Polio

Health officials in Pakistan are scrambling to shore up the nation’s threatened health care networks following floods that have caused untold damage to the nation.

A recently released report by the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology outlines ways to improve the nation’s response to global pandemics.

Mumps

A recent study suggested that more vaccinations are required in order to prevent future outbreaks of the mumps.

Dengue mosquito

Thailand's health minister recently announced that more than 50,000 citizens have been infected with dengue fever so far this year, resulting in 63 deaths.

Malaria

European researchers, in what is being touted as a major breakthrough for malaria treatment, have shown that infected mice that are administered antibiotics develop immunity against becoming infected again.

Merck & Co. has agreed to purchase the dengue fever vaccine research unit of Hawaii Biotech.

A new, quicker and more efficient manner for developing vaccines against flu strains has been developed by scientists.

H5N1

The reason for the failure of a Phase II clinical trial of Intercell AG's Vaccine Enhancement Patch for H5N1 influenza could be a faulty hemagglutinin inhibition assay, a newly released report reveals.

Influenza

A Seattle biotech company on the trail of a universal flu vaccine has announced the discovery of a common weakness in virtually all strains, past and present, of the flu virus.

Measles

Health officials in Greene County, Mo., are reporting three confirmed cases of measles in May, according to the Springfield News-Leader.

Typhoid fever

More than 70 employees at a Chili's restaurant in Miami are being screened by health officials after a cook was diagnosed with typhoid fever.

The number of whooping cough cases in Fresno, California, is on the rise, health officials have said, adding that a Fresno County infant died from the disease recently.

Technical experts have been sent by the World Health Organization to Tajikistan to investigate an outbreak of seven polio cases in the country.

liposomes

Positive results have been received by the biopharmaceutical Lipoxen for two of its ImuXen proprietary candidates for influenza vaccine and malaria vaccine.

influenza

Drug developer Dynavax has announced that human clinical trials will begin soon for its vaccine that is intended to protect against several flu strains.

measles

Parents in China are being urged by the United Nations health agency to get their children vaccinated against measles and hepatitis B to protect their children against premature death and long-term liver problems.

Lentigen

A collaboration has been announced between the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative and Lentigen to design a preventive AIDS vaccine based on Lentigen's technology.

World Health Organization

At least 15 million doses of polio vaccine destined for a West Africa vaccination campaign have been delayed at airports in Germany and France as a result of the volcanic ash cloud, a U.N. official has revealed.

Prof. Warren Lenney

In a study published in The Lancet, scientists have revealed that a virus responsible for wheezing and pneumonia claims the lives of as many as 200,000 children worldwide each year.

Plasmodium vivax malaria

Support from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease of the NIH has given Protein Potential, LLC support in its research for a vaccine to prevent malaria caused by the Plasmodium vivax parasite.

Mumps

Urologists at a leading Irish hospital have reported an alarming increase in the number of teenage boys and young men developing mumps orchitis, in a paper published in the April issue of the urology journal BJUI.

NEW YORK — British drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline PLC said March 20 that it is launching a program in the United States to provide free vaccines to adults who don't have health insurance.

DETROIT — Detroit Pistons forward Jonas Jerebko and NBA legend Bob Lanier teamed up with NBA Cares and the Society for Adolescent Medicine on March 29 to bring Vaccines for Teens to the Metro Detroit community.

Tuberculosis

Tuberculosis rates in the United States dropped more than 10 percent last year compared with 2008, the sharpest decrease ever recorded in a single year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported March 31.

Q-fever

Doctors in the Netherlands have urged the country’s caretaker health minister, Ab Klink, to order a batch of Q fever vaccines for people at risk of developing complications from the goat and sheep disease, DutchNews.nl reported March 29.

Flu indicators are showing signs of increased and sustained pandemic flu activity in some Southeastern states, though rates remain steady at the national level, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said March 26.

Last fall, as H1N1 flu cases mounted and parents desperately sought to protect their kids, the hard-to-get vaccine was handed out in some surprising places.

Meningitis

In the wake of an outbreak of meningococcal disease at Oologah-Talala Public Schools, state and local health officials offered free vaccinations to the school system's students and staff, according to the Tulsa World.

Meningococcal

BASEL, Switzerland — Novartis announced March 18 that the European Commission granted a marketing authorization for its vaccines against meningococcal disease.

Streptococcus Pneumoniae

A vaccine discovery and development company on March 18 announced an exclusive worldwide license for developed countries to a portfolio of Streptococcus pneumoniae antigens from Children’s Hospital Boston.

Bavarian Nordic A/S announced that it has received notification that the U.S. FDA has accepted all the actions taken by the company to address the observations made during its inspection of the manufacturing facilities in 2009.

Polio

GENEVA— The World Health Organization says more than 85 million children under 5 in west and central Africa will be vaccinated against polio.

The H1N1 flu appears to spread more slowly than "regular" seasonal flu in a household setting, but when it does spread it's more likely to affect children, a new study suggests.

An ambitious plan to build a vaccine factory in the Pittsburgh area is gaining momentum with the announcement March 11 of three new partners in the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center project, the Pittsburgh Business Times reported.

Cell-based vaccines are at the forefront of influenza vaccine development, according to findings presented March 10 at the 14th International Congress on Infectious Diseases in Miami and reported by Pediatric SuperSite.

HSV-2

Approximately 1 in 6 Americans (16.2 percent) between the ages of 14 and 49 is infected with herpes simplex virus type 2, according to a national health survey released March 9 by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

LEIDEN, Netherlands — Dutch biopharmaceutical company Crucell announced March 8 that Jerald C. Sadoff was appointed chief medical officer will be a member of its management committee.

Mesothelioma

An investigational vaccine for the asbestos-related cancer mesothelioma is safe, according to a new study cited in a press release March 4 from the American Thoracic Society.

HSV2

LONDON — A new vaccine designed to prevent people with genital herpes from passing the virus on to their sexual partners has begun its first patient trials at a hospital in England.

H1N1

MUMBAI — Panacea Biotec announced March 3 that it has signed an advance market agreement with the government of India to manufacture Pandyflu, the company's H1N1 flu vaccine.

WASHINGTON — A single dose of an experimental influenza drug saves more mice from H5N1 avian influenza than the preferred drug Tamiflu, researchers reported Feb. 26, and can also protect against infection.

BERKELEY, Calif. — Dynavax Technologies Corp. announced Feb. 25 that it has selected a clinical vaccine candidate for its novel Universal Flu program and completed key preclinical studies.

HSV-2

Genocea Biosciences, a vaccine discovery and development company, announced that it has licensed an extensive patent estate for 25 pending and issued patents related to herpes simplex virus type 2 antigens.

Humenza

LYON, France — Sanofi Pasteur announced Feb. 19 that its adjuvanted H1N1 influenza vaccine Humenza has received a positive opinion from the scientific committee of the European Medicines Agency.

Kathleen Sebelius

U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius spoke at the 2010 Public Health Preparedness Summit about the lessons learned so far from the response to the H1N1 flu pandemic and efforts to strengthen health preparedness.

NEW YORK — Taking charge of your toddler's vaccination record may be the best way to ensure he or she doesn't miss any shots, a new study suggests.

King Tutankhamen

CHICAGO — King Tutankhamen, the teenaged pharaoh whose Egyptian tomb yielded dazzling treasures, limped around on tender bones and a clubfoot and probably died from malaria, researchers said Feb. 16.

HPV

SAN DIEGO — Inovio Biomedical Corp. announced Feb. 8 additional interim safety and immunogenicity data from its therapeutic cervical cancer vaccine trial

Cholera

SYDNEY — At least 40 people are dead and 2,000 infected as Papua New Guinea struggles to contain its first cholera outbreak in 50 years, The Associated Press reported Feb. 1

Novavax's VLP Vaccine

Novavax Inc. announced Feb. 9 new data from a clinical study that began in May among healthy adults 18 to 49 years old with Novavax's trivalent seasonal influenza virus-like particle (VLP) vaccine.

Mumps

NEW YORK — More than 1,000 people in New Jersey and New York, many of them adolescent Orthodox Jews, have been sickened with mumps since August, health authorities said Feb 8.

Malaria

Researchers at the University of Copenhagen have become the first in the world to synthesize the entire protein that is responsible for life-threatening malaria in pregnant women and their unborn children, ScienceDaily reported Feb. 5.

SARS

LONDON — A study that looked at how people behave during pandemics has identified key demographic and psychological factors that may predict protective behaviors.

Flu Vaccine

NanoBio Corp. announced Feb. 2 that a sixth U.S. patent covering its novel nanoemulsion technology has been awarded. The patent encompasses composition of matter claims for the company’s lead anti-infective and vaccine product candidates.

National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases

An experimental vaccine developed using non-infectious virus-like particles has protected macaques and mice against chikungunya virus, researchers at the National Institutes of Health have found.

World Health Organization

LONDON — Approximately 3.7 million people in England have been vaccinated against H1N1 flu, health authorities announced, and urged anyone in priority groups to have the shot now to ward off the virus in 2010, reported Jan. 21.

Malaria

NANORO, Burkina Faso — The Phase 3 trial of GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals' RTS,S, a malaria vaccine candidate, is on track.

Malaria

Microsoft founder Bill Gates has told the BBC that a vaccine for malaria could be just three years away.

World Health Organization

Successful anti-polio action depends on vaccinators being able to reach and immunize every child under 5 years old in 13 volatile districts in the southern provinces of Kandahar, Helmand and Farah.

South African vaccine maker Biovac Institute, in partnership with major pharmaceutical firms, is on track to boost annual capacity sevenfold to 35 million doses by 2013, its deputy chief executive said.

H1N1 Flu Vaccine

LONDON — Just one in three nurses in London has been vaccinated against the H1N1 flu, the National Health Service has admitted.

Arepanrix H1N1

TOKYO — GlaxoSmithKline PLC's Japanese unit said Jan. 20 that it has received approval from the Japanese government for its influenza vaccine Arepanrix H1N1.

Ranbaxy Laboratories

MUMBAI, India — Indian drugmaker Ranbaxy Laboratories on Jan. 19 signed an agreement to acquire product rights and manufacturing facility of Bangalore-based Biovel Lifesciences Pvt. Ltd., for an undisclosed sum, Reuters reported.

Hundreds of thousands of children are overdue for a second dose of H1N1 vaccine that's needed to fully protect them from swine flu, a USA Today review of data from 10 states shows.

Rotavirus

Rotavirus is responsible for the deaths of more than 1,500 infants and children daily, mainly in developing countries. The International Medica Foundation is sponsoring a Phase II clinical trial of its oral rotavirus vaccine, RotaShield.

Staphylococcus Aureus

Pfizer Inc. has initiated patient recruitment for 408-patient, randomized, double-blind Phase I clinical trial to evaluate three ascending dose levels of a 3-antigen Staphylococcus aureus vaccine in healthy adults.

RSV

ROCKVILLE, Md. — Novavax Inc. announced Jan. 12 that it has completed a pre-clinical safety and efficacy study of its RSV vaccine candidate in cotton rats.

Hepatitis B

WASHINGTON — Stepped-up vaccination requirements, a boost in resources for prevention and treatment, and a public awareness campaign are needed to curb the health threats posed by hepatitis B and hepatitis C.

H1N1

NEW DELHI — Pune-based Serum Institute of India, the largest vaccine maker in the country, has received approval from India’s drugs controller to conduct clinical trials of its H1N1 vaccine, the company announced Jan. 6.

H1N1

OTTAWA — Canada’s health minister has announced the country will provide 5 million doses of H1N1 flu vaccine to Mexico to help bridge that country’s immediate pandemic vaccine requirements.

SUNNYVALE, Calif. — Cepheid announced Jan. 4 that it has been granted emergency use authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for its Xpert Flu A Panel test.

World Health Organization

Large trials in the United States, Hungary and China recently confirmed the safety and efficacy of H1N1 vaccines, yielding new insights on how to best use vaccines in a pandemic setting, CIDRAP News reported Jan. 4.

BEIJING — The H1N1 strain of flu is rapidly spreading into China's vast countryside and there could be a spike in cases around the Lunar New Year period when millions head back to their home towns.

HFMD

BEIJING — Sinovac Biotech Ltd. announced Dec. 28 that it has applied to China's State Food and Drug Administration to begin a human clinical trial for its vaccine against the virus that causes hand, foot, and mouth disease (HFMD).

BDI Pharma Inc., a national distributor of biotech therapies, unveiled an online supply solution for health care workers to acquire a wide variety of vaccines.

The Center for Disease Control has reported only four cases of flu-related pediatric mortality across seven states during the week ending December 26.

Chlamydia Trachomatis

Cambridge, Mass. – Genocea Biosciences has been awarded a grant from the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center’s Sexually Transmitted Infections Cooperative Research Center for the development of vaccines for Chlamydia trachomatis.

HIV

PHILADELPHIA — Researchers from Thomas Jefferson University are one step closer to developing a vaccine against AIDS, the school announced Dec. 14.

Basel, Switzerland -- Novartis announced Dec. 21 that the World Health Organization has granted prequalification for all three of its influenza A (H1N1) 2009 monovalent vaccines for supply to United Nations agencies.

Malaria

An experimental nasally administered malaria vaccine prevented parasite transmission from infected mice to mosquitoes and could play an important role in the fight against human malaria, ScienceDaily reported Dec. 20.

Mumps

NEW YORK — The largest U.S. outbreak of mumps is sweeping New York, WPIX-TV reported Dec. 20.

HIV

Researchers have identified the cause of a major hurdle in efforts to develop an AIDS vaccine, according to a report Dec. 18 in HealthDay News.

Kathleen Sebelius

The nation is reaching a new milestone in its fight against pandemic flu, with the number of vaccine doses expected to reach 100 million by the end of the week and nearly half of states opening up immunization to anyone who wants it.

World Health Organization

LONDON — Germany and Spain want to reduce deliveries of swine flu vaccine and potentially return excess supplies to manufacturers, because of low demand for the shots.

C. Difficile

Lyon, France and Swiftwater, Pa. — Sanofi Pasteur announced Dec. 15 that it is expanding its phase II clinical study of a vaccine against Clostridium difficile infection into the United States.

National Institutes of Health

While vaccines help prevent many diseases in the United States, the nation lacks immunization protection against several serious illnesses, according a new report from the Institute of Medicine.

H1N1

Indigenous populations from Australia, Canada and New Zealand have been found to have a three to eight times higher rate of hospitalization and death associated with infection with the 2009 pandemic H1N1 influenza virus.

Patch-based Vaccine

LONDON and VIENNA — GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals and Intercell on Dec. 11 announced an agreement to form a strategic alliance to accelerate the development and commercialization of needle-free, patch-based vaccines.

National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases

WASHINGTON — The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases has completed enrollment in a small clinical trial testing a candidate DNA vaccine for 2009 H1N1 influenza, the agency announced Dec. 11.

Hepatitis B

Dynavax Technologies Corp. announced Dec. 9 that its manufacturing facility in Dusseldorf, Germany, has been approved for the commercial production of hepatitis B surface antigen.

GRNVAC1

MENLO PARK, Calif. — Geron Corp. announced Dec. 8 the presentation of interim data from its phase II trial of GRNVAC1, an autologous dendritic cell vaccine, in patients with acute myelogenous leukemia at the 51st Annual Meeting of the American Society of

Flu vaccine shortages in developing nations may destabilize global security should the H1N1 virus become more deadly, said David Heymann, a former deputy head of the World Health Organization.

Herpes Zoster

OAKLAND, Calif. — Herpes zoster, also known as shingles, is very rare among children who have been vaccinated against chicken pox, according to a Kaiser Permanente study in the December issue of the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Journal.

H1N1

The relatively low number of new cases created by a single case of H1N1 influenza indicates that mitigation strategies such as vaccination, social distancing and the use of antiviral drugs may help lessen the final impact of the virus.

COX-1

With flu season in full swing and the threat of H1N1 looming, demand for vaccines is at an all-time high. However, researchers suggest that over-the-counter drugs may lessen their effect, ScienceDaily reported Dec. 2.

Anthony Fauci

WASHINGTON, D.C. — America’s pharmaceutical research and biotechnology companies are testing 97 medicines and vaccines to treat or prevent HIV/AIDS and related conditions.

J. Joseph Kim

SAN DIEGO — Inovio Biomedical Corp. announced Nov. 30 that its partner Tripep AB of Sweden has completed its phase I clinical study of its ChronVac-C hepatitis C virus DNA vaccine delivered using Inovio's electroporation technology.

BRAZZAVILLE, Republic of Congo — An unknown epidemic caused three deaths and affected more than 100 people in the last few days in the Republic of Congo.

Weidong Yin

BEIJING — Sinovac Biotech Ltd. announced Nov. 25 that it executed a joint venture agreement to establish Sinovac (Dalian) Vaccine Technology Co. Ltd. to research, develop, produce and commercialize human-use vaccines.

Mark Horton

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- The California Department of Public Health announced the tally for filling H1N1 vaccine orders stands at nearly 5.2 million doses.

Jean Stephenne

LONDON -- GlaxoSmithKline announced Nov. 23 that more than 40 million doses of its adjuvanted pandemic H1N1 vaccine have been distributed to countries globally for use in government-initiated vaccination programs.

Daisy Mafubelu

New data, released by the GAVI Alliance this week, shows that by the end of 2009 more than 4 million premature deaths caused by pertussis, Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) and hepatitis B will be prevented through GAVI support.

Anne Schuchat

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Federal officials, along with representatives from four vaccine companies, appeared before two U.S. House of Representatives committees to answer questions about why the nation hasn't stretched scarce pandemic vaccine supply.

Sid the Science Kid

A special episode of PBS KIDS’ TV show, "Sid the Science Kid," where Sid explores the science behind flu vaccinations is now available for free download on flu.gov.

Dr. Emilio Emini

WASHINGTON — Pfizer Inc's next-generation Prevnar vaccine missed some of the main goals in a study testing its ability to protect against bacteria that cause ear infections, pneumonia and other diseases.

HIV

The recent failure of an HIV vaccine was probably caused by the immune system reacting to the virus “shell” used to transmit the therapy around the body, according to research published Nov. 16 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Alon Monsonego

JERUSALEM — An Israeli researcher working on a vaccine to combat Alzheimer's disease said Nov. 9 that he had made important progress following tests on gene-altered laboratory mice.

Jean Stephenne

LONDON and ROCKVILLE, Md. — GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals and Nabi Biopharmaceuticals have announced an exclusive worldwide option and licensing agreement for a vaccine for the treatment of nicotine addiction.

Fuad El-Hibri

ROCKVILLE, Md. — Emergent BioSolutions Inc. announced that it has completed the acquisition of a 55,000-square-foot manufacturing facility from MdBio Foundation and the land on which the facility stands from the city of Baltimore.

The Center for Disease Control has reported 21 flu-related deaths among children across 15 states during the week ending November 14. The numbers went down from the previous 35 cases in 17 states.

LONDON and PHILADELPHIA — GlaxoSmithKline announced Nov. 10 that the Food and Drug Administration has approved a supplemental biologics license application for its unadjuvanted H1N1 influenza vaccine.

VIENNA — Austrian biotech company Intercell scrapped its full-year profit target after third-quarter revenue for its Ixiaro vaccine against Japanese encephalitis fell short of expectations.

Dr. Gemma Kenter

BOSTON — An experimental vaccine cured nearly half of women with pre-cancerous growths on their genitals, producing major improvement in nearly four out of five, researchers in the Netherlands reported in a small study Nov. 4.

Dengue mosquito

NEW DELHI -- Twenty five new dengue cases were recorded in Delhi on Friday, taking the number of people affected by the vector-borne disease to 489, health officials told The Times of India on Nov. 6.

Dr. Thomas Farley

New Yorkers have turned out in record numbers for seasonal flu shots this fall – depleting vaccine supplies and prompting the Health Department to issue new recommendations for vaccination.

Dr. Christian Loucq

NAIROBI, KENYA — A pivotal efficacy trial of RTS,S, the world’s most clinically advanced malaria vaccine candidate, is under way in seven African countries.

Dr. Francis Collins

Efforts to develop a vaccine capable of preventing tobacco addiction got a $10 million shot in the arm in the form of an American Recovery and Reinvestment Act grant.

Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula

PRETORIA, South Africa — Dozens of measles cases has led to a 10-day quarantine and massive vaccination program at a correctional center in Johannesburg.

Internet scams are taking advantage of the public’s concern over H1N1, forcing two government agencies to act.

ROCKVILLE, Md. — Novavax has received a grant to support preclinical research of a vaccine for the most commonly identified cause of lower respiratory illnesses in infants and young children.

Fuad El-Hibri

OXFORD, United Kingdom; ROCKVILLE, Md.; and BERLIN — The Oxford-Emergent Tuberculosis Consortium Ltd. announced the signing of a commercial license agreement with ProBioGen, to evaluate large-scale commercial production capabilities for MVA85A.

TB

The Aeras Global TB Vaccine Foundation, the Oxford-Emergent Tuberculosis Consortium Ltd., Isis Innovation Ltd., the Wellcome Trust and the University of Cape Town announce the start of a Phase IIb proof-of-concept clinical trial of a new TB vaccine.

TB

The University of Oxford and Emergent BioSolutions Inc. announced July 23, 2008, that they have formed the Oxford-Emergent Tuberculosis Consortium Ltd. to further develop MVA85A, a vaccine candidate for the prevention of tuberculosis.

Typhoid

ROCKVILLE, Md. — Emergent BioSolutions Inc. announced that its single-dose, drinkable typhoid vaccine candidate was highly immunogenic and well-tolerated with an acceptable safety profile in the population studied.

Anthrax

GAITHERSBURG, Md. — Emergent BioSolutions Inc. announced that the FDA has issued a final order confirming that the company’s anthrax vaccine, BioThrax, is safe and effective for immunization against infection, regardless of the route of exposure.