Vaccine News and Research

Latest Vaccine News and Research

Neglected infections of poverty in the U.S. are disabling hundreds of thousands of Americans every year

An analysis published June 25th in the open-access journal PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases highlights that diseases very similar to those plaguing Africa, Asia, and Latin America are also occurring frequently among the poorest people in the United States, especially women and children. These diseases - the "neglected infections of poverty" - are caused by chronic and debilitating parasitic, bacterial, and congenital infections.

24 Jun 2008

Discovery of potential key to better drugs to fight Toxoplasmosis parasite

Discoveries by IU School of Medicine scientists have opened a promising door to new drugs for toxoplasmosis and other parasites that now can evade treatments by turning dormant in the body.

19 Jun 2008

Australian-made vaccine will protect against bird flu

An Australian-made vaccine which now has approval from the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) could be used in the event of a bird flu pandemic.

17 Jun 2008

Presidential candidates comment on causes of autism - Association says evidence-based approach should guide national autism

Noting that speech-language pathologists (SLPs) are often the first group of professionals to recognize that a child has autism and are central to providing treatment, the American Speech-Language Hearing Association (ASHA) sent letters this month to Presidential candidates Sens. John McCain and Barack Obama that advise taking an evidence-based approach to the vaccine controversy surrounding what causes autism and to policy development related to care.

16 Jun 2008

Patch protects travellers from holiday diarrhoea

Scientists in the U.S. have developed a patch which protects people from stomach bugs picked up during foreign travel.

16 Jun 2008

Integrated control of malaria and other vector diseases is crucial

Combating malaria and other so-called vector diseases with chemical controls is increasingly ineffective, besides being hazardous for humans and the environment. These chemical controls must therefore be eliminated. In order to combat the diseases that insects and ticks transmit, all possible strategies must be united.

15 Jun 2008

U.N. Secretary-General calls for end of discrimination against, travel restrictions on people living with HIV/AIDS

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon at the opening of the U.N. 2008 High Level Meeting on AIDS on Tuesday called on the international community to end discrimination against HIV-positive people, including travel restrictions, describing such practices as "an affront to our common humanity," Xinhuanet reports.

11 Jun 2008

FDA advisory panel voices concern over risks of HIV vaccine trials in teenagers

An FDA advisory panel on Monday voiced concern over the potential risks of conducting early HIV vaccine trials among teenagers in the U.S., Bloomberg reports. According to the panel, although such trials are justified in countries where HIV/AIDS is spreading more quickly, the risks might not outweigh the benefits in the U.S.

11 Jun 2008

Breakthrough in understanding tumor immune therapy

Researchers from the Tubingen University, Department of Dermatology, uncovered an entirely new understanding on how the immune system may control tumor development.

11 Jun 2008

Measles making a comeback in the U.S.

The rise in the number of measles cases in the U.S. is concerning health authorities who fear the disease is making a comeback after a decade of being eradicated.

11 Jun 2008

Indonesia criticised over change in bird flu reporting policy

A decision by authorities in Indonesia to restrict the reporting of bird flu cases in humans to every six months, has been condemned as irresponsible.

9 Jun 2008

New pathogen from pigs' stomach ulcers

Scientists have isolated a new bacterium in pigs' stomachs thanks to a pioneering technique, offering hope of new treatments to people who suffer with stomach ulcers, according to research published in the June issue of the International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology.

8 Jun 2008

New grant to enable University of Rochester to increase HIV research by 25 percent

The University of Rochester today announced that the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has awarded a team of more than 50 researchers a five-year, $3.2 million grant.

4 Jun 2008

BN ImmunoTherapeutics starts clinical trials with prostate cancer vaccine

BN ImmunoTherapeutics, Inc. has initiated Phase I/II clinical studies with its therapeutic vaccine candidate against prostate cancer.

4 Jun 2008

UK to provide about $12 billion to improve health services in developing countries, fight HIV/AIDS, official says

United Kingdom International Development Secretary Douglas Alexander on Monday announced that the government will provide six billion British pounds, or $11.8 billion, over seven years to improve health services and systems in developing countries to fight HIV/AIDS, AFP/Google.com reports (AFP/Google.com, 6/2).

3 Jun 2008

Despite vaccine, public should not get complacent about pneumococcal disease

Although the childhood pneumococcal conjugate vaccine has been a boon in reducing the incidence invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD), the public and the medical community must not get complacent, as non-vaccine strains, some resistant to antibiotics, are on the rise, say scientists at a meeting today in Boston.

3 Jun 2008

Bavarian Nordic enters trials with prostate cancer vaccine

Bavarian Nordic's subsidiary, BN ImmunoTherapeutics has initiated Phase I/II clinical studies with its therapeutic vaccine candidate against prostate cancer.

3 Jun 2008

Celldex Therapeutics vaccine may double survival in patients with deadly brain tumors

A vaccine aimed at inducing immunity to the most common and deadly type of brain tumor may stave off recurrence and more than double survival in patients, according to a new study led by researchers in Duke's Preston Robert Tisch Brain Tumor Center.

2 Jun 2008

IDM Pharma presents new data on IDM-2101 in non-small cell lung cancer

IDM Pharma, Inc. today announced follow-up results from the Phase 2 study of IDM-2101 showing that the product candidate was well tolerated, induced broadly specific cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) responses, and showed a positive survival trend in HLA-A2 positive patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who were treated with IDM-2101, compared to a parallel external control group of HLA-A2 negative non-treated patients.

2 Jun 2008

Protective effects of breast milk are higher in girls than in boys

Challenging the long-standing belief that breast-feeding equally protects all babies against disease, research led by Johns Hopkins Children's Center investigators suggests that when it comes to respiratory infections, the protective effects of breast milk are higher in girls than in boys.

2 Jun 2008