News & Perspective

(CIDRAP News) – Legal issues that came into play during the H1N1 flu pandemic provided a useful look at how laws can help ease the availability of the vaccine, but in some instances can work against immunization efforts, according to a legal expert who has analyzed events that unfolded over the past year.

(CIDRAP News) – In the wake of a pandemic vaccine that came too little and too late to blunt the second wave of pandemic flu infections last fall, President Barack Obama's science advisory group today presented a set of recommendations on how to more quickly produce a vaccine in the face of another novel flu outbreak or other public health emergency.

(CIDRAP News) – As part of a push for more government transparency, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today released a draft report detailing 21 steps it could take to share more information, such as providing fuller explanations of its decisions and posting more inspection reports.

(CIDRAP News) – Hospitalization rates for rotavirus infections among US children dropped dramatically in the first 2 years after the first rotavirus vaccine was recommended for routine use, researchers from the US Centers for Disease and Prevention (CDC) reported today.