(CIDRAP News) Workers ages 50 to 64 who get their annual flu shots miss less work and experience less of a productivity drop-off than those who don't, according to a new study, findings that might help public officials lift immunization rates among this age-group.
(CIDRAP News) In a progress report on federal pandemic influenza planning efforts, the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) says several companies working under federal contracts are on track to develop cell culturebased pandemic flu vaccines.
(CIDRAP News) – An H5N1 influenza vaccine made by Baxter International could become the first cell culture–based H5N1 influenza vaccine to be approved for marketing, following its endorsement by a committee of the European Medicines Agency (EMEA) last week.
Recommendations of the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) are usually followed by the EMEA within a few months.
(CIDRAP News) Half-dose influenza shots generate nearly as strong an immune response in young adults as full-dose shots do, suggesting that cutting the dose in half may be a good way to cope with vaccine shortages, according to a study published this week.
(CIDRAP News) The Rand Corp. today released its first-ever midseason survey on the uptake of the current influenza vaccine, which found that public officials still have a tall task in front of them to administer this year's record vaccine supply.
The survey indicated that about 30% of US adults had received a flu shot by mid November, but more than half of those surveyed said they didn't plan to get the immunization.
(CIDRAP News) The World Health Organization (WHO) today said that Indonesia's health ministry has notified it of two new human H5N1 avian influenza cases, a 9-year-old girl who has recovered and a 2-year-old girl who died.
The announcements come as health officials from Indonesia and other nations are meeting in Geneva this week to work on an agreement for sharing H5N1 virus samples.
(CIDRAP News) A report from the AARP Public Policy Institute says elderly African-Americans and Hispanics lag well behind elderly whites in influenza vaccination rates, even though the federal Medicare program fully covers the shots.
(CIDRAP News) The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) yesterday released a draft of its national vaccine strategy, which, once finalized, will serve as the federal government's game plan for guiding its policy decisions on infectious disease vaccine.
The 85-page report, dated Nov 26, is intended to update the nation's vaccine plan, which was mandated by Congress and first released in 1994, according to the report.
(CIDRAP News) Researchers who surveyed thousands of Minnesota college students over four years found that those who got flu shots had a 30% lower rate of flu-like illness during flu seasons than those who skipped the shots, according to a report published this week.
(CIDRAP News) Earlier this year the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) broadened its flu vaccine recommendation to include all school-age children, prompting some health officials to eye school-based immunization programs as an efficient way to improve vaccination rates in young people.
