Vaccine Weekly articles from January 2001

Vaccine Weekly archives from January 2001

Proteins Encapsulated in Stabilized Liposomes Produce Safe, Effective T-Cell Response.(Brief Article)
January 10, 2001... 2001 JAN 10 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Researchers have demonstrated that CD8(+) T-cell response was markedly improved when stabilized liposomes are used to deliver proteins to dendritic cells. They propose that this method of antigen...

Beliefs Act as Barriers to Getting Flu Shots.(Brief Article)
January 10, 2001... 2001 JAN 10 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Certain individuals may avoid getting a flu shot because of beliefs they hold, such as concern about unknown ingredients in the vaccine, suggest the results of a small study of elderly low-income...

Combined Intranasal and Intramuscular Immunization Boosts Anti-Flu Response.(Brief Article)
January 10, 2001... 2001 JAN 10 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A new study suggests using a combined strategy of intranasal and intramuscular immunization with either live or inactivated influenza virus enhances the immune response to flu infection. Baylor...

Blocking Hairpin Formation Can Inhibit RSV.(Brief Article)
January 10, 2001... 2001 JAN 10 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Blocking hairpin formation of the human respiratory syncytial virus (HRSV)-F protein inhibits entry of the virus and thus suggests an approach for development of a vaccine or chemoprophylaxis against...

Respiratory Syncytial Virus Antigen Produced in Tobacco.(Brief Article)
January 10, 2001... 2001 JAN 10 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Researchers at Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, have produced human respiratory virus vaccine antigen in tobacco plants. "Human respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is the...

Volunteers Go House-to-House with Polio Vaccine in Dominican Republic.(Brief Article)
January 10, 2001... 2001 JAN 10 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Volunteers went from house to house in poor neighborhoods of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, on December 18, 2000, vaccinating children against polio in the wake of an outbreak that has left at...

Potential Vaccine Prevents Memory Loss in Mice.(Brief Article)
January 10, 2001... 2001 JAN 10 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Researchers in the University of Toronto's (UT) Faculty of Medicine have discovered that a vaccine may help prevent and treat the disabling memory loss and cognitive impairment (dementia) of...

Genetic Immunization Using Recombinant Alphavirus Vector of HPV Proteins Could be Therapeutic, Prophylactic.(Brief Article)
January 10, 2001... 2001 JAN 10 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A recombinant Semliki Forest virus vector expressing human papillomavirus gene products appears to provide effective genetic immunization against cervical cancer in mice - even at relatively low doses....

New Combined PCR/Fluorescent Probe Technique Enables Rapid Genotyping of Varicella-Zoster Virus.(Brief Article)
January 10, 2001... 2001 JAN 10 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Researchers with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have developed a method they call fluorescent resonance energy transfer (FRET) for quick genotyping of varicella-zoster...

Memory Cells in Tonsils May Cause Long-Term Infection.(Brief Article)
January 10, 2001... 2001 JAN 10 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Chronic infection with the Epstein-Barr virus may be mediated, ironically, by white blood cells in the tonsils responsible for the long-term "memory" of the immune system, researchers suggest. ...

Five-Year AIDS Research Support Contract Awarded.(Brief Article)
January 10, 2001... 2001 JAN 10 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Bioqual, Inc., announced it has renewed its contract to support AIDS researchers at the U.S. National Cancer Institute (NCI) of the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH). The contract entitled...

Characteristics of Vaccine Preparedness Cohorts Described.(Brief Article)
January 10, 2001... 2001 JAN 10 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Data from the HIV Prevention Trials Unit of the University of Washington indicate that chances to treat HIV patients early or to prevent HIV infection in at-risk individuals frequently are missed. ...

MVA Clinical Trial in Africa Delayed.(Brief Article)
January 10, 2001... 2001 JAN 10 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Trials of the first AIDS vaccine specifically designed for Africa were delayed on December 20, 2000, as researchers awaited government approval. Trials of the vaccine, developed jointly by British...

Information Key Ingredient for Healthy World; NewsRx.net Offers eHealth Revenue Sharing Booster Shot.(Brief Article)
January 10, 2001... 2001 JAN 10 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Health information from the Internet is the key ingredient for advancing world health, according to health publishing executive, C.W. Henderson, CEO of NewsRx. Henderson said that delivering the...

Vaccine Found Safe in Early Study.(Brief Article)
January 17, 2001... 2001 JAN 17 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Johns Hopkins University researchers say early tests of a pancreatic cancer vaccine show it is safe and successful in reaching immune system cells. A report on the findings was published in the...

Use of cDNA Suggested for Investigating Potential Flavivirus Vaccines.(Brief Article)
January 17, 2001... 2001 JAN 17 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Researchers at the Oswaldo Cruz Institute in Brazil think new flavivirus vaccines may result from recombinant DNA technology. "A live attenuated virus is used as a cost-effective, safe, and...

Exclusive License Announced for HPV Vaccines.(Brief Article)
January 17, 2001... 2001 JAN 17 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- King Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (KG), Bristol, Tennessee, announced that it has obtained an exclusive license from Novavax, Inc. (NOX) to use its proprietary cell line to develop and potentially...

CDC Says Vaccination Now is Best Protection Against Slow-Starting Flu Season.(Brief Article)
January 17, 2001... 2001 JAN 17 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention influenza surveillance supports the warning to persons at high risk for complications from influenza that it's not too late to get a flu shot this flu...

FDA Reviews Application for Intranasal Vaccine.(Brief Article)
January 17, 2001... 2001 JAN 17 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Aviron (AVIR) announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) accepted for review a Biologics License Application (BLA) for FluMist, an investigational intranasal influenza vaccine. On...

Phase IIa Clinical Trial of Monoclonal Antibody Initiated.(Brief Article)
January 17, 2001... 2001 JAN 17 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Abgenix, Inc. (ABGX), Fremont, California, announced the start of a Phase IIa multi-center clinical trial of ABX-IL8 in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. The company is also conducting a Phase...

Maternal Factors Key to Compliance with Infant Hepatitis B Prevention.(Brief Article)
January 17, 2001... 2001 JAN 17 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- - by Sonia Bell-Nichols, staff medical writer -- Key factors associated with maternal health care continue to play a significant role in whether or not infants receive appropriate vaccinations for...

Risk Higher for Children with Personal Exemptions from Immunization.(Brief Article)
January 17, 2001... 2001 JAN 17 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Children who are exempt from immunization for religious or philosophical reasons have a higher risk of measles and pertussis, according to an article in the December 27, 2000, issue of The Journal of...

Outbreak Leaves Crippled Children and Unanswered Questions.(Brief Article)
January 17, 2001... 2001 JAN 17 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Sandy Torres sits in a wheelchair in the front of his sixth grade class, learning anatomy, though his own body is forever damaged by a disease that has scientists scrambling for answers. Sandy, 13...

Age and Country of Origin Best Indicators for Hepatitis A Screening Needs.(Brief Article)
January 17, 2001... 2001 JAN 17 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The best way to save costs while targeting people who may have a need for hepatitis A virus (HAV) vaccinations prior to travel is to screen them based on age and their country of origin, according to a...

Mass Immunization Effective Among Teens and Young Adults, But Not Very Young Children.(Brief Article)
January 24, 2001... 2001 JAN 24 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Mass immunization is effective for controlling outbreaks or epidemics of serogroup C meningococcal disease among teenagers and young adults, but there is no evidence of protection in young children,...

Health Professionals Unsure About Second MMR Vaccination.(Brief Article)
January 24, 2001... 2001 JAN 24 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Many health professionals have reservations about the second dose of the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine. Furthermore, wide variation in knowledge and practice regarding the vaccine may...

Researchers Argue the Case For and Against Vaccination Programs.(Brief Article)
January 24, 2001... 2001 JAN 24 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Ontario's decision to make the influenza vaccine available at no charge to all its citizens for the 2000-2001 flu season has sparked debate in the public health community. In the "Controversy"...

HLA-A*0201 Recognizes Epitopes of Mycobacterium tuberculosis Protein Component.(Brief Article)
January 24, 2001... 2001 JAN 24 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A study in HLA-transgenic mice has enabled researchers to identify epitopes of Mycobacterium tuberculosis Ag85B that could serve as subunit components in developing TB vaccines. The scientists...

Tumor-Specific Vaccines Under Development.(Brief Article)
January 24, 2001... 2001 JAN 24 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- BioPulse International, Inc., (BIOP), San Ysidro, California, announced the development of multiple Tumor-Specific Cancer Vaccines (TSV). The vaccines are based on the company's dendritic cell...

Initiative Establishes Partnership to Test Vaccine Candidates.(Brief Article)
January 24, 2001... 2001 JAN 24 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Under the auspices of a newly formed partnership with the Malaria Vaccine Initiative at PATH (Program for Appropriate Technology in Health), the Emory University Vaccine Research Center, Atlanta,...

Caveolin-1 Gene Transfer May Be Able to Reverse Cell Transformation.(Brief Article)
January 24, 2001... 2001 JAN 24 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Researchers in New York have shown that the transfer of caveolin-1 DNA to cells derived from squamous cell carcinomas can halt the growth of the malignant cells, a finding that may lead to the...

Modified Monkey Promises Medical Advances for Humans.(Brief Article)
January 24, 2001... 2001 JAN 24 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A baby monkey carrying an extra bit of DNA may suggest a way to speed new treatments for a host of disabling human conditions, from diabetes and breast cancer to Parkinson's and HIV. Named ANDi,...

Viral Transcytosis Study Data Reported.(Brief Article)
January 24, 2001... 2001 JAN 24 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Analysis of HIV transcytosis across epithelial cells may have application in strategies to protect the mucosal membranes that are a primary site of HIV infection. Transcytosis of HIV is induced by...

Engineered HIV Requires Antibiotic to Replicate.(Brief Article)
January 24, 2001... 2001 JAN 24 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Researchers at the University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands, have genetically engineered a live-attenuated human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) that will only reproduce in the presence of the antibiotic...

Hepatitis A Vaccine Proves Effective in Primed Infants of Seropositive Mothers.(Brief Article)
January 24, 2001... 2001 JAN 24 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Researchers in Israel have demonstrated that young seropositive infants who receive concomitant vaccinations for hepatitis A and diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis-polio/Haemophilus influenzae b vaccines are...

Engineered Mouse Virus Eliminates Cell-Mediated Response.(Brief Article)
January 24, 2001... 2001 JAN 24 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A virus that kills every one of its victims, by wiping out part of their immune system, has been accidentally created by an Australian research team. The virus, a modified mousepox, does not affect...

Study Sheds New Light on Disease Transmission, Implications for Vaccine Development.(Brief Article)
January 24, 2001... 2001 JAN 24 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- New research on the tick-borne bacteria responsible for Lyme disease likely will make scientists think differently about how to develop a more effective vaccine. The findings clearly demonstrate...

Hospital Patients Get Staph Infections from Their Own Germs.(Brief Article)
January 24, 2001... 2001 JAN 24 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A study shows for the first time that hospital patients often catch life-threatening Staphylococcus infections from germs they harbor in their own noses. Staph infections are a serious threat to...

Outbreak in Haiti and the Dominican Republic Under Control.(Brief Article)
January 24, 2001... 2001 JAN 24 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A leading physician monitoring an outbreak of poliomyelitis in Haiti and the Dominican Republic said that the situation appears to be under control and urged countries not to retreat from achieving and...

Cell-Elimination Technology Has Therapy and Vaccine Potential.(Brief Article)
January 24, 2001... 2001 JAN 24 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Ariad Pharmaceuticals, Inc., reported January 8, 2001, the results of in vivo studies demonstrating promising new applications of its Argent(TM) regulated cell-elimination technology for both the...

Vaccine Virus Not Found in Patients with Generalized Rash.(Brief Article)
January 24, 2001... 2001 JAN 24 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Although breakthrough varicella can occur at anytime in those who've received the live attenuated vaccine, recent study findings show it is the wild-type virus, not the vaccine virus, that is detected...

Gene Mutation Yields Attenuated Blastomyces Strain with Vaccine Potential.(Brief Article)
January 31, 2001... 2001 JAN 31 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Researchers in the United States report that by mutating the WI-1 gene in the fungus Blastomyces dermatitidis, they have created an attenuated strain that stimulates protective immunity. "Systemic...

Autoantigen-Pulsed Dendritic Cells Induces Tolerance in Experimental Model.(Brief Article)
January 31, 2001... 2001 JAN 31 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- An autoantigen-pulsed dendritic cell (DC) vaccine induced tolerance against experimental allergic encephalomyelitis (EAE) in a rat model, researchers in Sweden report. "DC can modulate the nature...

Biological Warfare a Continuing Threat.(Brief Article)
January 31, 2001... 2001 JAN 31 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- More than 20 years have passed since the World Health Organization (WHO) announced the eradication of smallpox. "Simply put, smallpox represents a direct threat to the entire world," said Block, a...

Emerging Poxvirus May Have Developed from Brazilian Smallpox Vaccine.(Brief Article)
January 31, 2001... 2001 JAN 31 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- An emerging poxvirus in cattle and humans in Brazil may have developed from the Brazilian smallpox vaccine, researchers in that country say. "The biological properties of poxvirus isolates from...

Results of Phase I Study of CETP Vaccine for Low HDL Announced.(Brief Article)
January 31, 2001... 2001 JAN 31 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Avant Immunotherapeutics (AVAN), Needham, Massachusetts, announced the results of a double-blind placebo controlled, Phase I trial of its CETP vaccine (CETi-1) in 48 healthy adult volunteers. The...

Flt3 Ligand Augments Immune Response.(Brief Article)
January 31, 2001... 2001 JAN 31 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The ability of HIV vaccines to marshal the body's defenses against the infection can be enhanced by concomitant treatment with Flt3 ligand, study results suggest. "Liposomes and Flt3 ligand...

Preclinical Testing of Nigerian Formulation Begins.(Brief Article)
January 31, 2001... 2001 JAN 31 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Research parasitologist Simon Agwale, at the University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute (UMBI), reported at a workshop held in Abuja, Nigeria, that he and his colleagues have developed an...

Koilocyte Counts Can Predict HIV Status in Infected Women.(Brief Article)
January 31, 2001... 2001 JAN 31 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Epidemiologists in Italy have presented evidence that women with human papillomavirus (HPV) lesions containing a high quantity of koilocytes - raisin-like squamous cells that are the hallmark of HPV -...

CDC Wants to Increase Number of Children in Immunization Registries.(Brief Article)
January 31, 2001... 2001 JAN 31 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Immunization registries are confidential, population-based computerized information systems that contain data about children's vaccinations and are an important tool to increase and sustain high...

Hepatitis B Program in Hawaiian Schools Increases Vaccine Rate.(Brief Article)
January 31, 2001... 2001 JAN 31 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- In the middle and late 1990s, investigators at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention headed a collaborative vaccination effort that attempted to increase the "catch-up" rate for school...

Reduced Hookworm Infections Occur in BCG-Vaccinated Children.(Brief Article)
January 31, 2001... 2001 JAN 31 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net)-- According to a study from Brazil, children with a bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) vaccination scar have reduced incidence, prevalence, and intensity of infection of hookworms. "BCG, the most common...

Organization Uses Different Approach to Increase Hepatitis Vaccine Awareness.(Brief Article)
January 31, 2001... 2001 JAN 31 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Hepatitis A virus can be transmitted easily between men having sex with men (MSM). Although public health programs have targeted this at-risk population with vaccine campaigns, the results have been...

Study Finds Hepatitis B Vaccination Policies Inconsistent in Colorado.(Brief Article)
January 31, 2001... 2001 JAN 31 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Most hospitals in rural areas of Colorado do not have either standing orders for vaccinating newborns against hepatitis B or policies for communicating vaccine administration to clinicians. This...

Personality Trait May Influence Immune System Response.(Brief Article)
January 31, 2001... 2001 JAN 31 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Individuals may vary in how well they can protect themselves from illness, depending on personality traits as well as on physiological differences, suggest the results of a preliminary study. Anna...

Cell-Based Gene Therapy Potentiates Rejection of Syngeneic Tumors.(Brief Article)
January 31, 2001... 2001 JAN 31 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) epitopes shared by many cancer types may be potential therapeutic anticancer targets, researchers in Argentina report. "Cell-based gene therapy after cytokine gene...

Cytokines and CD80 Enhance Immunogenicity of Cell Vaccine.(Brief Article)
January 31, 2001... 2001 JAN 31 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Tumor cells genetically altered to express CD80 and certain interleukins (IL) can be used to enhance the efficacy of tumor vaccines against cervical cancer, according to a recent study. "Tumor...

Dendritic Cell Vaccines May Be Novel Therapeutic Possibility.(Brief Article)
January 31, 2001... 2001 JAN 31 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Researchers in Italy explored dendritic cell (DC) vaccine options for colorectal cancer patients. "Few cases of anti-colon cancer specific T lymphocytes have been described so far," wrote A.J.A....

Infections May Be Reactivated by Vaccination.(Brief Article)
January 31, 2001... 2001 JAN 31 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Reports of reactivation of herpesvirus infections soon after receiving prophylactic vaccines suggests to researchers in Switzerland that there may be a causal relationship. "Varicella zoster and...

Certification in Western Pacific a Milestone Towards Eradication.(Brief Article)
January 31, 2001... 2001 JAN 31 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The Western Pacific Region of the World Health Organization has not experienced a single case of domestic poliomyelitis since March 1997. This was accomplished with high vaccination coverage...

Clinical Trial Data of RPspA Vaccine is Encouraging.(Brief Article)
January 31, 2001... 2001 JAN 31 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Phase I clinical trial results with pneumococcal surface protein A (PspA) vaccination are encouraging. "PspA, a cross-reactive protein expressed by all pneumococci, is known to elicit an antibody...

Campylobacter Vaccine Exhibits Significant Immune Responses in Phase II Clinical Trial.(Brief Article)
January 31, 2001... 2001 JAN 31 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Antex Biologics Inc. (ANX), Gaithersburg, Maryland, announced that a recently completed Phase II clinical trial of Campyvax, the company's vaccine to prevent Campylobacter infections, showed...

CDC Adds Another Vaccine to Children's Schedule of Shots.(Brief Article)
January 31, 2001... 2001 JAN 31 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has added pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV) to its recommended immunization schedule for children. The vaccine protects against infection by...