Vaccine News and Research

Latest Vaccine News and Research

Freeze-dried sugar helps keep heat-sensitive, protein-based drugs working at room temperature

A spoonful of sugar may help the medicine go down, but it may take only a thin coating of freeze-dried sugar to keep insulin, vaccines and other heat-sensitive, protein-based drugs working reliably even when stored at room temperature and above.

23 Jun 2004

West and central Africa is on the brink of the largest polio epidemic in recent years

Epidemiologists of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative today issued a stark warning that west and central Africa is on the brink of the largest polio epidemic in recent years.

23 Jun 2004

Australian childhood immunisation incentives to continue

Funding for the General Practice Immunisation Incentives Scheme (GPII) will now continue on an ongoing basis to ensure that Australia’s 90 per cent plus childhood immunisation coverage is maintained.

23 Jun 2004

1 million deaths from malaria per year

Malaria remains a global health problem of staggering dimensions and despite many efforts to fight the disease; the situation today is worsening with more than 1 million deaths per year.

22 Jun 2004

Lingering outbreak of pertussis in four Chicago-area counties

Dr. Eric E. Whitaker, state public health director, today urged parents to ensure their children have been properly immunized against this highly contagious disease and asked that persons exhibiting symptoms to immediately seek medical care.

20 Jun 2004

Ugandans highly knowledgeable about HIV vaccine and willing to participate in future trials

A majority of Ugandan study participants are familiar with the benefits of vaccines and are willing to participate in future HIV-preventive vaccine trails

20 Jun 2004

Australian researchers awarded funding for new HIV vaccines

Australian researchers at Monash University have been awarded $488,125 in development grants by the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) for projects exploring new vaccines for HIV, the development of medical diagnostic devices and the development of drugs to treat metastatic cancers.

17 Jun 2004

Biotech organization receives $1 million form Bill & Melinda Gates

The Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) today announced the launch of BIO Ventures for Global Health (BVGH), a new nonprofit organization that will work to enlist the biotechnology industry in the fight against neglected diseases. BVGH has received a $1 million start-up grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

17 Jun 2004

Art gives insight into medical research

Paintings that give insights into medical research through a scientist's eyes can be seen at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History's latest exhibition – Medical Research Revealed by Dr Lizzie Burns.

15 Jun 2004

Benefits of current therapeutic options for pancreatic cancer are eclipsed by their toxicity and inconvenience

Decision Resources, Inc., one of the world's leading research and advisory firms focusing on pharmaceutical and health care issues, finds that the benefits of current therapeutic options for pancreatic cancer are eclipsed by their toxicity and inconvenience, especially in advanced stages of the disease.

15 Jun 2004

Significant vaccine advance for Parkinson’s disease therapy

Scientists at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha and Columbia University Medical Center in New York have discovered a new vaccine approach that successfully prevents the death of brain cells in a mouse model of Parkinson’s disease.

15 Jun 2004

Significance of the discovery of anthrax toxin genes in a naturally occurring microbe other than Bacillus anthracis

Dr. Fraser discusses, for the first time, the significance of the discovery of anthrax toxin genes in a naturally occurring microbe other than Bacillus anthracis, the bacterium that causes anthrax.

14 Jun 2004

New vaccine to stop cocaine addiction

Xenova Group plc has announced the presentation of results of two dose escalation Phase II studies of TA-CD, a vaccine being developed for the treatment of cocaine addiction, at the College on Problems of Drug Dependence 66th Annual Scientific Meeting in Puerto Rico, June 12-17.

14 Jun 2004

WHO welcomes G8 endorsement of the Global HIV Vaccine Enterprise

The World Health Organization (WHO) and the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) today welcomed the G8's endorsement of the Global HIV Vaccine Enterprise, a virtual consortium proposed by an international group of scientists that is being established to accelerate HIV vaccine development.

11 Jun 2004

U.S.$2.8 to study a virus associated with respiratory infections

The Center for Emerging Infectious Diseases (CEID), based in the University of Iowa College of Public Health, has been awarded a five-year, $2.8 million grant by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases to study a virus associated with respiratory infections.

11 Jun 2004

U.S. team to battle malaria in Peru

In the middle of the Peruvian Amazon, a battle against malaria – the second largest killer of people worldwide – will be undertaken by an international team of researchers led by tropical disease specialist Joseph Vinetz, M.D., from the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) School of Medicine.

11 Jun 2004

Postnatal exposure to a mercury preservative commonly used in a number of childhood vaccines can lead to the development of autism-like damage

A new study published online June 8 in the Nature publication, Molecular Psychiatry, indicates that postnatal exposure to thimerosal, a mercury preservative commonly used in a number of childhood vaccines, can lead to the development of autism-like damage in autoimmune disease susceptible mice

11 Jun 2004

Australian government to provide free pneumococcal disease vaccinations

The Commonwealth Government will provide free vaccines to protect newborn babies and older people from pneumococcal disease, as well as a catch up program for toddlers.

11 Jun 2004

Prostate cancer immunotherapy vaccine hits clinical trials

Scientists at the Austrlia's, Queensland Institute of Medical Research (QIMR) are currently trialing an experimental "immunotherapy" treatment for men with advanced prostate cancer.

10 Jun 2004

HIV infection impairs immunity to malaria in pregnant women

"Scientists from the University of Melbourne, Australia, the United States and Malawi studying infections with malaria and HIV, have found a strong link between the two diseases, which affect millions of people around the world and are major scourges in sub-Saharan Africa.

7 Jun 2004