Influenza Vaccines

Sep 30. 2009 (CIDRAP News) – As pandemic flu activity picks up speed across the nation, groups that serve older adults are shoring up plans for both seasonal and pandemic flu vaccination and are preparing backup plans in case absences hit key services such as Meals on Wheels, government officials and senior groups said today.

(CIDRAP News) – While there is evidence that the live nasal-spray vaccine for seasonal influenza works better than injectable vaccine in children, the injectable vaccine was found to be more effective in a trial in close to 2,000 young adults, according to a recent report in the New England Journal of Medicine.

(CIDRAP News) – The pandemic H1N1 virus is spreading widely through the United States, and as health officials feverishly prepare to distribute the first vaccine doses due to arrive in early October, the public should expect some initial bumps in the road, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said today.

(CIDRAP News) – The World Health Organization (WHO) today scaled back its estimate of how many doses of pandemic vaccine that producers will likely make over the next year and said it hopes to gather enough vaccine donations to cover about 10% of developing countries' populations.

(CIDRAP News) – Canadian researchers reportedly have found as-yet-unpublished evidence that people who had a seasonal flu shot last year incurred a higher risk of H1N1 infection, but US and World Health Organization (WHO) officials say they are not aware of any similar findings elsewhere.

(CIDRAP News) – The World Health Organization (WHO) has recommended that seasonal influenza vaccines for use in the southern hemisphere next year contain the pandemic H1N1 virus instead of a current seasonal H1N1 strain, signaling that the pandemic strain is expected to push the older H1N1 strains aside.

(CIDRAP News) – With the second wave of the H1N1 influenza virus now hitting, much of the response toe the pandemic is focused on the development and distribution of an effective vaccine, a project that poses many challenges and uncertainties.

(CIDRAP News) – The earliest results from testing of a pandemic H1N1 vaccine in children suggest that older children will get a good immune response with a single dose, but children younger than 10 are likely to need two doses a few weeks apart, federal officials said today.

(CIDRAP News) – A federal review of state and local pandemic preparedness efforts identified some gaps in medical surge planning and said that, while states are typically prepared to distribute antivirals and vaccines, some cities hadn't addressed all of the recommended planning components.

The findings were released today in two reports from the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG).

(CIDRAP News) – The first wave of H1N1 vaccine will probably consist of 3.4 million doses of MedImmune's nasal-spray product and is likely to reach providers the first week in October, federal health officials said today.