Global action plan for influenza vaccines

News Digest 2011

July

Universal Influenza Vaccine In Reach Targeting Key Common Proteins

July 31 - Scientists at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) are working to develop a universal influenza vaccine, and report that in recent experiments with mice, ferrets and monkeys, researchers at NIAID's Vaccine Research Center used a two-step immunization approach to elicit antibodies that attacked a variety of influenza virus strains.

One H1N1 Vaccine Not Enough for Kids With New Livers

July 30 - A single dose of the monovalent pandemic 2009 H1N1 influenza vaccine was not enough to protect immunocompromised pediatric liver transplant recipients, a small study suggested.

Oral Interferon May Prevent And Control Avian Influenza Virus Infection

July 29 - In an article in Journal of Interferon & Cytokine Research, a peer-reviewed journal published by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., Chinese researchers report that oral chicken interferon-alpha may significantly reduce influenza virus levels when given either preventively or therapeutically.

Factors associated with 2009 pandemic influenza A (H1N1) vaccination acceptance among university students from India during the post-pandemic phase

July 29 - There was a low adherence to influenza A (H1N1) vaccination program among university students and health care workers during the pandemic influenza in many parts of the world. Vaccination of high risk individuals is one of the recommendations of World Health Organization during the post-pandemic period.

Follow-up dose recommended to defend children against pandemic virus outbreaks

July 27 - Researchers from Australia determined that pediatric liver transplant patients who received a single-dose of the H1N1 vaccine were not adequately protected against the virus compared to healthy children. Immune response to the H1N1 vaccine in a non-pandemic situation should be investigated and further research is urgently needed to develop new vaccine strategies that protect high-risk patient groups from the H1N1 influenza.

Long-term, universal flu shot on horizon

July 27 - A universal flu vaccine that protects against all strains may be within reach in the next five years, replacing annual shots developed for specifics flu viruses, the chief of the National Institutes of Health predicts.

Limited efficacy of inactivated influenza vaccine in elderly individuals is associated with decreased production of vaccine-specific antibodies

July 25 - Inferior antibody response to influenza vaccination in the elderly is primarily due to reduced quantities of vaccine-specific antibodies.

Time to mandate influenza vaccination in health-care workers

July 25 - The evidence that vaccinating doctors and nurses protects patients from infection, morbidity, and death is well established. Nevertheless, health-care workers invoke a litany of excuses for avoiding the jab.

DC leads breakthrough study to improve influenza vaccine protection in the very young

July 18 - Infants and toddlers have higher rates of hospitalization due to influenza than older children and young adults, and a new groundbreaking study led by the BC Centre for Disease Control (BCCDC) suggests a simple way to improve their vaccine protection.

Influenza Vaccine Approved in the USA For 2011-2012

July 18 - The influenza vaccine formulation for the 2011-2012 vaccine was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The release stated that the vaccine will be used by the six manufactures licensed to produce and distribute influenza vaccine for the United States.

2nd WHO Consultation on the Global Action Plan for Influenza Vaccines in the news

Thailand joins the list of pandemic vaccine manufactures

July 12 - Food and Drug Administration of Thailand approved the national licensure of the H1N1 Pandemic Live Attenuated Influenza Vaccine. The vaccine is manufactured by the Government Pharmaceutical Organization (GPO).

H1N1 Microneedle Vaccine Protects Better Than Injection

July 11 - The Emory/Georgia Tech research team previously reported that delivery of seasonal influenza vaccine through the skin using antigen-coated metal microneedle patches or dissolving microneedles elicited strong immune responses that can confer protection at least equal to conventional intramuscular injections. The team has developed dissolving microneedle technology that could be used in easy-to-administer, painless patches.

Discovery of natural antibody offers hope for a near-universal flu vaccine

July 11 - Influenza vaccines have a number of shortcomings that means even those who have been vaccinated may still get influenza. Researchers at the Scripps Research Institute and Dutch biopharmaceutical company Crucell have now found a broadly acting antibody that could lead to a single, near-universal flu vaccine to replace annually changing vaccines.

Côte d'Ivoire-Santé: Riposte contre la grippe A

Juillet 11 - L'Institut national d'hygiène publique (INHP) est rentré au laboratoire pour réaliser le bilan de la riposte de la grippe A H1N1, appelé aussi grippe pandémique. Durant deux jours (7 et 8 juillet), à Bassam, les hommes du Pr. Odéhouri Koudou, directeur de l'INHP, ont passé en revue toutes les dispositions qui ont été mises en place en Côte d'Ivoire pour faire face à la grippe pandémique durant un an (avril 2009 à août 2010).

Sanidad afirma que la gripe A demostró la capacidad de España de resolver con "solvencia situaciones de incertidumbre"

Julio 11 - La Comisión de Salud Pública acordó por unanimidad la necesidad de disponer de vacunas para el 30 por ciento de la población, más un 10 por ciento para posibles eventualidades. Para ello el Ministerio de Sanidad y Política Social adquirió 37 millones de dosis, ante la estimación de que cada persona necesitara dos dosis.

Forma México red internacional para responder en caso de pandemia

Julio 10 - China, Estados Unidos, Francia y México forman una de las redes más importantes a nivel internacional para producir vacunas contra influenza de cualquier tipo de cepa, incluso la mortal H5N1 o aviar que es una amenaza latente de pandemia para el orbe.

Large Study Reaffirms H1N1, Seasonal Flu Vaccine Safety

July 5 - The study conducted by Harvard Pilgrim Health Care and Harvard Medical School, which relied on data from the Centers for Disease Control’s Vaccine Safety Datalink Project (VSD), found no elevated risk for any adverse event, including Guillain-Barré syndrome, a condition that causes varying degrees of muscle weakness.

Swedish data strengthen case for vaccine-narcolepsy link

June 30 - New data from Sweden today added more evidence of a link between a 2009 H1N1 influenza vaccine and narcolepsy in children and adolescents, suggesting that those who were vaccinated had more than a sixfold increase in risk for the condition. The findings come from a study by Sweden's Medical Products Agency (MPA), which examined all cases of narcolepsy with cataplexy reported in young people (19 years and under) in Sweden in 2009 and 2010. The study follows an earlier investigation that covered four regions and showed a fourfold increase in risk of narcolepsy in those who received the Pandemrix H1N1 vaccine, made by GlaxoSmithKline.

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News digest archive - 2011

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