News & Perspective

(CIDRAP News) – Stating that US soldiers should not be used as "guinea pigs for experimental drugs," a federal district judge in Washington, DC, yesterday granted a preliminary injunction against the Department of Defense's (DoD's) mandatory anthrax vaccination program.

(CIDRAP News) – State health departments have more than doubled their corps of epidemiologists working on infectious diseases and terrorism preparedness in the past 2 years, but the number is still too low, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Aug 15, 2003 (CIDRAP News) – The Institute of Medicine (IOM) Committee on Smallpox Vaccination Program Implementation issued a report earlier this week recommending that members of the general public who wish to receive a smallpox vaccination do so only in a clinical trial setting.

(CIDRAP News) – Because of the risk of heart inflammation, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) recommended yesterday that the federal smallpox immunization program not expand now beyond smallpox response teams to the larger population of health workers and emergency responders.

(CIDRAP News) – The Institute of Medicine (IOM) has again recommended a pause for evaluation of the federal smallpox vaccination program before it is expanded to more health workers and to emergency responders.

(CIDRAP News) – The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) should help states adjust their smallpox vaccination plans and goals to reflect the reality that relatively few health workers have volunteered for the shots so far, the General Accounting Office (GAO) of Congress says in a report released yesterday.

(CIDRAP News) – Although few states have finished the first stage of their smallpox vaccination programs, half of the states that responded to a recent survey said they are prepared to vaccinate their entire population in 10 days if necessary.

(CIDRAP News) – It's time to link science-based food safety standards with specific public health goals, says a report released today by the Institute of Medicine and the National Research Council of the National Academies.

(CIDRAP News) – In its second report on the civilian smallpox vaccination program, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) urges the government to proceed cautiously and advises public health agencies to focus on coordination, not just numbers of people vaccinated.

(CIDRAP News) Ð With perfect timing inview of the current global outbreak of a mysterious respiratory disease, theInstitute of Medicine today released a report calling on the United States totake the lead in addressing infectious disease threats around the world as wellas at home.