Latest Vaccine News

Success In Vaccination Programme For Preventing Hepatitis B
The HPA (Health Protection Agency) report reveals that in 2009 uptake of the vaccine for Hepatitis B among the injecting drug users surveyed was 73 per cent - up from 25 per cent in 1998. It is hoped that this increase in people who have been vaccinated is now having an impact on reducing transmission of Hepatitis B among IDUs - the number of injectors who have been infected with hepatitis B at some point has fallen in recent years.
In contrast, levels of infection with Hepatitis C have increased from 38 per cent in 2000 to 47 per cent in 2009. 1,538 of those surveyed in 2009 had been infected at some point, compared with 1,318 in 2000. This increase has been seen mainly among injectors under the age of 25, where infection levels almost doubled, from 15 per cent in 2000 to 26 per cent in 2009.  There is no vaccine for Hepatitis C although treatment, using a combination of drugs, is successful in clearing the virus from the blood of around 40 per cent of those treated.  August, 2010
Health Proteciton Agency - http://www.hpa.org.uk/hpr/

Spray vaccine to combat meningitis
Scientists are developing a nasal spray vaccine which could offer protection against meningitis and pneumonia, and is based on tackling the bacteria pneumococcus. The vaccine will contain a substance called D4Ply, a fragment of a protein produced by nearly all the different types of the bacteria.  Researchers believe the new vaccine could be much cheaper to produce than those already on the market.  It is being carried out by scientists at the University of Liverpool.  Deputy director Dr Yolande Harley said: "Babies and children are vulnerable to infections. Meningitis and septicaemia... kill significant numbers of children in the UK each year. This is an important area of research which has the potential to protect many children from serious illnesses."   July, 2010

Study Confirms Vaccine Could Prevent More Cases Of Cervical Cancers Than Previously Expected
Scientists at the Health Protection Agency (HPA), the University of Manchester and the Manchester Royal Infirmary have found that the cervical cancer vaccine could prevent more cases of the disease in England than previously thought, according to a study published in the British Journal of Cancer. This could potentially reduce the annual number of cases from around 3000 to less than 700.
14th July, 2010 For more details -  http://www.hpa.org.uk/NewsCentre/NationalPressReleases/2010PressReleases/100714HPVvaccinemoreeffectivethanexpectedstudy/

Inhalable measles vaccine could make syringes obsolete.
Scientists from the University of Colorado, Boulder, USA, have developed an inhalable measles vaccine contained in a small, cylindrical plastic sack with an opening like the neck of a plastic water bottle. Human trials of the treatment are scheduled to begin within weeks and could lead to an end to treatment by syringe for children, scientists say.  Widespread vaccination has virtually eliminated deaths from measles in Britain but more than 164,000 children die from the disease every year worldwide (source - WHO).
More - CBS News.  May 10th, 2010

10 Years of the Meningitis C Vaccine
The Group C meningococcal vaccine was introduced into the UK childhood immunisation programme in November 2009 and has proved to be one of the most effective health protection measures of recent years, saving hundreds of lives according to Health Protection Agency (HPA) immunisation expert Dr Mary Ramsay.

Prior to the vaccine's introduction there were around 1000 recorded cases of Group C meningitis and septicaemia in England and Wales every year, resulting in over 100 deaths per year.

Director of Immunisation at the Department of Health Professor David Salisbury said, "In 1999, 79 children lost their lives to a disease that is now, thanks to the Department's successful immunisation programme, all but eradicated in the UK.  HPA figures show there were only 13 cases of Meningitis C in 2008/09 compared to 955 in 1998/99 - a decline of 99% largely due to the use of meningococcal C vaccine.