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(CIDRAP News) The World Health Assembly (WHA), the decision-making arm of the World Health Organization (WHO), opened in Geneva today with director-general Dr Margaret Chan praising the accomplishments of global partners with diseases such as smallpox and polio but noting that health officials got lucky with the pandemic H1N1 virus because it has not overwhelmed medical systems and is a good match with the vaccine.
May 14, 2010
(CIDRAP News) Low levels of flu activity across the United States resemble a summer pattern, while globally only sporadic pandemic flu activity is occurring with the most active areas in parts of the Caribbean and Central America, according to updates today.
Daily headlines and newscasts this past month remind us that Mother Earth can be a risky place to live. I'm referring, of course, to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, the Icelandic volcano, and a botched vehicle bombing, and while these phenomena are not connected by any obvious plot line, they are vivid teachable moments for our governments and organizations.
India approves pandemic vaccineThe pharmaceutical company Zydus Cadila announced today it has gained approval from the drug controller general of India to become the first India-based firm to market a pandemic H1N1 vaccine in the country. The vaccine, VaxiFlu-S, will be marketed by Vaxxicare, part of a division of the company that focuses on preventives.
(CIDRAP News) An influenza expert who formerly headed the World Health Organization's (WHO's) flu program and now works for Novartis has suggested developing a prepandemic vaccine to get the jump on the next flu pandemican idea that other experts are greeting with caution or skepticism.
(CIDRAP News) Two new studies on viral pathogens in oysters and other mollusks shed new light on the need for better detection methods and the type of monitoring and treatments that are needed to ensure product safety.
Over the past few years the United States and Europe have reported several outbreaks of foodborne illness, especially norovirus cases, related to contaminated oysters and other mollusks.
(CIDRAP News) – Hospitalization rates for rotavirus infections among US children dropped dramatically in the first 2 years after the first rotavirus vaccine was recommended for routine use, researchers from the US Centers for Disease and Prevention (CDC) reported today.
May 12, 2010
Pandemic vaccine sales totaled $3.4 billion
May 11, 2010
(CIDRAP News) Federal investigation of an outbreak of a rare strain of Escherichia coli expanded yesterday as researchers confirmed a link between the strain, E coli O145, and the bagged shredded lettuce suspected of spreading it.
May 10, 2010
(CIDRAP News) The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) today unveiled new standards aimed at reducing Salmonella and Campylobacter in broiler chickens and turkeys, a step the agency expects will prevent tens of thousands of illnesses each year.
(CIDRAP News) A preliminary study from Germany suggests that an adjuvanted vaccine against the pandemic H1N1 virus was highly effective in adolescents and younger adults and moderately effective in older people, according to a report published yesterday in Eurosurveillance.
(CIDRAP News) Merck, the company that makes the most commonly given rotavirus vaccine in the United States, yesterday said it has detected very low levels of DNA from porcine circovirus (PCV) in its Rotateq vaccine, making it the second rotavirus vaccine found to contain PCV.
