Vaccination News

Early tests set the stage for health workers to administer the vaccine as an aerosol instead of an injection.

A new powdered form of BCG, the tuberculosis vaccine, mixes a mycobacterium [green] with leucine [gray] and may pave the way for more powerful, needle-free forms of the vaccine.

A new powdered form of tuberculosis (TB) vaccine may help save some of the nearly two million lives lost to the disease annually. In preliminary tests, the powdered form contained more active bacterial cells than a freeze-dried version similar to the existing vaccine. The result may pave the way for health workers to administer the vaccine as an aerosol to the lungs instead of as an injection, possibly leading to a more effective treatment.

Continue reading "New Powdered Tuberculosis Vaccine May Lead to Life-Saving Aerosol" »

Genital warts. Cervical cancer. Vaginal disease. All these afflictions are caused by the human papillomavirus. Recently, women have had an opportunity to decrease their chances of contracting the virus as a result of the new three-dose vaccine from Merck & Co. Inc. called Gardasil.

In recent news, however, the adequacy of the warning label provided by the Center for Disease Control has been tested by the public, as numerous complaints of side effects have surfaced after patients received their HPV vaccinations.

As of now, a report has stated that over 500 people have complained of post-vaccination side effects such as fainting and dizziness, and there have been three recorded cases of the Guillain-Barré syndrome. According to health professionals, the syndrome is a rare disorder within the nervous system that sometimes causes complete paralysis.

Continue reading "Cervical cancer vaccine users see side effects" »

Feb. 28, 2007 -- An experimental hepatitis E vaccine shows promise but needs further study, experts report in The New England Journal of Medicine.

Hepatitis E is a liver disease caused by the hepatitis E virus, which spreads through contaminated food or water.

Hepatitis E is rare in the U.S., but it's a major public health problem in developing countries. The disease is most dangerous for pregnant women, who can die or have miscarriages or stillbirths due to hepatitis E.

Continue reading "Hepatitis E Vaccine Shows Promise" »

COPENHAGEN (AFX) - Danish pharmaceutical group ALK Abello AS said its tablet-based grass pollen vaccine Grazax showed very positive results for the second treatment year in the ongoing GRAZAX GT-08 study.

In the second treatment year, Grazax reduces hay fever symptoms by 44 pct and reduces the need for symptom-relieving medication by 73 pct compared with placebo, ALK Abello said.

ALK Abello said it has recently entered strategic alliances for the Grazax programme with the Menarini Group for some European markets and with Schering-Plough (nyse: SGP - news - people ) for North America..

Copyright AFX News

ISLAMABAD, 27 February 2007 (IRIN) - Muslim and community leaders are seeking to counter the disinformation surrounding polio vaccinations in parts of Pakistan's North West Frontier Province (NWFP) and tribal areas.

"To make people understand the importance of polio immunisation in an Islamic context is extremely important. We are engaging moderate religious leaders, community leaders and influential tribal elders. And we are holding community jirgas [councils] to address the concerns of the parents and ensure their children are vaccinated," said Melissa Corkum, a spokesperson for the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad.

The message is "that the polio vaccine is safe and that the same vaccine has been used to eradicate polio in other Muslim countries like Saudi Arabia and Indonesia", Corkum said. 

Continue reading "PAKISTAN: Religious leaders fight vaccine propaganda" »

Drug development company Advaxis, has created a family of vaccines, Lovaxin, which encourages the immune system to attack cancer in the same way it would a flu vaccine.

Dr. Vafa Shahabi, Advaxis' Director of Research and Development, reports that because the human immune system is not designed to fight cancer on its own, she and her colleagues are trying to harness its power through a new kind of life form: specifically a family of vaccines, which they call Lovaxin. The vaccines are comprised of new strains of bacteria created in Advaxis' laboratory that are programmed to kill off specific cancers.

Central to this startling discovery is the microbe Listeria monocytogenes, a common bacterium found in milk, cheese and other dairy products. This microorganism apparently aids in fighting cancer by activating the body's own killer (cytotoxic T) cells to elicit a stronger than normal immune response to the presence of cancer cells. The vaccines "teach" the immune system to mount a specialized, targeted response that is lethal to cancer.

Continue reading "Lovaxin helps cancer fight" »

Merck & Co., Inc. today updated the prescribing information for ROTATEQ® (rotavirus vaccine, live, oral pentavalent), the Company's vaccine to help prevent rotavirus gastroenteritis in infants and children. The labeling update includes post-marketing reports of intussusception and hematochezia to the Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System (VAERS), a national vaccine safety surveillance program.

A naturally occurring event in infants, intussusception is estimated to occur in the U.S. in approximately 1 in 2,000 infants during the first year of life. Cases of intussusception can occur when no vaccine has been given and the cause is usually unknown. Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) reported that since the licensure of ROTATEQ on Feb. 3, 2006 until Jan. 31, 2007, 28 cases of intussusception in infants who received ROTATEQ have been reported in the U.S. to VAERS and that this number does not exceed the number of cases expected based on the background rate. The FDA Public Health Notification on this label change is available at http://www.fda.gov/cber/safety/phnrota021307.htm.

Continue reading "Merck Updates Prescribing Information For Rotateq®" »

Atlanta, GA -- The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) will meet tomorrow at the CDC in Atlanta. Thimerosal, a controversial mercury- based vaccine preservative still used in flu shots, will be discussed. Health Reporters are encouraged to attend. Lyn Redwood of the National Autism Association and the Coalition for SafeMinds will be in attendance and available to speak with members of the press.

WHAT:
The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) Meeting

WHEN:
Tomorrow, February 21st and Thursday, February 22nd from 7:00a.m.-6:00p.m.
Ethylmercury Thimerosal is scheduled to be discussed tomorrow at 10:55 am. 

Continue reading "Controversial Vaccine Preservative to be Discussed Tomorrow at CDC Meeting" »