and development at ALK-Abello," said Jens Bager, ALK-Abello's chief executive officer. "With this convenient tablet for home treatment, many more patients throughout Europe can be offered a treatment that targets the cause of their allergy, cuts the symptoms and improves their quality of life."

The company said it plans to introduce the vaccine in other, unspecified European markets.

Continue reading "ALK-Abello launches pollen allergy vaccine" »

Another article by Steven Woloshin, Lisa Schwartz and Gilbert Welch, a must read, as always.

Here we highlight a few common misconceptions that we hope will make you better informed this flu season.

36,000 Americans die of flu-related illnesses during a typical flu season

CLOSER LOOK: It is very hard to know how many people die from any given disease because there is often much uncertainty in determining the cause of death. This is particularly true for the flu. That's because it shares symptoms with so many other diseases, and because people most likely to die a flu-related death are also at high risk for many other causes of death. Read More: Research-Basics: Understanding How Big a Risk Is

Continue reading "Common Misconceptions About the Flu" »

I am always happy to post articles by Steven Woloshin, Lisa Schwartz and Gilbert Welch.

Despite 64 published studies over the past 35 years, we really don't know how well the flu vaccine works to prevent serious illness and death in the elderly. How is this possible? The answer has to do with how the studies were done.

Fifty-nine of the 64 studies were observational; that is, studies where scientists simply count up outcomes (e.g., the number of flu-like illnesses among people who did or did not get the vaccine). Observational studies cannot prove cause and effect. And findings that are encouraging -- for example, fewer deaths observed among those vaccinated -- may not mean the vaccine works. Rather, such results may simply reflect that the people who get vaccinated are generally healthier than those who do not.

Continue reading "How Well Does the Vaccine Work in the Elderly?" »

While there are no interesting news on vaccine and vaccination I am posting articles by by Steven Woloshin, Lisa Schwartz and Gilbert Welch.

"On average, the flu kills 36,000 people each year in the U.S."

This statement, from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Web site, uses a common strategy to highlight -- really exaggerate -- risk. The message begins with an attention-grabbing large number, but it provides no information to put the number into context.

To understand this number, readers first need to know "out of how many?": that is, the size of the population at risk. The number of people who could die of flu-related illness is the entire U.S. population. In 2002, the 36,000 flu-related deaths occurred among approximately 288 million people. (The U.S. population today is estimated at about 297 million, but this article and the table below use data from 2002 -- the most recent national death data available.)

Continue reading "Research Basics: Understanding How Big a Risk Is" »