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Vaccines Offer Preventative Solutions to High Childhood Pneumonia Rates |
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| Voice of America |
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| September 21, 2009 |
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| "A recent World Health
Organization (WHO) study of two strains of pneumonia is providing African
governments with their first ever country-by-country figures on the leading
global killer of children under the age of five. The results, which appeared
in the September 12 edition of The Lancet, track the rates of pneumococcal
(streptococcus pneumonia) and Hib (haemophilus influenza type b) strains of
the infection..." |
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FDA Delays Decision on Wyeth Vaccine |
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| Philadelphia Inquirer |
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| August 12, 2009 |
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| "Wyeth late yesterday said the Food and
Drug Administration had delayed approval of Prevnar 13, a vaccine that is
one of the primary drivers behind the company's anticipated $68 billion
merger with Pfizer Inc. Wyeth said the 90-day delay would have no impact on
its acquisition by Pfizer and also said it still expects the FDA to approve
Prevnar 13. The agency delayed the approval date from Sept. 30 to Dec. 30
after Wyeth submitted new information about how it was measuring and
validating the vaccine's physical and chemical properties..." |
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Pneumonia Vaccine May Help Limit Swine Flu Deaths |
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| Los Angeles Times |
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| August 4, 2009 |
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| "In years past, the nation's attempts to
prevent flu-related deaths have focused on limiting transmission of the
virus through widespread vaccination programs. This year, with school
starting up well before a vaccine for the pandemic H1N1 influenza virus will
be available, there will be little that can slow the spread of the virus for
the next few months. But there may yet be something that can be done to
reduce hospitalizations and deaths associated with the virus, commonly known
as swine flu, public health..." |
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Fewer Shots Could Still Protect Kids from Pneumonia |
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| Forbes |
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| July 7, 2009 |
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| "Parents and babies alike will be
relieved by new findings that show a reduced-dose schedule for the
pneumococcal vaccine can protect infants against pneumonia and other
infections. The current recommended dose schedule for 7-valent pneumococcal
conjugate vaccine (PCV-7) consists of three primary doses before the age of
6 months, followed by a booster vaccination in the second year of life (3 +
1-dose schedule). But factors such as questions about the cost-effectiveness
of the current PCV-7 dose schedule have led researchers to examine
reduced-dose vaccine schedules, according to background information in the
study..." |
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Vaccine Plan Aims to Spur Drug Development for Poor Nations |
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| Wall Street Journal |
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| June 12, 2009 |
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| "A group of wealthy nations is
launching a first-of-its-kind program designed to encourage
pharmaceutical companies to develop vaccines for diseases common to poor
countries. The $1.5 billion program marks a departure from previous
charitable efforts to increase poor countries' access to vaccines.
Instead of buying existing drugs and giving them away, the donors will
guarantee pharmaceutical companies a future market big enough to justify
developing and manufacturing new vaccines needed in nations too
impoverished to afford them on their own...The first target will be a
vaccine to prevent pneumococcal disease, which kills 1.6 million people
in the world a year, the majority of them young children in the
developing world..." |
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Pneumonia: Rwanda Receives Vaccine to Shield Babies Against Bacterial
Infections |
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| New York Times |
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April 28, 2009 |
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| "A vaccine that protects babies
against fatal bacterial infections was introduced in Rwanda last week,
its first distribution in a third world country. The pneumococcal
conjugate vaccine has been sold under the Prevnar brand name in the
United States since 2000, and Rwanda will get three million doses --
enough for all its children under age 5 -- donated by Wyeth
Pharmaceuticals. By next year, Rwanda hopes to get a more powerful form
and donor money to help pay for it..." |
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Antibiotic Losing Punch |
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| Chattanooga Times Free Press
(Tennessee) |
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| April 13, 2009 |
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| "The growing ineffectiveness of a
popular and widely requested antibiotic has local doctors emphasizing
the importance of responsible antibiotic use. Chattanooga physicians say
between one-half and two-thirds of the most-common bacteria --
streptococcus pneumoniae -- is showing resistance to azithromycin, the
generic name for the antibiotic Zithromax. The antibiotic often is
dispensed in a packet called the "Z-pak." Streptococcus pneumoniae is an
important germ because it is the No. 1 bacterial cause of pneumonia,
bronchitis, sinusitis, ear infections and even meningitis, said Dr. Mark
Anderson, an infectious disease specialist..." |
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CDC Expands Pneumonia Vaccine Recommendations |
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| American Medical News |
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| January 27, 2009 |
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| "The U.S. Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention (CDC) has updated its recommendations for whom should be
vaccinated against pneumococcal disease to include adults who smoke and
those with asthma. The CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization
Practices approved the changes, which apply for individuals age 19 to 64
years, late last year. The CDC already recommended that adults 65 years
or older and those with chronic illnesses receive the 23-valent
pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine, or PPSV23. Research published
several years ago revealed that approximately 50 percent of otherwise
healthy adults with invasive pneumococcal disease smoked cigarettes. The
CDC published its recommendations in the Jan. 9 issue of the Morbidity
and Mortality Weekly Report..." |
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Pneumonia Hospitalizations in Young Children Fell after Intro of PCV7
Vaccine |
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| Reuters Health Medical News |
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| January 20, 2009 |
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| "Reductions in pneumonia
hospitalizations in children < 2 years of age, first observed when use
of pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV7) became routine in this group in
2000, were sustained through 2006, according to the Morbidity and
Mortality Weekly Report for January 16. Dr. C. G. Grijalva at Vanderbilt
University in Nashville, Tennessee, and co-authors used data from the
Nationwide Inpatient Sample to provide an update on pneumonia
hospitalizations among young children, for 2005-2006..." |
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Vaccine Cut Meningitis Rates |
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| Wall Street Journal |
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| January 15, 2009 |
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| "A new study in the New England
Journal of Medicine indicates that Wyeth's Prevnar vaccine is
responsible for a 30 percent drop in cases of pneumococcal meningitis in
the United States. The number of cases dropped from 1.13 per 100,000
persons in 1998 and 1999 to 0.79 per 100,000 in 2004 and 2005.
Researchers noted a 60.5 percent jump in meningitis cases involving
strains not covered by the vaccine..." |
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| Promising Results for Wyeth Vaccine |
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| Wall Street Journal |
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| October 28, 2008 |
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| "An investigational Wyeth vaccine known as Prevnar-13 appears to offer enhanced protection against pneumococcal disease in young children, compared with the company's current blockbuster vaccine, Prevnar, according to new data presented Monday. Wyeth has high commercial hopes for Prevnar-13, which is designed to protect against six more disease-causing types of the bacteria streptococcus pneumoniae than does Prevnar...The data on Prevnar-13 come from findings of four European studies, including a 604-infant trial conducted in Germany, which will be part of the package to be submitted to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration when the company files for approval of the vaccine in the first quarter..." |
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| Smokers Should Get Pneumonia Vaccine: US Advisers |
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| Reuters |
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| October 24, 2008 |
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| "Smokers should be vaccinated against a pneumonia-causing germ, along with children and the elderly, U.S. federal advisers recommended on Wednesday. If accepted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, it would be the first vaccine recommendation aimed specifically at smokers..." |
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| Adult Smokers Need Pneumococcal Vaccine |
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| WebMD |
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| October 22, 2008 |
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| "All adult cigarette smokers should get the pneumococcal vaccine, the CDC's vaccine advisory committee today recommended. The panel previously recommended that as of 2009, adults with asthma should get the vaccine. Adults aged 65 or over, and those with chronic illness, are already advised to get the vaccine. But more than half of serious invasive pneumococcal diseases occur in people who smoke cigarettes..." |
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| Worrisome Infection Eludes a Leading Children’s Vaccine |
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| New York Times |
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| October 14, 2008 |
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| "A highly drug-resistant germ has become a common cause of meningitis, pneumonia and other life-threatening conditions in young children. The culprit — a strain of strep bacteria — can conquer almost all antibiotics in pediatrics, and has dodged a vaccine otherwise credited with causing the number of serious infections in children to plummet..." |
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