The number of lives lost due to viral hepatitis infections is increasing and already accounts for 3,500 deaths daily, according to this report by the World Health Organization (WHO). This is the first consolidated WHO report on viral hepatitis epidemiology, service coverage and product access, with improved data for action. …
The outbreak of Ebola fever in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, which has killed more than 11,000 people, has dropped out of the news as it has been brought under control. Although new cases are now measured in dozens, rather than hundreds, a week, the disease has not been stamped …
With pneumonia emerging as one of the leading causes of mortality amo-ng children under five years of age, the government is considering introduction of Pneumococcal vaccine in the Universal Immunisation Program-me (UIP). Taking its first foot forward, the government has asked the national technical advisory group on immunisation (NTAGI) to …
When Ebola broke out in West Africa in December 2013, triggering the largest-ever epidemic of the disease, there was no vaccine or drug that had been shown to be safe and effective in people. Just 20 months later, a vaccine seems to confer total protection against infection, according to the …
Rates more influenced by financial constraints and access to services than anti-vaccination beliefs, finds University of Adelaide study Anti-vaccination beliefs aren’t the main reason almost 10% of Australian children remain unimmunised. Family finances, access to services and chronic health conditions were key factors in why some parents don’t keep their …
Global vaccine-development fund could save thousands of lives, billions of dollars A $2 billion global vaccine-development fund is needed to prevent the world's deadliest infectious diseases, according to an essay published in the New England Journal of Medicine. Credit: Princeton University, Woodrow Wilson School Ebola is a preventable disease, and …
Researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania have devised an entirely new approach to vaccines - creating immunity without vaccination. The study, published in Scientific Reports, demonstrated that animals injected with synthetic DNA engineered to encode a specific neutralizing antibody against the dengue virus were …
Health authorities in the state have said the long distance from the house of a person suffering from Japanese Encephalitis (JE) to a medical centre is one of the factors behind the high fatalities, as the cumbersome journey often complicates a patient's condition. Earlier, experts had expressed concern over delay …
When it comes to vaccinating their babies, bees don't have a choice - they naturally immunise their offspring against specific diseases found in their environments, scientists say. Researchers from Arizona State University, University of Helsinki, University of Jyvaskyla and Norwegian University of Life Sciences studied a bee blood protein called …
A recombinant, replication-competent vesicular stomatitis virus-based vaccine expressing a surface glycoprotein of Zaire Ebolavirus (rVSV-ZEBOV) is a promising Ebola vaccine candidate. The researchers report the results of an interim analysis of a trial of rVSV-ZEBOV in Guinea, west Africa.
LONDON – Researchers in the United States trying to develop a vaccine against the deadly Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) virus say they have had early signs of success in animal experiments. Using a two-step approach in mice and rhesus macaques, scientists at the vaccine research center of the U.S. …
Some vaccines have been found to make some viruses more harmful via evolution, a new study has warned. The report, published in PLOS Biology, states that experiments with herpesvirus – a large family of DNA responsible for many diseases – shows some vaccines can only prove to make matters worse. …
NIGERIAN scientists led by the President of Nigerian Academy of Science (NAS), Prof. Oyewale Tomori, and National Coordinator, National Malaria Elimination Programme (NMEP), Dr. Nnenna Ezeigwe, have hailed the world’s first malaria vaccine, which represents a major step toward prevention of a disease that kills more than half a million …
The world's first malaria vaccine has cleared one of the final hurdles prior to being approved for use in Africa. The European Medicines Agency gave a positive scientific opinion after assessing its safety and effectiveness. It represents a 'green light' for the Mosquirix jab, developed by GlaxoSmithKline. The World Health …
Health authorities however assured that the situation in Benakuma Health District in Menchum Division is under control. Following the measles outbreak in the North West Region, especially in Benakuma Health District in Menchum Division, which has so far claimed the lives of nine children, the Governor of the North West …
This Month — July - was a very auspicious month for Nigeria in 2014. Two health related occurrences took place in that month. On Sunday July 20 2014, Patrick Sawyer flew into Lagos airport, a sick man with Ebola Virus Disease. He died five days later, but not before infecting …
The number of countries reaching and sustaining 90% coverage of children with routine life-saving vaccinations has doubled since 2000. Updated data on the status of immunization worldwide in 2014 reveal that 129 countries, 6 more than in 2013, now immunize at least 90% of their children with the required 3 …
ust three years ago, Nigeria was a threat to the global push to eradicate polio. Africa’s most populous nation recorded 122 cases in 2012, more than all other countries combined, and funders of the eradication campaign were growing exasperated with the nation’s faltering vaccination efforts and exportation of cases. Now …
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has called for a Central National Emergency Operations Centre to be established and to be on stand-by to deal with future disease outbreaks and related emergencies. Dr Matshidiso Moeti, the WHO's regional director for Africa, said this when addressing a meeting of about 200 high-level …
Direct delivery of aerosolized vaccines to the respiratory mucosa elicits both systemic and mucosal responses. This vaccine strategy has not been tested for Ebola virus (EBOV) or other hemorrhagic fever viruses. Here, we examined the immunogenicity and protective efficacy of an aerosolized human parainfluenza virus type 3–vectored vaccine that expresses …
Clinical trials in India have again come under the regulatory scanner after the World Health Organisation (WHO) pointed out “critical“ lapses in trials of HIV drugs being conducted by a Chennaibased research organization. Following the enforcement by the United Nations' agency, the Indian regulator, Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI), …
