New polio vaccine poised to get emergency WHO approval

WHO mulls phase out of vaccine linked to polio outbreaks.

(WHO) is contemplating discontinuing the use of an oral polio vaccine that’s been linked to ongoing outbreaks of the virus in the developing world. WHO is weighing the possibility of using a different formulation of the vaccine, but maintains that patchy implementation of immunization programs, not the vaccine itself, is to blame for the outbreaks. Since 2000, some two billion children have rec...

Monovalent oral polio vaccine: Gates Foundation funds new polio vaccine to accelerate eradication efforts.

Who should get the meningococcal vaccine?

Meningitis, an inflammation of the membrane layers covering the brain and spinal cord, often presents with a symptomatic triad of high fever, headache, and stiff neck in adults and children aged 2 years and older. Classic triad symptoms of meningitis onset can occur within hours or over several days. Fewer than 50% of patients have all three classic symptoms at presentation, but most patients p...

Polio vaccine development in Canada: contributions to global polio eradication.

The paper briefly describes Canada's distinctive experience in the control of polio and offers some lessons for governments and health policy leaders in other jurisdictions, particularly as they consider immunization policies for the post-polio-eradication era.

Who should get the HPV vaccine? Usage expands amid debate.

F ull-page advertisements inviting parents to immunize their preadolescent boys against human papillomavirus (HPV) have rekindled the debate over who should receive the world’s first cancer vaccine. In the ads for Merck’s Gardasil vaccine ( Parade magazine, April 25, 2010), two cherubic faces — one of a mischievous-looking boy in need of a haircut, the other of a tomboyish girl with braces on h...