A number of readers have asked when we would have information about the safety of the influenza 2009 H1N1 vaccine. The World Health Organization has just released briefing note #16 “Safety of pandemic vaccines” in which they summarize vaccination information from 16 countries in which 80 million doses of vaccine have been administered. Side effects …
The suggestion that yearly immunization against influenza might make children more susceptible to serious disease during a pandemic has generated some controversy. Does this idea have merit? If you have read Being older is a good defense against 2009 H1N1 influenza, you are familiar with the concept of ‘heterosubtypic immunity’. After natural infection with influenza …
Is yearly influenza vaccination of children a bad idea? Read More »
Because of concerns about the safety and efficacy of the new vaccine against 2009 H1N1 influenza (swine flu) Marc Pelletier, PhD from Futures in Biotech and I teamed up to record a public service announcement to encourage vaccination. This announcement addresses safety and side effects, which are expected to be similar to those from any …
The new director of the National Institutes of Health, Francis Collins, has been scrutinized for his Evangelical Christian beliefs, which some think might influence his science policy. But there may be an even more serious problem with his leadership of the biggest supporter of scientific research in the United States. A recent New York Times …
President Obama’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) has released a report assessing H1N1 preparations. According to the White House Office of the Press Secretary: A Presidential advisory group of the nation’s leading scientists and engineers today released a new report assessing the Obama Administration’s preparations for this fall’s expected resurgence of 2009-H1N1 …
Dispensers of alcohol-based rubs are appearing in public places in an attempt to reduce the spread of pandemic influenza. Are these effective at removing virus from hands? In a recent study, the hands of twenty vaccinated, antibody-positive volunteers were contaminated with 10,000,000 TCID50 of a 1999 seasonal H1N1 influenza virus strain (see this post for …
