News & Perspective

(CIDRAP News) – In the first clinical trial of a norovirus vaccine—in which volunteers were deliberately exposed to the common gastrointestinal virus—the inoculation reduced participants' risk of illness by 47%, according to results released recently by LigoCyte Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

(CIDRAP News) – Influenza reports presented at the Infectious Diseases Society of America's (IDSA's) annual conference today shed light on a range of topics, including vaccine acceptance among healthcare workers (HCWs) and risk factors for hospitalization in small children.

IDSA members discussed their reports in a press teleconference today from the meeting site in Vancouver, B.C., and the organization also released abstracts online.

(CIDRAP News) – Speaking at a Senate committee hearing today, US Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said a cell-based seasonal influenza vaccine from Novartis could be on the US market in time for the 2011-12 flu season.

(CIDRAP News) – The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently issued new guidance for preventing flu in healthcare settings that reflects a year's worth of new information about the 2009 H1N1 virus and recommends surgical masks rather than N-95 respirators when providing routine care for flu patients.