The World Health Organization (WHO) today confirmed a fatal case of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) in Saudi Arabia, adding to information in an Oct 31 statement from the Saudi government about the death of a 56-year-old.
A rapid tuberculosis (TB) test that was endorsed by the World Health Organization (WHO) speeded the start of treatment but did not reduce TB-related illness in a field trial in four African countries, according to a study released yesterday in The Lancet.
A federal advisory group today approved a measure to include a new meningococcal vaccine option for youngsters ages 2 months and older at risk for meningitis infection.
Saudi Arabia has reported two more Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) cases in the past few days, both in men living in the Riyadh region, according to a press account and a translated government statement.
Clusters of children who had nonmedical exemptions (NMEs) from vaccines appears to be one of several factors that played a role in California's 2010 pertussis (whooping cough) epidemic, researchers reported today in Pediatrics.
The World Health Organization (WHO) yesterday recommended a specific H7N9 influenza strain for vaccine development, saying it "elicits antibodies that react well with all viruses tested."
In a statement, the WHO said it has selected an A/Anhui/1/2013-like virus for the development of H7N9 vaccines for pandemic preparedness. It notes that A/Shanghai/2/2013 is an A/Anhui/1/2013-like virus.
Though toddler vaccine levels remain high, recent measles outbreaks have raised concern.
Alfred Almanza, head of the US Department of Agriculture's (USDA's) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), took issue with a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report this week that was critical of some aspects of an FSIS poultry inspection plan, saying the GAO omitted key details.
The GAO report asserted that the USDA took some shortcuts in assessing the plan, called the HACCP-Based Inspection Models Project (HIMP).
The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is asking for bids on a 24/7 service to provide global data on disease outbreaks and other biologic threats, the agency said in a release this week.
Progress is being made overall in achieving the targets set out by the Healthy People 2020 program for fully immunizing adolescents, but human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine coverage is lagging and healthcare providers should use every opportunity to administer it, says a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report today in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR).