The National Institutes of Health Clinical Center in Bethesda, MD, recently announced a Phase 1 clinical trial of a novel influenza vaccine that has begun inoculating healthy adult volunteers.
This innovative study will evaluate the safety of the whole-virus BPL-1357 vaccine candidate’s ability to prompt immune responses.
BPL-1357 was developed by researchers at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID).
Universal Flu Shot Launches Early Clinical Study
HPV Vaccinations Can Prevent Anal Cancer
A large clinical trial of people living with HIV has found that treating anal precancerous growths known as high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions (HSIL) reduces the chance that anal cancer will develop by over 50%.
Nearly all cases of anal cancer are caused by infection of anal cells with cancer-causing types of human papillomavirus (HPV).
Although HPV vaccination can prevent new anal HPV infections, no evidence-based recommendations are currently available to guide screening for and treating anal HSIL.
Severe Acute Hepatitis Cases in Children Increase 41%
The World Health Organization (WHO) announced yesterday that since the previous Disease Outbreak News published on May 27, 2022, there have been 270 new probable severe acute hepatitis of unknown etiology in children cases, including from four new countries.
As of June 22, 2022, thirty-three countries in five WHO Regions have reported 920 probable cases since this global outbreak began in October 2021.
This data indicates a 41% increase during the last month.
Flu Shots Worked Better than Earlier Reports
New influenza vaccine effectiveness data presented at the U.S. CDC’s June 22, 2022 meeting of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) show flu shots worked better during 2021 – 2022 than initially reported.
Published on June 23, 2022, this ACIP data shows flu shots reduced the risk of influenza illness by about 35% among vaccinated people.
Florida’s Meningococcal Outbreak Causes Six Fatalities
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced today that a large, ongoing outbreak of serogroup C meningococcal disease had been confirmed in at least 24 cases, causing six related fatalities in Florida.
In response to this outbreak, the CDC is recommending gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men get a meningococcal vaccine (MenACWY) if they live in Florida or talk with their healthcare provider about getting vaccinated if they are traveling to Florida.
Malaria Vaccination Quickly Loses Protective Effect
Scientists from the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) recently announced they studied how the human immune response after immunization with the malaria pathogen Plasmodium falciparum (Pf).
Their goal was to find out against which protein components the T helper cells induced in this way are directed.
Published by the journal Science Immunology on June 10, 2022, this study revealed T helper cells reacted exclusively to the protein sequence of the vaccine strain and showed hardly any cross-reactivity with the naturally occurring pathogen variants.
Pneumonia Remains the Forgotten Vaccine-Preventible Disease
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported today the number of pneumonia-related fatalities continues to outpace both COVID-19 and Influenza.
The CDC's National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) Mortality Surveillance includes data evaluating pneumonia, influenza, and COVID-19 (PIC) fatalities.
As of June 17, 2022, data collected (82%) for week #19 indicates there were 2,074 pneumonia fatalities in the USA, far surpassing COVID-19 (1,103) and influenza (57).
Has the COVID-19 Pandemic Impacted Flu Shot Uptake?
Leading researchers recently hypothesized that Covid-19 vaccination rates could be associated with influenza vaccination rates.
Who is Infected With Tick-borne Lyme Disease
Lyme disease has continued to spread worldwide, but there’s little scientific agreement on how common is this tick-borne disease.
To resolve this knowledge gap, the open-access journal BMJ Global Health revealed a pooled data analysis on June 13, 2022, that found more than 14% of the world’s population probably has or has had the presence of antibodies to Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato (Bb) infection in the blood.
The three regions with the highest reported seroprevalence were Central Europe (21%), Eastern Asia (16%), and Western Europe (13.5%).
Measles Outbreaks Return in 2022
The latest measles outbreak information shows that while very few measles cases were observed during the COVID-19 pandemic, measles cases are now being reported by countries that had previously eliminated or interrupted endemic measles transmission.
The World Health Organization reported worldwide measles cases increased by 79% in the first two months of 2022, compared to the same period in 2021.