Vaccine News and Research

Latest Vaccine News and Research

NIH awards grant to explore causal relationship between epoetin dose and survival of hemodialysis patients

The National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Diabetes & Digestive & Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) has awarded a two-year grant to the Medical Technology and Practice Patterns Institute (MTPPI) in collaboration with Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) to explore the causal relationship between epoetin dose and survival of hemodialysis patients receiving this therapy.

27 Feb 2005

Control and containment key to combating avian influenza

Containing the bird flu virus to the greatest extent possible and reducing the risk of infection in poultry and farmed free-range ducks will help to prevent a global human influenza pandemic, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has announced.

24 Feb 2005

Microsoft combs through millions of strains of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)

Microsoft Research has pioneered promising new ways to combat one of humankind's most deadly viruses with advanced software typically used to analyze large computer databases and complex digital images, or to separate spam from legitimate e-mail.

23 Feb 2005

FDA approval of Vaccinia Immune Globulin to treat adverse reactions to smallpox vaccination

Computer Sciences Corporation today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved its Vaccinia Immune Globulin (VIGIV), an intravenous immune globulin, to treat rare adverse reactions to smallpox vaccination.

22 Feb 2005

New information that may help guide design of vaccines for HIV-1

Scientists have uncovered new information that may help guide design of vaccines for HIV-1, the virus that causes AIDS. A new detailed structural analysis of the complex formed by an anti-HIV antibody called 4E10 and its specific target provides insight into why this particular antibody is so broadly effective, a rare characteristic for HIV discovered thus far.

22 Feb 2005

Antibody that neutralizes most HIV strains

A group of scientists from The Scripps Research Institute and several other institutions has solved the structure of a rare human antibody that broadly neutralizes human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), which causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS).

22 Feb 2005

Prospects for a safe, effective AIDS vaccine are improving

Prospects for a safe, effective AIDS vaccine are improving as researchers from the public and private sectors begin to collaborate in new and creative ways, researchers said recently at the 2005 Annual Meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).

22 Feb 2005

Female sex hormones have a profound effect on susceptibility to the herpes simplex virus

Two McMaster University studies, to be published in the Journal of Virology, show that sex hormones have a profound effect on susceptibility of female mice to the herpes simplex virus, type 2 (HSV-2 ), one of the most common sexually transmitted diseases.

21 Feb 2005

FDA approves new smallpox vaccination

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Vaccinia Immune Globulin Intravenous (VIGIV) - the first intravenous human plasma-derived product available to treat certain rare complications of smallpox vaccination.

20 Feb 2005

Vaccine that boosts the immune response could improve the effect of conventional treatment for patients with chronic myeloid leukaemia

CML is caused by the breakage and swapping of chromosomes 9 and 22, which results in a shortened chromosome called the Philadelphia chromosome. Cells with the abnormal chromosome make a protein that encourages aberrant growth and division. Patients with CML can be treated with a drug called imatinib or interferon alfa.

20 Feb 2005

EuroVacc 02 HIV Vaccine trial begins

The European Vaccine Effort against HIV/AIDS, has announced that a phase I clinical trial of novel investigational vaccines comprising DNA-HIV-C and NYVAC-HIV-C for the prevention of HIV infection has started in Lausanne and London in February 2005.

16 Feb 2005

Genetically engineered potatoes offer new hope in the fight against the Hepatitis B

Genetically engineered potatoes offer new hope in the fight against the Hepatitis B Virus (HBV), an acute sometimes fatal form of viral hepatitis caused by a DNA virus that persists in the blood serum and is transmitted by sexual contact or by transfusion or by ingestion of contaminated blood or other bodily fluids.

14 Feb 2005

Vaccination Week, largest immunization drive in the Americas

Health workers in every country in the Western Hemisphere are preparing strategies, purchasing vaccines, and coordinating logistics for the largest immunization drive in the Americas, targeting millions of children for Vaccination Week in the Americas, starting April 23.

13 Feb 2005

Preventive measures are failing to stem the rising rate of HIV infection

An estimated 38 million people worldwide, including over 2 million children, are now infected with HIV, and a record 4.8 million became infected in 2003.

10 Feb 2005

PAHO vaccines books wins major award

The Pan American Health Organization’s publication, Vaccines: Preventing Disease and Protecting Health, has won an award from the Association of American Publishers in the medical science category.

9 Feb 2005

Merck may have known the overuse of mercury in their vaccines posed a dangerous health threat to children

A Los Angeles Times article today reports that Merck, a leading manufacturer of prescription drugs, knew the overuse of mercury in their vaccines posed a dangerous health threat to children.

8 Feb 2005

India trials investigational vaccine candidate designed to prevent HIV/AIDS

Announcing the trial, Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare Dr. Anbumani Ramadoss, said: "Developing a vaccine to prevent AIDS is one of the most difficult scientific challenges of our time. It is also one of the most urgent health needs. Perseverance is the way forward, and India has a long- term commitment."

7 Feb 2005

Parents comfortable with vaccination for STIs for their children

Parents are generally accepting of the hypothetical scenario of vaccinating their adolescent children against infection, whether the infection is sexually transmitted or not, according to a study in the February issue of The Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine.

7 Feb 2005

Varicella vaccine is almost 90 percent effective against chickenpox

The varicella vaccine is almost 90 percent effective against chickenpox, but its impact on herpes zoster (shingles) is unknown and needs wider surveillance, Yale School of Medicine researchers write in today's New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) perspective section.

7 Feb 2005

Eleventh Edition of the Report on Carcinogens

The Department of Health and Human Services released its Eleventh Edition of the Report on Carcinogens today, adding seventeen substances to the growing list of cancer-causing agents, bringing the total to 246.

31 Jan 2005