As diseases make comeback, fewer kids are vaccinated

The measles, whooping cough and even polio have returned; the reason: fewer kids are vaccinated as a result of a new breed of vaccine deniers who are ignoring campaigns for awareness, and ultimately might live shorter -- not longer -- lives

Booster vaccination to help against avian influenza pandemic

Evidence suggests that a booster vaccination against H5N1 avian influenza given years after initial vaccination with a different strain may prove useful in controlling a potential future pandemic

FDA declares it is OK to eat tomatoes again

The U.S. government has declared it is OK to eat tomatoes again, lifting its salmonella warning amid signs that the outbreak -- while not over -- may finally be slowing

Who should be treated first in case of pandemic outbreak?

Representatives from 35 states participate in an Indiana University-hosted discussion about how should limited, potentially life-saving resources like vaccines or ventilators be allocated during a pandemic

New, quick method for identifying food-borne diseases

European researchers have developed a system which prepares samples and performs DNA tests on the salmonella and campylobacter bacteria in a portable and cost-effective chip

Ebola-like virus returns to Europe after forty years

A Dutch woman visited bat caves in Uganda in mid-June, and developed Marburg, a deadly hemorrhagic fever closely related to Ebola, on her return; first case of the disease in Europe after a 40-year absence

Calgary researcher wins NIH grant for bacterial vaccine

CDC considers glanders and melioidosis as potential bioterrorism agents; Canadian researcher receives NIH grant to develop a vaccine

Is the U.S. prepared for a bioterror attack?

Some experts believe a bioterrorist attack or pandemic outbreak could be inevitable. How would the United States fight back against an infectious disease outbreak?

Biodefense and food supply safety

Avalanche of drugs, scarcely any oversight, I

By the time St. Louis Children's Hospital called in its infectious-disease specialist on 4 January to diagnose a mysterious spike in allergic reactions to kidney dialysis, it was clear there was a major problem. Three patients had become ill after taking the blood-thinning drug heparin. One had developed the same reaction during a dialysis treatment in November. Minutes after dialysis needles punctured their veins, the boy's lips and eyelids swelled. Their blood pressure dropped, and their heartbeats raced at dangerous levels.

The Chicago Tribune's David Greising and Bruce Japsen write that when infectious-disease specialist Dr. Alexis Elward honed in on the problem -- putting high on her list the drug made by Deerfield, Illinois-based Baxter International -- she became the first doctor to alert the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). more

Biodefense and food supply safety

Avalanche of drugs, scarcely any oversight, II

Yesterday we wrote about the growing discrepancy -- a yawning gap --between the sheer amount of drug and food imported into the United States, and the resources available to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to inspect these imports and the companies which manufacture them to make sure they meet U.S. safety and health standards. Instead, U.S. drug companies, battling mightily to protect public health and their corporate reputations -- and congressional pressures -- often step in where FDA inspections have not. The Chicago Tribune's David Greising and Bruce Japsen write that Baxter, for example, attempted to do so: In September 2007 a Baxter team visited the Chinese plant from which it was buying herapin. By that time, though, timelines produced by Baxter, the FDA, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) show the suspect heparin already was making its way through the Baxter supply chain.