Armyworms Used to Make Flublok Influenza Vaccine
There are three different influenza vaccine production technologies approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for use in the United States: the egg-based flu vaccine, the cell-based flu vaccine and the most recent recombinant flu vaccine. In January 2013, the FDA approved…
Study: Cows Used to Develop HIV Vaccine
Findings from a study published in Nature in July 2017 reveal that scientists are using cows to better understand the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and develop an HIV vaccine. After decades of research, including clinical trials of different HIV vaccine candidates, there is still no effective vaccine because the virus mutates…
A Polio Vaccine Made from Tobacco Leaves?
Seeking an alternative to using live poliovirus to create the polio vaccine, scientists are infecting a relative of the tobacco plant with a virus “containing the genetic material of polio” to manufacture a new polio vaccine from the modified plant leaves. If the experimental technique is considered successful once the vaccines have been tested in…
Safety Implications of Microneedle Patches for Influenza Vaccine
A phase I clinical trial conducted by Emory University in collaboration with the Georgia Institute of Technology has found that influenza vaccination using Band-Aid-like patches with dissolvable microneedles is safe and was well-tolerated by the study’s participants. According to the Emory…
First of Its Kind Survey Shows Vaccinated Children Get Sicker
The scientific publication Journal of Translational Science has published one of the first surveys to formally assess the longer-term health outcomes associated with the United States routine childhood vaccination program. Primarily authored by Dr. Anthony R. Mawson (a public health epidemiologist…
Back to the Future: Shalala Takes Away Compensation for DPT Injured Children
In a calculated move designed to bolster the federal government’s claim that the DPT vaccine does not kill or injure children, Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Donna Shalala and her department published final rules in the Federal Register (Vo. 60, No. 26 – Wed. Feb. 8, 1995) that effectively…