University of Missouri researchers have found evidence that some over-the-counter drugs, such as aspirin and Tylenol, that inhibit certain enzymes could impact the effectiveness of vaccines.
“If you’re taking aspirin regularly, which many people do for cardiovascular treatment, or acetaminophen (Tylenol) for pain and fever and get a flu shot,there is a good chance that you won’t have a good antibody response,”
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The pandemic of swine flu may be hitting a peak in the Northern Hemisphere, global health officials said on Friday, but they cautioned it was far from over.
Officials also said they were investigating several troubling outbreaks of drug-resistant H1N1 but noted they were limited so far and that there were no indications yet the virus was mutating in a sustained way.
The World Health Organization said H1N1 flu was moving eastward across Europe and Asia after appearing to peak in parts of Western Europe and the United States. Read the rest of this entry »
Americans are starting to lose confidence in the government’s ability to prevent a nationwide epidemic of the H1N1 flu, according to a new national poll.
But the Opinion Research Corporation survey, released Tuesday morning, indicates a small majority continue to say that the government and private industry eventually will produce enough of the vaccine for the virus, also known as swine flu, to inoculate everyone who wants it. Read the rest of this entry »
A recent poll found 74 percent of Americans who use public restrooms would rinse their hands with water and let them air dry if there’s no soap or towels.
Why bother, asks Dr. John Cmar, an infectious disease expert with Baltimore’s Sinai Hospital. “Washing with water alone does not get rid of microbes – the action of working up a lather with soap, and then rinsing it off, is what washes them away. Plus, by touching the sink faucet – one of the dirtiest things in a restroom – these people could be adding even more germs to their hands,” he says. Read the rest of this entry »
H1N1 swine flu has killed 28 pregnant women in the U.S., raising the level of concern among obstetricians and CDC investigators.
The 28 women who died were among about 100 pregnant women who required intensive care because of severe H1N1 swine flu disease.
“Doctors around the country have never seen this kind of thing before,” CDC respiratory disease chief Anne Schuchat, MD, said today at a news conference. “What we are seeing is quite striking.” Read the rest of this entry »
An editorial in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) reports that Canada must change its H1N1 vaccine policy to speed up access to the vaccine for high-risk groups such as pregnant women, children and youth and people with chronic diseases.
In the Canadian version of the vaccine, Health Canada has chosen to include an adjuvant. It is a substance that will increase the immunological response to antigens. As a result, this will slow its use but allow more people to be immunized. The use of an adjuvant requires a more careful review compared to a vaccine without an adjuvant. Read the rest of this entry »
