Dr. Peter Collins, Chief of RNA Virus Section, NIAID at NIH gives his presentation on ‘RSV vaccines: developing an effective vaccine’.

Source:
Vaccinenation & Terrapinn

UNICEF reported this month that new solar powered refrigerators in Haiti have helped keep vaccines from going bad.

In much of rural Haiti, where there is no reliable form of electricity, it has been difficult to keep vaccines refrigerated. The vaccines, which range from polio to other live saving medicines for children, are needed to keep young children safe.

The old refrigerators were powered by gas. While this avoided power outage issues, the gas had to be delivered, which could cause problems if the gas supply was depleted.

“The old refrigerators used gas, and sometimes the vaccines would go bad because we ran out of gas,” Ms. Beliard, a community health worker in a rural area of Haiti, said. “The solar refrigerator is very important, because it means the vaccines are always available. We always have vaccines available for children.”

UNICEF installed a solar-powered refrigerator at a nearby health center. It is just one of the 153 solar refrigerators that UNICEF plans to distribute to different parts of Haiti.

“The vaccines are very important because they protect my children against polio, measles and other diseases,” Ms. Veneuse, a mother in Haiti, said. “I always get my children vaccinated.”

Source:
Vaccine News Daily

Poster created prior to 1979 promoting the importance of Smallpox vaccination. In 1966, the CDC began the worldwide smallpox eradication campaign in Africa and by 1979 the world was declared smallpox-free.

Source:
Public Health Image Library (PHIL) (ID#: 2584)

The Jim Henson Company’s Sid the Science Kid is hearing a lot of talk about how to stay healthy, which leads him to ask lots of questions about what can make a person sick and what he can do to keep from getting sick. In the special episode “Getting a shot: You Can Do It!,” Sid and his friends learn the basic science behind germs, viruses and vaccines.

Source:
New Media

Lyme disease, unknown before 1975, is now the scourge of summer time hikers and has spread across the northern hemisphere from humble origins in Connecticut. A bacterial infection carried by deer ticks and picked up in high grasses, the disease can cause severe inflammation in joints, heart problems, and nervous system disorders. Antibiotics are the usual course of treatment for the infection, but are not helpful unless administered soon after infection.

A vaccine that was developed by GlaxoSmithKline was effective in 76 percent of adults and 100 percent of children in providing immunity. LYMErix was approved in 1998 in the U.S., but because of the high cost and allegations that the vaccine caused, adoption of the vaccine was low. It was withdrawn from the market by 2002, even though highly publicized side effects were found not to be related to the vaccine.

Now, a new vaccine that protects against all major strains of the bacteria is showing promise in mid-stage clinical trials. Collaborative efforts among Stony Brook University, Brookhaven National Laboratory, and the pharmaceutical company Baxter are showing promise with a publication in The Lancet that said the new vaccine is safe, had no side effects, and produced a protective immune response in all 300 study participants.

In the study, the vaccination included three immunizations and one booster shot. Some of the vaccinations included adjuvant, a chemical used to boost the immune response to immunizations, which is common in vaccines. Patients all produced high antibody levels against the borreliosis bacteria.

“The results of the clinical trial conducted by Baxter are promising because the vaccine generated a potent human immune reaction, covered the complete range of Borrelia active in the entire Northern hemisphere, and produced no major side effects,” said Dr. Benjamin Luft, a co-author on the paper. “We hope that a larger-scale, Phase 3 trial will demonstrate not only a strong immune response but true efficacy in a large population that illustrates protection against Lyme disease.”

The researchers created chimeric, or hybrid, proteins that contained parts from different Borrelia strains in order to create a vaccine that protected from all types of Lyme disease. “After a series of experimentations and refinements, formulations consisting of these new OspA proteins were shown to protect against a broad spectrum of Lyme disease spirochetes,” said Dr. Luft, summarizing the research results. In 2011 more than 24,000 Americans were diagnosed with Lyme disease, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Source:
Medical Daily & The Lancet Infectious Diseases

Source:
Polio points & Bill & Melinda Gates foundation

Flu is a highly infectious illness that spreads rapidly through coughs and sneezes of people who are carrying the virus.  It occurs every year, usually in winter.

Flu symptoms hit you suddenly and severely.  They usually include fever, chills, headache and aching muscles and you often get a cough and sore throat at the same time.

Because flu is caused by a virus and not bacteria, antibiotics will not treat it.

People should not underestimate the effects of seasonal flu.  It’s not the same as getting a cold.

It can seriously affect your health and the risks of developing complications are greater if you have certain pre-existing medical conditions.

If you are in any of the identified risk groups below contact your GP and get your vaccination in September/October.

• All people aged 65 years and over
• All pregnant women
• People with a serious medical condition such as:
  • Chronic (long term) respiratory disease
  • Chronic heart disease
  • Chronic kidney disease
  • Chronic liver disease
  • Chronic neurological disease
  • Diabetes
  • A weekended immune system

• People living in long-stay residential care homes

Those who are in receipt of a carers allowance, or those who are the main carer of an older or disabled person whose welfare may be at risk if the carer falls ill.

Source:
NHS

After nearly 30 years, and after immunizing more than 2 billion children against polio, Rotary and its partners are on the brink of making history. We are This Close.

When Rotary began the fight in 1985, polio affected 350,000 people, mostly children, in 125 countries every year. Since then, polio has been reduced by more than 99 percent.

Fewer than 700 new cases were reported in 2011, and the wild poliovirus today is confined to isolated pockets in only three countries. We truly are This Close to ending polio forever.

But if we don’t finish the fight right now, polio could quickly resurge, with devastating consequences. More than 10 million children could be paralyzed in the next 40 years. This once-in-a-generation opportunity would be gone forever.

You can take action by showing your support. Be part of the World’s Biggest Commercial. Snap a photo of yourself making the This Close sign and upload it into the commercial. Show it to your friends and family and ask them to do the same. Your involvement will help convince world leaders that support for polio eradication is global.

 Click here

Source:
End Polio Now

People in their 70s across the UK will be offered a vaccine against shingles from this September.
Experts have been recommending routine immunisation against the disease, which causes a painful rash, for some years.
The government-led programme will target 70, 78 and 79-year-olds in the first instance and should prevent tens of thousands of cases a year.
Elderly people are at greatest risk and vaccination should prevent nearly half of cases in the over-70s.
It is estimated that, in England alone, around 800,000 people will be eligible to receive it in the first year.
The Department of Health said the vaccination programme would cost about £25m a year in England but would save the NHS about £20m a year in fewer hospital stays, doctors appointments and prescriptions.
Until now, some individuals have paid between £150 and £200 to get the vaccine privately.

Catch-up campaign

From September, those aged 70 and 79 in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland will be invited to take up the vaccination.
Wales will initially target 78 and 79-year-olds.
Over the next few years, the programme will expand to more of the 70-79 age group across the UK until it is fully covered.
Thereafter, the jab should only need to be offered to people as they reach their 70th birthday.
Shingles is caused by the same virus as chickenpox, herpes varicella zoster.
The illness affects the nerves and skin. In severe cases it can cause complications such as hearing loss or brain swelling.
Marian Nicholson, director of the Shingles Society, told the BBC: “In some unfortunate people, shingles leaves permanent nerve twinges, aches, stabbing, burning – any sensation that a nerve can make can be left behind.
“This can be non-stop, day in, day out, but equally it can be coming and going, and it is most likely to happen in people who are older.”

Flare up

Shingles happens when an old chickenpox infection is reactivated.
The virus can remain inactive in the nervous system for decades, with the body’s immune system keeping it in check, but later in life it can flare up again and emerge, this time as shingles.
If you have not had chickenpox before, you can catch it from someone with shingles but it is not possible to catch shingles itself from someone with the condition.
A Department of Health spokesman said: “Shingles can be a nasty disease for older people and can lead to long-term health problems for around 14,000 people each year.
“This new vaccine can prevent some of the most serious cases, giving people the chance to live without the discomfort and pain that shingles causes.”

Prof Adam Finn, a vaccines expert at the University of Bristol, said: “There’s a cost involved in both buying and giving the vaccines but there’s also enormous savings from all the disease that you prevent.
“Not only suffering and some deaths but also all the costs of hospitalisation, not to mention all the inconvenience, people taking time off work to look after their children and so on and so forth.”
The shingles jab is one of several changes to the UK vaccination scheme this year.
From July, all babies aged between two and four months will be offered a two-dose oral vaccine against the rotavirus, a highly infectious diarrhoea and vomiting bug.
And from September, the UK will become the first country to offer the flu vaccine – via a nasal spray – to all healthy children free of charge.
The programme was supposed to begin in 2014, but will now start later this year with two-year-olds.
Prof Finn said the UK was “getting close to the point where we have the best vaccination programme in the world”.

Source:
BBC

The increasing life expectancy in most European countries has resulted in growth of the population 50 and older. This population is more susceptible to infectious diseases because of immunosenescence, co-morbidity and general frailty. Thus, to promote healthy aging, vaccination against vaccine-preventable-diseases could be one strategy. In addition to its possible individual benefits, vaccination may also yield social benefits, such as a lower overall cost of healthcare. Most European countries, however, offer only influenza vaccine although vaccines for pneumococcal disease, herpes zoster, pertussis, and hepatitis A are also available. Our aim is to review the knowledge of these vaccines for persons aged 50 and older and explore the arguments for expanding current vaccination programmes beyond just influenza.

Methods: The evaluation model of Kimman et al. was used to assess herpes zoster, pneumococcal disease, pertussis and hepatitis A in terms of four domains: pathogen, vaccine, disease outcomes and cost-effectiveness. The sources were Dutch surveillance systems, seroprevalence studies and the international literature.

Results: Herpes zoster, pneumococcal disease and pertussis are prevalent among persons aged 50 and older. Vaccines vary in effectiveness and have mild and self-limiting side effects. Vaccination against pneumococcal disease and pertussis causes adaptation of the responsible pathogen. For pertussis and hepatitis A, the vaccine is not registered specifically for the elderly population. Vaccination against herpes zoster and pertussis could improve quality of life, while vaccination against pneumococcal disease and hepatitis A prevents mortality. However, only vaccination against herpes zoster and pneumococcal disease appear to be cost-effective.

Conclusions: Vaccination can improve the health of the elderly population. As our review shows, however, the data are too incomplete to accurately judge its potential impact. More research is needed to determine how vaccination can most effectively improve the health of the growing population 50 years and older.

Click here

Source:
BMC Geriatrics