Flu vaccination might alleviate symptoms of the H3N2 influenza strain, according to a small study in Vaccine.
US military researchers studied 155 patients with lab-confirmed flu from five military hospitals from 2009 through 2014. Of them, 66 had H3N2 flu, while 69 had 2009 H1N1, 3 had influenza A that wasn't subtyped, and 17 had influenza B. The vaccination rate was 72% (111 patients).
China has acknowledged two more H7N9 avian flu infections, both of which occurred in October, increasing the total in the early phase of what appears to be a fourth wave of infections to four. The cases, reported by China's National Health and Family Commission, were noted in a statement today from Hong Kong's Centre for Health Protection (CHP).
A prescription cream used to treat skin disorders applied before flu vaccine appears to increase immune response in young adults, even against drifted strains not included in the vaccine, a small study yesterday in The Lancet Infectious Diseases found.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) yesterday stepped down its travel warnings for both Sierra Leone and Liberia, with Ebola activity continuing at zero weekly cases in both countries.
Liberia was declared free of the disease for a second time on Sep 3, and Sierra Leone will reach that mark on Nov 7 if no new cases are detected before then.
Recommendations include executive-level management that spells out a national plan, pulls together a policy council, and unifies the biodefense budget.
Only about a third of US teen boys have received even one dose of human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine, and only about one in seven has received the recommended three doses, with uptake a bit higher in some minority groups, according to a study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) yesterday in Pediatrics.
Physicians' lukewarm communication and follow-through about human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine may likely contributing to low vaccination levels, researchers reported today. A team from Harvard Medical School reported its findings in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers, and Prevention.
Levels of flu and other respiratory viruses are declining in the Southern Hemisphere, with little activity or only sporadic detections elsewhere, the World Health Organization (WHO) said in a global flu update yesterday, based on data as of the first week of October.
The Institute of Medicine (IOM) this week published a report on a 2-day medical countermeasure workshop it held in late March to discuss how to how better develop and deliver medical countermeasures (MCMs) for emerging infectious disease threats, based on challenges that flared up during West Africa's Ebola outbreak.
The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) has awarded contracts to two companies to manufacture doses of avian flu vaccine for the nation's veterinary stockpile in case the measure is needed to combat the disease in poultry, the USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) said in a press release yesterday.
