All News

(CIDRAP News) – The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved a high-dose seasonal influenza vaccine for elderly people, whose aging immune systems may not respond effectively to flu vaccines intended for younger people.

The vaccine, Fluzone High-Dose, made by Sanofi Pasteur, contains four times as much antigen (active ingredient) as standard seasonal flu vaccines. The FDA and the company announced its approval Dec 23.

December 28, 2009

Dec 23, 2009

(CIDRAP News) – Infection with H1N1 influenza poses a grave danger to pregnant women and those who have just delivered, and the risk increases when they do not receive antiviral treatment very rapidly, California and Atlanta researchers report today online ahead of print in the New England Journal of Medicine.

"This pandemic has the potential to notably increase overall maternal mortality in the United States in 2009," they write.

(CIDRAP News) – The nation's supply of pandemic vaccine has grown to 111 million doses, enough so that the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is turning part of its attention toward boosting the percentage of adults who get vaccinated.

Dec 22, 2009

(CIDRAP News) – MedImmune Inc. today announced a recall of leftover doses from 13 lots of its nasal-spray H1N1 vaccine because of a slight loss of potency, but the company said those who received doses from the affected lots don't need to be revaccinated.

The company and the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said there are no safety problems with the recalled doses.

(CIDRAP News) – A study in Australia showed that one dose of H1N1 influenza vaccine, rather than the two doses recommended in the United States, was enough to generate a probably protective immune response in children younger than 9 years.

Dec 21, 2009

(CIDRAP News) – Egypt's health ministry has confirmed an H5N1 avian influenza infection in a 21-year-old woman, the country's third case since late September, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported today.

Dec 18, 2009

December 18, 2009

(CIDRAP News) – The second wave of the H1N1 influenza pandemic continued to fade last week, as the number of states with widespread cases dropped to 11 and reported deaths in children also declined, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said today.

The CDC also reported finding 15 more cases of oseltamivir (Tamiflu)–resistant H1N1 viruses, but it said those instances remain rare.

Dec 17, 2009

(CIDRAP News) – The nation is reaching a new milestone in its fight against pandemic flu, with the number of vaccine doses expected to reach 100 million by the end of the week and nearly half of states opening up immunization to anyone who wants it, federal officials said today.

(CIDRAP News) – Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, and Mongolia will be the first three countries to receive donated supplies of pandemic H1N1 vaccine funneled through the World Health Organization, the WHO announced today as it cautioned that it's too early to declare the pandemic over.

Dec 16, 2009

(CIDRAP News) – Despite a dip in cases, H1N1 influenza has not gone away and could resurge, making continued vaccination critical, government and private health officials said today.

Speaking on a webcast for health care providers conducted by the Department of Heath and Human Services (HHS), the experts urged healthcare workers to take the vaccine themselves and to continue to push it out to patients.

(CIDRAP News) – Novartis's pandemic H1N1 flu vaccine generated stronger immune responses when it was combined with an adjuvant than when used alone, though both formulations yielded good results, according to a report published by the New England Journal of Medicine.

(CIDRAP News) – In its seventh annual report card on the nation's public health preparedness, the advocacy group Trust for America's Health (TFAH) praised the US response to the H1N1 influenza pandemic but also said it has exposed serious gaps in the ability to deal with public health emergencies.