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(CIDRAP News) – The recently released annual report for the federal Project BioShield program gives a snapshot of the US arsenal for blunting bioterrorist attacks, showing growth in the supplies of certain countermeasures for anthrax, botulism, and smallpox.
(CIDRAP News) – The number of swine-origin H3N2 (variant H3N2, or H3N2v) influenza cases in the United States has climbed by 9 in the past week, to 305, and another rare swine-origin variant, H1N1v, has cropped up in Missouri, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported today.
Sep 14, 2012
(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) – 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).
Disclosure: The University of Minnesota's Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy, which publishes CIDRAP News, has produced training programs and materials for the BioWatch program. The news team has no involvement in the center's BioWatch work.
(CIDRAP News) – The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) recently awarded a new round of contracts to the five US-licensed influenza vaccine manufacturers to make pre-pandemic and pandemic influenza vaccines—projects that could be worth billions of dollars if another pandemic arises in the next few years.
Sep 13, 2012
(CIDRAP News) – A detailed look at California children during the state's large pertussis outbreak in 2010 revealed that protection from the diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis (DTaP) vaccine wanes 5 years after kids receive their last dose, which could be fueling outbreaks.
(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) – Federal health officials today said the worst of the nation's West Nile virus (WNV) outbreak appears to be over but warned that cases will continue to add up at a pace on track to make 2012 a record year.
Sep 12, 2012
(CIDRAP News) – A Korean-US research team has identified an H1N2 strain of swine influenza capable of killing ferrets and spreading among them by respiratory droplets, underlining the continuing threat of swine flu to humans amid a wave of swine-origin flu cases in Americans exposed to pigs at agricultural fairs.
(CIDRAP News) – A closely watched first clinical trial of a dengue vaccine showed disappointing efficacy results overall, researchers reported yesterday, but higher efficacy against certain strains.
Sep 10, 2012
(CIDRAP News) – The surge in West Nile virus (WNV) infections in many states over the summer led to a temporary shortage of diagnostic test kits that at one point halted testing at some commercial and local labs and led one state to warn health providers to reserve the tests for the most seriously ill patients.