News & Perspective

The world needs much better influenza vaccines, but the quest for them faces a formidable barrier: overconfidence about the effectiveness of existing influenza vaccines.

(CIDRAP News) – The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) may launch a pilot plan to offer anthrax vaccination to first responders early in 2013, a DHS official said at a congressional hearing yesterday.

In response to questions, Alexander Garza, MD, MPH, DHS's chief medical officer and assistant secretary for health affairs, was reluctant to discuss timing but said the trial program may be ready to debut "early next year."

(CIDRAP News) – Health departments in some states have alerted their providers about a thin supply of rabies vaccine that has limited pre-exposure prophylaxis and altered how they obtain vaccine for post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP).

(CIDRAP News) – More parents obtain medical vaccination exemptions for their kindergarten children in states where they are easier to get, which potentially reduces herd immunity and poses a threat to children who have real medical contraindications to vaccination, according to a study published yesterday in the Journal of Infectious Diseases.

(CIDRAP News) – Researchers following recent antiviral trends in the United States have found a troubling drop in the use of the drugs for treating hospitalized patients with lab-confirmed flu, especially children.

(CIDRAP News) – The US Center for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) vaccine advisory group today heard the latest information on flu vaccine effectiveness and safety and updated its recommendation on the number of flu vaccine doses children under age 9 should receive.

(CIDRAP News) – Washington state is battling its biggest pertussis outbreak in more than three decades, and cuts in local health department budgets are among the factors reported to be complicating the state's response to the epidemic.