News & Perspective

If the H7N9 influenza virus now circulating in China evolves into a pandemic strain, the world is likely to have great difficulty providing adequate supplies of an effective vaccine in time to blunt its impact, according to a viewpoint article by three experts in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).

(CIDRAP News) – The largest study so far exploring gaps in acellular pertussis vaccine protection in kids found that their risk of getting sick increased as time passed after the final dose, according to researchers who examined the role of the vaccine during California's 2010 pertussis epidemic.

(CIDRAP News) – The compounding pharmacy that produced tainted steroid injections implicated in a multistate fungal meningitis outbreak had problems maintaining the clean room where the drugs were processed, according to a federal report today that found, for example, greenish residue on the ceiling.

(CIDRAP News) – New cases of West Nile virus (WNV) disease and resulting deaths rose slightly in the past week, ending 2 weeks of declines in the numbers, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC's) weekly update today.

The report shows that 424 cases, with 16 deaths, were reported in the past week, compared with 403 cases and 13 deaths the week before. The totals for 2012 have now reached 3,969 cases and 163 deaths.

(CIDRAP News) – US influenza policy experts who gathered in Washington, DC, today called for better vaccines and other steps for improving pandemic and seasonal flu preparedness, themes echoed in an action plan released by the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA).

(CIDRAP News) – As researchers continue to sort out safety issues surrounding the monovalent vaccine used during the 2009 H1N1 flu pandemic, two new reports focusing mainly on an adjuvanted version suggest that immunization was safe for babies born to vaccinated pregnant women and that it was linked to a small but significant risk of Guillain-Barre syndrome (GBS) in some patients.