Vaccine Times: Vaccine News

Again, the Vaccine Times manages to dig up great stories about vaccines saving lives, and the charitable efforts of individuals involved in the effort.  Generally I am not a supporter of the oppressive power that some rulers in specific parts of the world have over their people, but I think a small measure of respect is due to wanting to alleviate some other suffering in the world.  Remember, this is not a political site, but rather one that focuses on the good and facts about vaccines (well, and also about the veracity of evolution, but this post doesn't touch on that at all).

Bill Gates & Abu Dhabi prince pledge $50,000,000 each to vaccination effort – The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the prince of Abu Dhabi have pledged $50,000,000 each to vaccinate children in Afghanistan and Pakistan against polio and other diseases. About one third of this sum will go towards polio eradication efforts, while the rest will go toward other diseases, such as pneumonia, diphtheria, whooping cough and other diseases.

UK study shows adjuvanted H1N1 vaccine induces a faster and higher immune response than non-adjuvanted vaccine – A head-to-head comparison of the two H1N1 vaccines given to adults during the 2009 pandemic finds that the squalene-containing, adjuvanted split-virus vaccine achieved a more rapid and stronger immune response than the whole-virus vaccine, even though it contained only half the antigenic load (H1N1 virus parts). Both vaccines were well tolerated with no vaccine-related serious side effects. However, the adjuvanted vaccine produced more injection-site symptoms and general symptoms (muscle pain, chills, headaches, and malaise) than the whole-virus vaccine.

18 million doses of polio vaccine given out in Congo polio immunization drive – The third wave of the polio vaccination drive in Congo has been underway over the past few weeks. The immunization effort was started in response to a polio outbreak that has killed 187 people so far. A total of 18,000,000 doses of vaccines have been provided to the country by UNICEF and have been administered during the 3 rounds of vaccinations which started back in November 2010.