Guelph scientists develop first vaccine to help control autism symptoms
April 24, 2013 by admin · Leave a Comment
A first-ever vaccine created by University of Guelph researchers for gut bacteria common in autistic children may also help control some autism symptoms.
The groundbreaking study by Brittany Pequegnat and Guelph chemistry professor Mario Monteiro appears this month in the journal Vaccine.
Quest for edible malarial vaccine leads to other potential medical uses for algae
April 19, 2013 by admin · Leave a Comment
Can scientists rid malaria from the Third World by simply feeding algae genetically engineered with a vaccine?
That’s the question biologists at UC San Diego sought to answer after they demonstrated last May that algae can be engineered to produce a vaccine that blocks malaria transmission. In a follow up study, published online today in the scientific journal Applied and Environmental Microbiology, they got their answer: Not yet, although the same method may work as a vaccine against a wide variety of viral and bacterial infections.
Treatment for novel coronavirus shows promise in early lab tests
April 18, 2013 by admin · Leave a Comment
National Institutes of Health (NIH) scientists studying an emerging coronavirus have found that a combination of two licensed antiviral drugs, ribavirin and interferon-alpha 2b, can stop the virus from replicating in laboratory-grown cells. These results suggest that the drug combination could be used to treat patients infected with the new coronavirus, but more research is needed to confirm this preliminary finding. The study appears in the April 18, 2013, issue of Scientific Reports.
IDRI and Medicago report positive results for Phase I clinical trial for an H5N1 vaccine
April 17, 2013 by admin · Leave a Comment
IDRI (Infectious Disease Research Institute), a Seattle-based non-profit research organization that is a leading developer of adjuvants used in vaccines combating infectious disease, and Medicago Inc. (TSX: MDG; OTCQX: MDCGF), a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing highly effective and competitive vaccines based on proprietary manufacturing technologies and Virus-Like Particles (VLPs), today reported positive interim results from a Phase I clinical trial for an H5N1 Avian Influenza VLP vaccine candidate (“H5N1 vaccine”). The results were announced at the World Vaccine Congress in Washington, DC. The H5N1 vaccine was found to be safe and well-tolerated and induced a solid immune response exceeding the three CHMP (Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use) immunogenicity criteria for licensure of influenza vaccines. The vaccine was tested in three different configurations: using IDRI’s Glucopyranosyl Lipid A (“GLA”) formulated adjuvant, given both intramuscularly and intradermally, and using alum intramuscularly. All three configurations exceeded the CHMP criteria.
Varicella vaccine has long-term effectiveness against chicken pox
April 1, 2013 by admin · Leave a Comment
Chicken pox, the childhood affliction of earlier generations, has been largely neutralized by the varicella vaccine, according to a new study by the Kaiser Permanente Vaccine Study Center, which appears in the current online issue of Pediatrics.
Human trials for Streptococcus A vaccine
February 28, 2013 by admin · Leave a Comment
Griffith University’s Institute for Glycomics has launched human trials for a vaccine against Streptococcus A, the germ that causes rheumatic fever.
Severe damage to a patient’s heart is just one of the possible long term consequences of rheumatic fever. Former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has twice had heart surgery to repair damage suffered from rheumatic fever when he was a child.
New cancer ‘vaccine’ shows future promise in treating and preventing metastatic cancers
February 27, 2013 by admin · Leave a Comment
Preclinical, laboratory studies suggest a novel immunotherapy could potentially work like a vaccine against metastatic cancers, according to scientists at Virginia Commonwealth University Massey Cancer Center. Results from a recent study show the therapy could treat metastatic cancers and be used in combination with current cancer therapies while helping to prevent the development of new metastatic tumors and train specialized immune system cells to guard against cancer relapse.
Injection-free vaccination technique could address global vaccine challenge for HIV, malaria
February 4, 2013 by admin · Leave a Comment
Scientists at King’s College London have demonstrated the ability to deliver a dried live vaccine to the skin without a traditional needle, and shown for the first time that this technique is powerful enough to enable specialised immune cells in the skin to kick-start the immunising properties of the vaccine.
NIH-developed candidate dengue vaccine shows promise in early-stage trial
January 23, 2013 by admin · Leave a Comment
A candidate dengue vaccine developed by scientists at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has been found to be safe and to stimulate a strong immune response in most vaccine recipients, according to results from an early-stage clinical trial sponsored by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the NIH. The trial results were published online on January 17 in the Journal of Infectious Diseases.
Major step toward an Alzheimer’s vaccine
January 15, 2013 by admin · Leave a Comment
A team of researchers from Université Laval, CHU de Québec, and pharmaceutical firm GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) has discovered a way to stimulate the brain’s natural defense mechanisms in people with Alzheimer’s disease. This major breakthrough, details of which are presented today in an early online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), opens the door to the development of a treatment for Alzheimer’s disease and a vaccine to prevent the illness.
