Epidemiology: October 2004 Archives

The Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) has submitted detailed recommendations to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on the agency's Draft Pandemic Influenza Preparedness and Response Plan.

"Although IDSA applauds HHS's efforts on a thoughtful and scientifically based plan, we are proposing a number of recommendations that, if incorporated, could help to strengthen the U.S. and global response to an influenza pandemic," said Walter E. Stamm, MD, IDSA president.

Press release from IDSA

Friday, October 29, 2004 Posted: 9:56 AM EDT (1356 GMT)

ATLANTA, Georgia (Reuters) -- A rare sexually transmitted disease that is spreading among gay and bisexual men in Europe could be poised to surface in the United States, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday.

The CDC urged doctors and clinics across the nation to be prepared to diagnose and treat gay and bisexual men infected with Lymphogranuloma venereum (LGV).

Article from CNN.com

29 Oct 2004

Federal health officials could import up to 5.2 million additional flu vaccine doses from Canada and Germany to help mitigate an unexpected national flu vaccine supply shortage if manufacturing facilities in those countries pass FDA inspections, HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson announced Thursday, USA Today reports.

Article from: Medical News Today

Associated Press
October 28, 2004

WASHINGTON -- For the second time in a year, a federal judge on Wednesday ordered the military to stop requiring anthrax vaccines for U.S. military personnel.

In response, the Pentagon halted mandatory anthrax vaccinations "until further notice."

U.S. District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan said the Food and Drug Administration violated its procedures when it gave final approval to the vaccine last year because it failed to give the public an adequate opportunity to comment.

"The men and women of our armed forces deserve the assurance that the vaccines our government compels them to take . . . have been tested by the greatest scrutiny of all -- public scrutiny," Sullivan said.

Articel from the INDYSTAR.com

Tuesday, October 26, 2004

BY PATRICIA ANSTETT
FREE PRESS MEDICAL WRITER

There's no need to panic about flu shots, two federal health officials reassured the public Tuesday. More vaccine is coming to ensure that most people at high-risk of getting the flu with get vaccinated, they said.

"This is not a crisis; this is a challenge," Dr. Cristina Beato, acting assistant secretary for health for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, said. She spoke at a media briefing in Detroit, as part of a national tour to educate the public about this season's flu vaccine shortage.

Articel from Detroit Free Press

Last Updated: 2004-10-22 15:15:28 -0400 (Reuters Health)

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - A measles outbreak earlier this year was contained by instituting quarantine measures after exposed persons refused post-exposure preventative treatment, according to a report from the Iowa Department of Pubic Health and other state offices.

As described in the CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, local and state health departments contacted people exposed to a student returning to Iowa from India who had come down with measles.

Two of these contacts caught measles, and people exposed to them were also identified.

Articel from Reuters Health

21/10/2004 - A new technology that could revolutionise vaccine delivery by eliminating the need for refrigeration has been given UK government funding in a project to deliver immunisations to the developing world.

The UK Department for International Development has awarded the company behind the development, Cambridge Biostability, a £950,000 (€1.38bn) grant to bring to production a pentavalent childhood vaccine - i.e. one that guards against five infections in one shot - that can be stored without refrigeration.

Article from In-PharmaTechnologist.com

Tokyo, Japan, Oct. 22 (UPI) -- Japan's Health Ministry reported a record 209 new HIV/AIDS infections in the July through September quarter, with most victims in their 20s or 30s.

The previous record high for a three-month period was 199, recorded in the second quarter of this year.

Article from the Washington Times

Covington center helps with research
Sunday, October 17, 2004
By Regina McEnery
Newhouse News Service
CLEVELAND -- An international team of researchers, including a researcher at the Tulane National Primate Research Center near Covington, has brought millions of vulnerable women closer to a potentially powerful weapon against HIV.

The experimental drug, a topical agent applied before sexual intercourse, has only been tested in animals. It is both expensive and complicated to produce on a mass scale. But the research team, led by scientists at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, predicts a less expensive cousin one day can be developed.

Article from: The Times Picayne

October 18


News of an effective vaccine against malaria being developed is certainly a shot in the arm for the fight against this disease which kills over a million children and infects an estimated 300 million annually. Researchers led by Pedro Alonso from the University of Barcelona reportedly vaccinated thousands of children — the ultimate target group — in Mozambique and reportedly cut their risk of developing severe malaria by nearly 60 per cent. This is a remarkable rate of success when compared to several other vaccines that are in various stages of development around the world.

Article from: HindustanTimes.com

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Don't expect imports of flu shots from Canada or other countries to ease the crippling shortage, the nation's health secretary cautioned Thursday.

The Food and Drug Administration is in discussions with two companies that sell flu vaccine in Canada and elsewhere, and have found a few million unsold doses.

But that vaccine is not licensed for sale in the United States, and thus meeting FDA requirements in time for this flu season "is doubtful," Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson told reporters Thursday.

Article from CNN.com

(CNN) -- None of the influenza vaccine produced by Chiron Corp. in its Liverpool, England plant is salvageable, the Food and Drug Administration announced Friday.

A recent FDA inspection of the plant found "good manufacturing practice violations," Commissioner Dr. Lester Crawford said.

Public health inspectors now say they cannot vouch for the safety of any of the doses.

British authorities shut down production at Chiron's Liverpool plant after investigating possible bacterial contamination.

The shortfall in flu vaccine -- roughly half the U.S. supply -- means there will not be enough for those most at risk of infection this flu season.

Article from CNN.com

[Date: 2004-10-15]

The UK is providing 30 million euro to build a new centre for cancer research and cell biology at Queen's University in Belfast, making Northern Ireland one of Europe's leaders in the fight against cancer.

The centre will focus on the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer by investigating the causes of the disease.

'The creation of a world-class centre for cancer research and cell biology, recognised as a flagship by the international scientific community, will ensure that Queen's and Northern Ireland contribute in a strategically important way to future UK and international research initiatives in cancer,' said Professor Peter Gregson, Vice-Chancellor of Queen's University.

Article from CORDIS News

Catherine Brahic
15 October 2004
Source: SciDev.Net

Researchers have developed a protein able to block the transmission of HIV in monkeys.

They say their findings could lead to a new kind of microbicides — creams and gels applied directly to the vagina or rectum to stop transmission of the disease.

Currently, no microbicides are available on the market, but several candidates are being tested in clinical trials.

The new potential microbicide, developed by Michael Lederman of Case Western Reserve University, United States, and colleagues, could lead to a 'second generation' of products that would either complement the ones currently in trials or replace them if these were to fail.

Lederman's candidate drug is based on a modified protein. Unlike the products that are being tested, this protein seems to stop transmission by preventing HIV from getting into host cells — a necessary step for the virus to replicate and spread infection.

Article from SciDev Net

Agencia de Informacao de Mocambique (Maputo)

October 15, 2004
Posted to the web October 15, 2004

Maputo

Clinical tests of a product candidate to be a vaccine against malaria, the RTS/ASO2A, that were carried out by the Manhica Health Reaserach Centyre, in the southern Mozambican province of Maputo, revealed its efficacy and safety to reduce this disease, that has been the main cause of deaths in Mozambique and in Africa at large.

The results were anounced by Mozambican Health Minister Francisco Songane, during a press conference caaled for that effect on Thursday.

The tests, that covered a total of 2,022 children, showed a 30 per cent efficacy on clinically detectable malaria (with symptoms), 45 per cent on non-symptomatic cases, and 58 per cent on severe malaria cases.

Article from allAfrica.com

Drug/DNA combination could offer longer-lasting more efficient flu vaccine
Research from Sweden suggests that adding the drug tucaresol to plasmid DNA influenza vaccines could offer longer-lasting and more efficient protection against the influenza virus. The findings appear in the October 2004 issue of the Journal of Virology.

Annual flu epidemics continue to pose major health problems worldwide despite yearly vaccination efforts. Studies indicate protection offered by the current vaccine to be short-lived and only capable of targeting specific strains of the virus. Because influenza strains are highly variable, a vaccine with higher efficacy is necessary.

Article from EurekaAlert

Potential for developing a new cream or gel to block AIDS transmission during heterosexual sex
WASHINGTON -- Researchers have shown that it may be possible to block male to female HIV transmission in heterosexual intercourse and have identified the target for blocking that transmission, according to an article from the Oct. 14 issue of Science, presented today at the American Medical Association 23rd Annual Science Reporters Conference in Washington, D.C.
"Effective methods for blocking the transmission of HIV are urgently needed," said Michael Lederman, M.D., Scott R. Inkley Professor of Medicine and director of the Case Western Reserve University/University Hospitals of Cleveland Center for AIDS Research, in Cleveland, Ohio, and lead author on the paper. "Our study focuses on a strategy for preventing transmission of HIV through the vagina. We have identified a potential target, a mechanism critical for the transmission at vaginal sites of infection, that may offer a simple strategy for preventing HIV transmission."

Article from EurekAlert

By Amanda Gardner
HealthDay Reporter

THURSDAY, Oct. 14 (HealthDayNews) -- While U.S. health officials say it's too soon to predict the severity of the coming flu season, unofficial accounts indicate it could be relatively harsh.

If that proves true, it could leave health-care providers scrambling. They are already reeling from the surprise announcement last week that British regulators had suspended the license of a firm that had been expected to produce nearly half of the United States' anticipated 100 million to 105 million vaccine doses.

Article from Forbes.com

Drug Protects Monkeys from AIDS in Experiment

Thursday, October 14, 2004 2:04 p.m. ET

By Maggie Fox, Health and Science Correspondent

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A souped-up version of a naturally occurring immune system protein can protect female monkeys from the AIDS virus, scientists reported on Thursday in a finding they say may lead to a new way to prevent infection in people.

They hope to eventually use their discovery to develop a microbicide -- a cream or gel that women and men could use to protect themselves from sexual transmission of the deadly virus.

With 43 million people infected and more than 25 million already dead from the incurable virus, a microbicide would be a valuable way to help fight the epidemic.

"The vast majority of HIV infections in the world are sexually transmitted, most commonly through heterosexual sex," said Dr. Michael Lederman of Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, who helped lead the international study

Article from Wired News

This historic approach to infection-control may still have a role today, although the human rights implications are troubling.
By Susan J. Landers, AMNews staff. Oct. 18, 2004.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Quietly, the trail of disease stretched from the New York City suburb of Mamaroneck, N.Y., to Manhattan and Long Island's Oyster Bay, leaving suffering in its wake. Twenty-two people had been infected and one person had died from a terrible illness, marked by high fever, swollen lymph nodes and rose-colored spots on the chest and abdomen. It took time, but William H. Park, MD, and S. Josephine Baker, MD, zeroed in on where the illness was coming from -- an Irish-born cook employed by the wealthy families of those who had become ill.

The sickness, of course, was typhoid and the cook was Mary Mallon, who claimed in 1907 never to have had it. Nonetheless, she was found to be a carrier, excreting large numbers of typhoid bacilli. To keep her from infecting anyone else, she was isolated in a hospital for three years before being released with a warning that she must never again be employed in a kitchen.

Article from amednews.com

On October 5, 2004, CDC was notified by Chiron Corporation that none of its influenza vaccine (Fluvirin®) would be available for distribution in the United States for the 2004-05 influenza season. The company indicated that the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) in the United Kingdom, where Chiron's Fluvirin vaccine is produced, has suspended the company's license to manufacture Fluvirin vaccine in its Liverpool facility for 3 months, preventing any release of this vaccine for this influenza season. This action will reduce by approximately one half the expected supply of trivalent inactivated vaccine (flu shot) available in the United States for the 2004-05 influenza season.

The remaining supply of influenza vaccine expected to be available in the United States this season is nearly 54 million doses of Fluzone® (inactivated flu shot) manufactured by Aventis Pasteur, Inc. Of these doses, approximately 30 million doses already have been distributed by the manufacturer. In addition, approximately 1.1 million doses of live attenuated influenza vaccine (LAIV/FluMist ®) manufactured by MedImmune will be available this season.

News Release from the CDC Health and Human Services

Max Planck Institute for Infection Biology and MOLOGEN initiate development of a new tuberculosis subunit vaccine

A cooperation agreement to initiate the development of a new type of preventive DNA subunit vaccine against tuberculosis (TB) has been signed by the Max Planck Institute for Infection Biology (MPI-IB) and MOLOGEN AG in Berlin. Subunit vaccines are composed of defined molecular immunogenic modules. Under its director Prof. Dr. Stefan H. E. Kaufmann, the Department of Immunology at the MPI-IB is studying the mechanisms of host - pathogen interactions and develops novel vaccination strategies; it is amongst the leading groups in Tuberculosis immunology research world wide. MOLOGEN focuses on proprietary DNA technologies to develop treatments for non- or inadequately treatable diseases.

Max Plank Society Press Release

Acting FDA head is 'pessimistic' about impounded vaccine

Friday, October 8, 2004 Posted: 3:36 PM EDT (1936 GMT)

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Food and Drug Administration is unlikely to clear influenza vaccine made by Chiron Corp. as safe for Americans to use this flu season, Dr. Lester M. Crawford, the agency's acting commissioner, said Friday.

Crawford's pessimism came as FDA officials in England met with Chiron officials and were poised to begin an in-depth inspection of the company's Liverpool vaccine production facility on Saturday and Sunday.

Article from CNN Health

Today, HIV drug Fuzeon was awarded the 2004 International Prix Galien for the most innovative new medicine.
Revolutionary HIV drug Fuzeon wins most prestigious award for innovationToday, HIV drug Fuzeon (enfuvirtide or T-20) was awarded the 2004 International Prix Galien for the most innovative new medicine. Fuzeon was selected out of 12 major new drugs in all therapeutic areas which each won national awards. Since 1970 Roche has won a total of 24 international and national Prix Galien medals, notably winning the international award twice in the field of HIV. This reflects Roche's strong track record in innovation across its entire product portfolio.
"Fuzeon was considered as the clear winner by the whole jury because it represents a new therapeutic approach, in fact the only new class of antiretroviral HIV drugs to emerge in the last eight years. Fuzeon markedly contributes to a significant increase in patients' quality of life", said Professor Walter Osswald, the President of the International Prix Galien Jury.

Article from EurekAlert!

Sudden flu vaccine shortage as UK blocks consignment

Christopher Bowe & David Firn / New York/London October 07, 2004

A public health crisis faces the US as the influenza season begins, after US drugmaker Chiron was blocked from shipping half the expected US flu vaccines by UK regulators.

Chiron yesterday said human error at a late-stage in vaccine manufacturing at its UK plant in Liverpool had caused UK regulators to suspend its license to make Fluvirin vaccines for three months.

The company said the suspension by the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency effectively blocked its ability to ship all of this year’s vaccines — about 50 million doses.

Article from: Business Standard

October 4th - 6th, New York

Harnessing the exquisite specificity of the immune system to detect and attack cancer cells has long been a dream of cancer immunologists. Cancer vaccines are getting ever closer to becoming reality as they are shown to consistently and reproducibly stimulate the immune system to attack cancer-specific targets. Now early-phase clinical trials are beginning to show hints of the promise of immunotherapy.

WHAT: New findings in the development of cancer vaccines from the USA, Australia, Europe and Japan will be presented as part of the International Cancer Immunotherapy Symposia Series.

WHEN: October 4-6, 2004

WHERE: Manhattan Conference Center at the Millenium Broadway Hotel 145 West 45th Street, New York.

WHO: Organized by the Cancer Research Institute, New York. Speakers are drawn from the international Cancer Vaccine Collaborative, leading US academic groups, and industry efforts. Over 250 scientists and physicians registered so far.

Links:

Day Two
Day Three

Oct. 4, 2004. 01:00 AM

C. difficile caused dozens of deaths in Quebec

Possibly same type of bacterium found in U.S. study

HELEN BRANSWELL
CANADIAN PRESS

A strain of a common bug with properties linked to increased virulence has become predominant in several U.S. hospitals, prompting researchers to suggest it may be responsible for the sharp increase in cases and severity of disease in parts of the United States.

It may also explain the exploding problem some hospitals in Canada are experiencing with the bug, Clostridium difficile, said Dr. Clifford McDonald of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta.

Article from: Toronto Star