The committee that advises the federal government on biosecurity and dual-use research today approved a statement detailing its concerns about the US government moratorium on funding for "gain-of-function" (GOF) studies on influenza, MERS-CoV (Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus), and SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome).
A hospital cluster of five confirmed MERS-CoV cases in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, has been traced to a patient from Taif near Mecca, the country's Ministry of Health (MOH) said in a statement today.
A chikungunya candidate vaccine developed using noninfectious virus-like particles (VLPs) has been shown to provide long-term protection against multiple genotypes of the disease, according to results of the first human trial, conducted by researchers from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and published today in The Lancet.
A federal vaccine advisory group yesterday recommended that adults age 65 and older receive the Prevnar 13 pneumococcal conjugate vaccine, according to a press release from Pfizer Inc., the vaccine's maker. Using the vaccine alongside the current 23-valent pneumococcal vaccine is thought to provide broader protection.
The 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV13) was 75% effective in preschoolers but 90% effective against the strains covered in the seven-valent vaccine (PCV7), according to a British study in Lancet Infectious Diseases.
The latest pattern in West Africa's Ebola virus disease (EVD) outbreak suggests a "mixed picture," with Guinea showing a drop-off in infections, but Sierra Leone and Liberia reporting several new cases, the World Health Organization (WHO) said today in its latest update.
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued a warning to GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) over cleanliness shortcomings at its plant in Ste. Foy, Quebec, which makes Canada's seasonal flu vaccine, the Canadian Press reported today.
A survey by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) suggests that workers in real estate, food services, and social services had higher rates of influenza-like illness (ILI) than other occupational groups during the 2009-10 flu season, when the pandemic 2009 H1N1 (pH1N1) virus was circulating widely.
The 13-valent vaccine for young kids was shown more effective than the 23-valent version for older adults.
Narrow-spectrum antibiotics were associated with a 10-hour shorter hospital stay compared with broad-spectrum therapy for community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) in children—an 18% drop—according to a multicenter retrospective cohort study yesterday in Pediatrics.