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(CIDRAP News) – The scope of a Salmonella outbreak that started in Nebraska with sprouts as the possible source has expanded to about 50 cases in five states, as federal and state officials await the results of laboratory tests that could confirm the link to sprouts.

Mar 9, 2009

Mar 6, 2009

Mar 5, 2009

(CIDRAP News) – Inspectors at a Texas peanut processing plant tied to the current nationwide Salmonella outbreak found dead mice, mouse droppings, roof leaks, gooey buildups on equipment, and other sanitation problems, according to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Mar 4, 2009

(CIDRAP News) – An Indonesian health official said today that four more people have died of H5N1 avian influenza over the past month, as an Indonesian newspaper reported two more deaths possibly due to the disease.

Mar 3, 2009

(CIDRAP News) – In one of the largest head-to-head studies comparing two different seasonal flu vaccines in a healthy, adult population, those who received trivalent inactivated vaccine (TIV) had fewer medical visits for respiratory illnesses compared to those who received the live attenuated influenza vaccine (LAIV).

Mar 2, 2009

(CIDRAP News) – Studies published today confirm that influenza A/H1N1 viruses have become widely resistant to oseltamivir (Tamiflu), the leading flu drug, without losing their ability to make people sick—thereby underlining the need for new antiviral drugs.

(CIDRAP News) – The number of pediatric influenza deaths outstripped last week's spike, and three more states reported widespread activity, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said today in its weekly surveillance update.

Feb 27, 2009

(CIDRAP News) – For the second time this week, scientists have reported the discovery of a human antibody that, at least in theory, could lead to development of a vaccine or drug effective against most types of influenza A, including the deadly H5N1 avian flu virus.

Editor's note: This story was updated Feb 27 to include more information about an intradermal vaccine that Sanofi Pasteur is developing for the US market.

(CIDRAP News) – The European Union has approved the first influenza vaccine injected with a shallow needle prick into the skin instead of a jab all the way into muscle, according to Sanofi Pasteur, the vaccine's manufacturer.

Feb 26, 2009

(CIDRAP News) – Americans who receive anthrax shots—mainly members of the military—are likely to get five injections into muscle tissue instead of six subcutaneous injections, as a result of action today by the federal Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP).

(CIDRAP News) – More evidence that the Salmonella strain responsible for a nationwide outbreak was present in two widely separated Peanut Corporation of America (PCA) facilities surfaced yesterday when Texas officials announced they had found the contaminant in a product from PCA's Plainview, Tex., processing plant.

(CIDRAP News) – The world's capacity to produce vaccines for an influenza pandemic has risen sharply in the past 2 years, but it would still take an estimated 4 years to meet the global demand if a pandemic emerged now, according to a report from an international strategy consulting firm.