New Herpes Vaccine Nearing Human Clinical Trials
Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania recently reported that they are close to developing a herpes simplex virus 2 (HSV-2) vaccine for humans. HSV-2 primarily causes genital herpes and is contracted through forms of sexual contact with a person who has HSV-2. An estimated 14 percent of Americans between the ages of 15 and 49 […]
Flu Shots May Be Even Less Effective This Year
Just as publicity about the need for everyone to get a flu shot ramps up, there are signs that the influenza vaccine for this “flu season” (2019-2020) may be even less effective this year than last year. The strains of the influenza virus selected by the World Health Organization (WHO) and U.S. health officials for […]
USDA Pressured to Create Foot-and-Mouth Disease Vaccine Bank
Representatives from the National Pork Producers Council, the National Milk Producers Federation, the National Corn Growers Association and Iowa State University have urged the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to quickly establish a foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) vaccine bank.1 FMD is a contagious viral disease. The virus causes illness in cows, pigs, sheep, goats, deer, and […]
Quest for Universal Flu Vaccine Boosted by $200M NIH Grant to University of Maryland
Story Highlights National Institutes of Health (NIH) has awarded the University of Maryland a contract for more than $200 million to develop a universal influenza vaccine. Currently, the influenza vaccine used around the world is developed every year by drug companies based on the “best guesses” made by public health officials at the World Health […]
One in Four Vaccinated Children in Chinese City Got Measles
Story Highlights A new study shows that despite a measles vaccination rate of more than 97 percent, over a quarter of vaccinated children in Tianjin, China still became infected with measles. Even with two or more doses of measles vaccine, 8.5 percent of cases in the surveillance dataset and 26 percent in the case series […]
Kenya Launches Malaria Vaccine Pilot Program
Kenya has become the third African country, along with Ghana and Malawi, to launch a pilot program for the world’s first malaria vaccine, Mosquirix, which has been developed by GlaxoSmithKline (GSK). The vaccine is available to children from six months of age in specific locations in Kenya due to its phased pilot introduction.1 2 Malaria […]