Post Archive by Year

Over the past two years, malaria has become a vaccine-preventable disease thanks to the approval of two innovative vaccines. 
The World Health Organization (WHO) now recommends that children in certain areas receive four doses of GSK's Mosquirix™ (RTS,S/AS01) malaria vaccine, the world's first approved malaria vaccine.
As of May 2024, Mosquirix is available in African countries but not in the United States.

Unlike conventional vaccines that include a single antigen to train the immune system to target a specific virus, scientists say they have created a vaccine that protects against various coronaviruses, including potential future variants. 
This 'Proactive Vaccinology' may protect people against a diverse range of existing coronaviruses or newly emerging pathogens.

While the standard Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (sBCG) vaccine has been in use for about 100 years and administered over 4 billion times, its clinical efficacy is debatable.
On May 2, 2024, the Serum Institute of India (SII) confirmed that it is developing a new recombinant BCG vaccine (iBCG) to enhance efficacy and address the current supply shortages.
Founded in 1966, SII, the world's largest vaccine producer, has implemented two gene modifications to improve sBCG's immunogenicity and safety, creating iBCG.

Although the Zika virus (ZIKV) has been known since 2007, outbreaks have not been in the news much in 2024.
Since the confirmation of a ZIKV outbreak in Brazil in March 2015, many countries in the Region of the Americas have been affected.
According to the data dashboard of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), as of May 3, 2024, over 6,878 Zika cases have been reported in the Americas this year.
While this number of cases is still alarming, it is fewer than the 55,813 cases reported in 2023.

The City of Long Beach recently issued an official statement regarding a Tuberculosis (TB) outbreak.
On May 2, 2024, City Health Officer Dr. Anissa Davis declared a local public health emergency to strengthen the City's preparedness and ability to respond to a localized TB outbreak.
Several individuals associated with a single-room occupancy (SRO) hotel in Long Beach have recently been identified with TB disease.

Vaccines have proven to be the primary means of reducing influenza infections over decades. Although many people think all flu shots are the same, there are significant differences between cell—and egg-based vaccines, which provide different health benefits.

Today, the first population-based, real-world evidence (RWE) of the positive benefits infants receive when passively immunized to prevent respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) disease was published.
RWE demonstrates if immunization is effective in day-to-day practice, as opposed to "efficacy" determined in carefully controlled clinical trials.