The latest in Vaccines

SWINE FLU VACCINE

2010-03-18T11:17:30Z

Graphic shows select locations of swine flu vaccine distribution when there was a short supply In Oct. and Nov.

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AP Enterprise: NASA, cruise line got flu shots

2010-03-18T12:45:43Z

<div id="subtitle">AP Enterprise: Cruise line, NASA got swine flu shots early on; CDC says system worked well</div><div><p>Last fall, as swine flu cases mounted and parents desperately sought to protect their kids, the hard-to-get vaccine was handed out in some surprising places: the Wall Street firms and the Johnson Space Center.</p><p>There is no complete database of where every dose went. But partial records show that financial institutions and other surprising recipients sometimes got d...

Alliance seeks billions to boost life-saving jabs for poor

2010-03-18T10:16:50Z

<div><p>The GAVI vaccine alliance, which is backed by software billionaire Bill Gates, said Thursday that it needed an extra 4.3 billion dollars to save millions of lives in poor countries over the next five years.</p><p>The Global Alliance on Vaccines Initiative says it has helped boost immunisation levels since 2000 by funding new vaccination programmes for 256 million children and avoiding 5.4 million premature deaths...

May need wider eczema caution for kids: FDA

2010-03-18T10:15:21Z

<div><p>WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Novartis AG and Astellas Pharma eczema drugs may need their warning labels expanded after dozens of new reported cases of cancer and infection in children, U.S. Food and Drug Admini...

Gates-linked vaccine group wants $4.3 billion

2010-03-18T07:15:46Z

<div><p>A global vaccine initiative launched with the help of Bill Gates is seeking $4.3 billion in new funding to ramp up child immunization campaigns against deadly diseases such as hepatitis B, diarrhea and pneumonia in the developing world.</p><p>The Geneva-based GAVI alliance, launched a decade ago as a partner of the China probes vaccines after news report of deaths, illnesses in northern province</div><div><p>China's Health Ministry is investigating the safety of inoculations in a northern province after a report that defective vaccines possibly killed four children and seriously sickened dozens.</p><p>The ministry urged health a...

WHO suspends Shan5 combination vaccine

2010-03-18T03:15:30Z

<div><p>The World Health Organisation said Thursday it was suspending the use of the Indian-developed Shan5 combination vaccine, which is used against infections such as diphtheria, tetanus and hepatitis B.</p><p>"The manufacturer got some complaints that there was suspended white sediment in some of the vials," WHO spokeswoman Alison B...

China orders probe after unsafe vaccine report

2010-03-18T00:16:25Z

<div><p>China has ordered an investigation after a report that unsafe vaccines led to the deaths of four children and sickened 74 others in the country's latest product-quality scare.</p><p>The order by the Ministry of Health came after the China Economic Times on Wednesday reported unsafe vaccines for encephalitis, hepatitis B, rabies and other illnesses were being used in the northern province of

China says probing report on deadly faulty vaccines

2010-03-17T21:30:29Z

<div><p>BEIJING (Reuters) - China's Health Ministry is probing a report in a domestic newspaper that faulty vaccines in northern Shanxi province were responsible for killing four children and making dozens of others sick.</p>...

WHO suspends vaccine by Sanofi-Aventis subsidiary

2010-03-17T10:30:22Z

<div><p>The U.N. health agency said Wednesday it has suspended its approval of a vaccine against tetanus and four other diseases produced by Sanofi-Aventis SA subsidiary because of a white substance forming inside some vials.</p><p>The World Health Organization and th...

Afghan Health Workers Give Polio Vaccine

2010-03-15T18:45:37Z

KABUL, AFGHANISTAN - MARCH 15: An Afghan health worker administers the polio vaccine to a child on the second day of a vaccination campaign on March 15, 2010 in Kabul, Afghanistan. The Public Health Ministry, UNICEF and the World Health Organization are administering th...

BioSante cancer vaccine gets 'orphan drug' status

2010-03-15T10:00:21Z

<div id="subtitle">FDA gives BioSante pancreatic cancer treatment 'orphan drug' designation</div><div><p>BioSante Pharmaceuticals has received orphan drug status for its potential pancreatic cancer treatment, the company said Monday.</p><p>The company said the Food and Drug Administration<...

U.S. court rules again against vaccine-autism claims

2010-03-15T09:45:26Z

<div><p>WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Vaccines that contain a mercury-based preservative called thimerosal cannot cause autism on their own, a special U.S. court ruled on Friday, dealing one more blow to parents seeking to blame vaccines for their children's illness.</p><p>The special Reuters) - A further $4.3 billion is needed if a global vaccines alliance is to meet its goal of supplying life-saving immunizations to millions of children in poor countries by 2015, the organization said on Monday.</p><p>The GAVI Alliance (Global Alliance on Vaccines and Immunisation) said it had asked existing and potential donors to a meeting in Afghan President Hamid Karzai drops polio vaccines to an Afghan boy during a polio vaccination campaign at the presidential palace in Kabul, Afghanistan, Sunday, March 14, 2010. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)

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US court rejects vaccine-autism link

2010-03-13T12:15:39Z

<div><p>A special US court Friday ruled against the parents of an autistic child, rejecting their claim of a connection between autism and a triple vaccine for measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) their son was given.</p><p>In a similar ruling a year ago against three other families, the United States Court of Federal Claims said th...

Court says thimerosal did not cause autism

2010-03-12T18:30:13Z

<div id="subtitle">Special court rejects claims that vaccines with mercury preservative caused autism</div><div><p>The vaccine additive thimerosal is not to blame for autism, a special federal court ruled Friday in a long-running battle by parents convinced there is a connection.</p><p>While expressing sympathy for the parents involved in the emotionally charged cases, the court concluded they had failed to show a connection between the mercury-containing pres...

Drugmakers agree on landmark vaccines deal for poor

2010-03-11T15:30:24Z

<div><p>LONDON (Reuters) - Several drug firms have agreed on a landmark deal to supply up to 200 million doses a year of cut-price pneumococcal vaccines to developing nations, according to the global immunization alliance that is overseeing the deal.</p><p>Leading manufacturers of such vaccines include GlaxoSmithKline and CHICAGO (Reuters) - Inoculating children against flu protects more people of all ages in the larger community, probably because young people tend to spread viruses through physical play, Canadian researchers said on Tuesday.</p><p>Researchers at McMaster University in