News & Perspective

(CIDRAP News) – Doubts about flu vaccine effectiveness in children younger than 2 years have kept some countries from recommending immunization for them, but Finnish researchers presented promising data yesterday that they say might prompt some to reconsider.

(CIDRAP News) – A new report says that a cell culture derived influenza vaccine and a conventional egg-based vaccine both proved effective in a large international clinical trial, offering support for those who contend that cell-based vaccines should become an important part of flu vaccine supplies in coming years.

(CIDRAP News) – The European Medicine Agency (EMA) said today it is not clear if there is any link between narcolepsy cases and the Pandemrix vaccine for 2009 H1N1 influenza, and it will take 3 to 6 months to investigate the possibility fully.

(CIDRAP News) – Preliminary results from an investigation by Swedish regulators into reports of narcolepsy in people who received a 2009 H1N1 vaccine found no link between the immunization and the condition.

In a report yesterday from the country's Medical Products Agency, investigators said they found that narcolepsy developed both in people who had and who had not received the vaccine, Finland-based YLE News reported yesterday.

(CIDRAP News) – In a bird's eye view of pandemic H1N1 seroprevalence studies published so far, the World Health Organization (WHO) said today the reports consistently show older people had partial protection and that infection rates were higher in younger people, but it's too soon to estimate a global attack rate.