Smallpox Infection Via Tattoo
Story Highlights A soldier was vaccinated for smallpox and developed a local and systemic vaccine virus smallpox infection after tattooing over his injection site. Despite global eradication of wild-type smallpox, fears over its potential use as a biological weapon have prompted vaccination of military personnel and first responders. Similar processes for administration of the smallpox […]
HIV Vaccine Fails Clinical Trial in South Africa
Story Highlights Another attempt to create an effective vaccine against the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) has been stopped early because it was not found to prevent HIV infection. It is estimated that 1,000 people are newly infected every day in South Africa. HIV virus appears to evade and destroy cells of the immune system and […]
Maternal Mortality Up Among Black Women in the U.S.
Story Highlights The incidence of maternal mortality, either during childbirth or during the postpartum period is increasing in the U.S., especially among black women. Differences in education, access to quality healthcare, and financial resources contribute to but do not explain the racial disparities in pregnancy and childbirth mortality. Some of the other probable causes include […]
Chinese Pharmaceutical Industry Competes for Vaccine Market Share
China’s National Medical Products Administration has announced that two Chinese pharmaceutical companies, Walvax Biotechnology and Innovax, have been approved to start selling their own version of drugs previously available only through global pharmaceutical giants Pfizer, Merck and GlaxoSmithKline.1 Cecolin, developed by Innovax, will compete in the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) arena against Merck’s Gardasil and […]
Only One Percent of Vaccine Reactions Reported to VAERS
Story Highlights The Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) was created by Congress in 1986 as part of the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act. Although health care providers are required by federal law to report specific vaccine reactions to VAERS, less than one percent of adverse events following vaccination are reported. Doctors, medical workers, adult patients […]
Intermittent Fasting to Curb Inflammation
Story Highlights Unresolved inflammation is common to many chronic conditions and autoimmune disorders including cancer, diabetes type 2, rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis and digestive disorders, among many others. Intermittent fasting (IF), a nutrition plan in which food intake is severely curtailed either by certain days of the week or for specific hours of every day, […]
