In an update on an ongoing intravenous saline bag shortage, US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, MD, said yesterday the situation is improving, and the agency expects that the problems will be resolved well before the next flu season begins.
This season's flu vaccine was from 25% to 52% effective against influenza in Europe, according to interim results published today in Eurosurveillance, based on data from five surveillance systems from groups that looked at mid-season vaccine effectiveness (VE) across Europe.
Even an epidemic in a far-off country could do major damage to the US economy, experts say.
The Trump administration yesterday released its budget proposal for the 2019 fiscal year, and it would cut the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) budget by about $900 million, with some increases for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
China has reported another H7N9 avian flu infection, marking only the third case of the sixth wave of illness activity that began in October, according to a report today from Hong Kong's Centre for Health Protection (CHP).
Brenda Fitzgerald, MD, director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), resigned today after a report that she bought tobacco stocks while leading the agency.
Anne Schuchat, MD, the CDC's principal deputy director who served as interim CDC director before Fitzgerald began her tenure last year, will resume that role, the Wall Street Journal and other news sources reported.
Yesterday the Saudi Arabian Ministry of Health (MOH) reported a new case of MERS-CoV and announced the death of a previously reported MERS patient.
A 40-year-old Saudi woman from Riyadh is in stable condition after presenting with symptoms of MERS-CoV (Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus). The woman's source of infection is listed as "primary," meaning it's unlikely she contracted the disease from another person.
The United States Senate today confirmed Alex Azar, a pharmaceutical executive, to lead the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), according to media reports.
With the threat of a US federal government shutdown at midnight today because of expiring temporary appropriations and no Congressional passage of a continuing resolution to fund the government, the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released a staffing contingency plan.
A growing number of vaccine makers are expressing concerns about their ability to quickly develop new vaccine candidates against emerging disease threat, such as Zika and Ebola viruses, Stat reported today, based on interviews with pharmaceutical executives, government officials, and infectious disease experts.
