Vaccine News and Research

Latest Vaccine News and Research

Flu vaccines more effective when sweetened

Scientists in Australia have discovered a simple way of making flu vaccines much more effective.

21 Aug 2007

AIDS Vaccine Advocacy Coalition receives $14 million from Gates Foundation

The AIDS Vaccine Advocacy Coalition (AVAC) announced today at the AIDS Vaccine 2007 Conference that it has received a five-year, $14 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to create a new international HIV Prevention Research Advocacy Network.

21 Aug 2007

What's making you fat? - the answer could be a virus!

According to researchers in the U.S. a common virus (adenovirus-36), that causes throat and eye infections may play a part in obesity.

21 Aug 2007

Tumors use enzyme to recruit regulatory T-cells and suppress immune response

One way tumors fly under the radar of the immune system is by using IDO, an enzyme used by fetuses to help avoid rejection, to recruit powerful regulatory T cells that turn down the immune response, researchers say.

17 Aug 2007

We need to treat cancer like an infectious disease

Among the many medical miracles produced by science over the years, vaccines and antibiotics have undoubtedly saved the most lives.

17 Aug 2007

Most flu shot plans do not address how to vaccinate hard-to-reach populations

Most flu immunization plans in the United States do not address how to vaccinate hard-to-reach populations (HTR)--undocumented immigrants, substance users, the homeless, homebound elderly, and minorities--and this potentially dangerous omission can lead masses of people to become ill during an outbreak of pandemic flu or other contagious disease, according to a new study by the New York Academy of Medicine in the current issue of the Journal of Urban Health.

17 Aug 2007

Baxter awarded major contract for flu vaccine in the event of a pandemic

Baxter International Inc. has announced that Baxter's European subsidiary in the United Kingdom has entered into an advanced supply agreement with the Department of Health that contains an option to purchase pandemic influenza vaccine in the event the World Health Organization (WHO) declares a pandemic.

From Baxter International Inc. 17 Aug 2007

HPV vaccine not effective for treating pre-existing HPV infection

For women with human papillomavirus (HPV) infection, use of the HPV-16/18 vaccine will not accelerate reduction of the virus and should not be used to treat the infection, according to a study in the August 15 issue of JAMA.

16 Aug 2007

Rotarix accepted for review by FDA

GlaxoSmithKline has announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has accepted for review its Biologics License Application (BLA) for Rotarix, an oral candidate vaccine for infants to prevent rotavirus gastroenteritis.

16 Aug 2007

MS patients given hope with new vaccine treatment

Canadian researchers have developed a vaccine to stop the progression of multiple sclerosis (MS) and they say encouraging results have already been seen.

14 Aug 2007

Authorities accused of a cover-up in British foot and mouth scare

The British government has been accused of a cover-up over the foot and mouth outbreak in a research site which houses the government-backed Institute for Animal Health.

14 Aug 2007

Bird flu death in Bali - Australians on alert

Health officials in Indonesia have confirmed the first human death from bird flu in Bali in a village in the north-west district of Jembrana, an area where poultry is known to be affected.

13 Aug 2007

Sanofi pasteur ships doses of Fluzone influenza vaccine for the 2007-2008 season

Sanofi pasteur, the vaccines division of the sanofi-aventis Group, has begun shipment of influenza vaccine (Fluzone, Influenza Virus Vaccine) in the United States for the 2007-2008 season.

13 Aug 2007

Foot and mouth spreads even further in the UK

It now appears that the foot-and-mouth outbreak in England has spread outside the protection zone, dashing any hopes that the disease had been contained.

12 Aug 2007

Biomira and Merck KGaA sign agreements on Stimuvax

Biomira Inc. has announced the signing of amended and restated collaboration and supply agreements related to Stimuvax with Merck KGaA of Darmstadt, Germany.

12 Aug 2007

Scientists prepare for future pandemic strains of H5N1

Preparing vaccines and therapeutics that target a future mutant strain of H5N1 influenza virus sounds like science fiction, but it may be possible, according to a team of scientists at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), a component of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and a collaborator at Emory University School of Medicine.

11 Aug 2007

The finger of suspicion for UK foot and mouth outbreak points at nearby labs

Investigations into the foot and mouth outbreak in Britain points the finger of suspicion for the source of the infection to the nearby research centres.

8 Aug 2007

Good old fashioned measures may still save lives in a pandemic

Researchers in the United States have discovered that public health measures such as quarantines, school closings and bans on public gatherings greatly reduce the death toll in flu pandemics.

8 Aug 2007

More cattle culled in UK foot and mouth outbreak

Britain's chief veterinary officer has said the threat of the current outbreak of foot and mouth disease spreading beyond Surrey is minimal.

8 Aug 2007

Underinsured children in the U.S. increasingly at risk for not getting needed vaccines

Due to limited federal and state funding for vaccines, underinsured children in the United States are increasingly at risk for not getting needed vaccines, according to a new study published August 8 in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

8 Aug 2007