A vaccine could cut tuberculosis cases among HIV-positive Africans by almost two-fifths, a US study suggests.
The lung infection is the most common cause of death among HIV patients in the continent.
Journal Aids reports that Dartmouth Medical School research involving 2,000 people found significantly fewer TB cases in vaccinated patients.
An expert said the jab could be a cheaper option for countries struggling to find money for extra anti-HIV drugs. Read the rest of this entry »
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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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 vaccine to treat cocaine use helps some addicts to halve their dependency on the drug, researchers say.
Doctors at Yale University School of Medicine gave the vaccine to 55 cocaine addicts and found that 38% were able to achieve the necessary antibody levels.
Animal and human studies have suggested that high levels of anti-cocaine antibodies in the blood can stop addicts experiencing a high.
But the researchers say the addicts would need repeat injections.
The study published in the journal of the American Medical Association says the Yale doctors conducted a 24 week trial of an experimental vaccine. Read the rest of this entry »
The discovery of immune system particles that attack the AIDS virus may finally open a way to make a vaccine that could protect people against the deadly and incurable infection, U.S. researchers said on Thursday.
They used new technology to troll through the blood of 1,800 people infected with the AIDS virus and identified two immune system compounds called antibodies that could neutralize the virus.
And they found a new part of the virus that the antibodies attack, offering a new way to design a vaccine, they reported in the journal Science. 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 »
