We hear it all the time: “I don’t want a flu vaccine. It gives you the flu.“ The old, the young, and even health professionals make this claim. And it’s usually followed by a personal example like, “the…
Scientists could reconstruct the work on the avian flu virus from clues, making suppression of future work counterproductive.
AAP
Researchers working on a pathogenic strain of avian flu (H5N1) have agreed to pause their work for 60 days so international experts can discuss the safest ways to proceed. But it’s important to ensure…
Billions of dollars have been spent, but the safety and effectiveness of Roche's drug remain uncertain.
A Cochrane review published today has again raised questions about the efficacy of Tamiflu, the antiviral drug that has been stockpiled by countries across the world as the first line of defence against…
Are the benefits of openness worth the risk of releasing a new superflu?
Ars Electronica
Two studies, one carried out in the Netherlands by Ron Fouchier and the other in Japan by Yoshihiro Kawaoka, are causing controversy over the creation of a new strain of H5N1 Avian Influenza or “bird flu…
All vaccines rely on generating an immune response that persists but our understanding of immune memory has some way to go.
James Gathany/CDC
Influenza is never off the news agenda for long. If it’s not the flu season (and it always is in one hemisphere) and the attendant calls for vaccinations, it’s news about vaccines causing problems or new…
Current vaccines are quite good but they offer no protection against novel pandemic strains of the flu.
Jason Rogers
Influenza is never off the news agenda for long. If it’s not the flu season (and it always is in one hemisphere) and the attendant calls for vaccinations, it’s news about vaccines causing problems or new…
Authors of a new paper suggest a detergent used by CSL in making its flu vaccine could be the cause of the problem.
AAP
By Anne Kelso, WHO Collaborating Centre for Reference and Research on Influenza
A paper published in the Medical Journal of Australia today provides a possible reason for CSL’s 2010 flu vaccine causing febrile convulsions in children. The authors hypothesise that suboptimal use of…
Every year outbreaks of influenza in aged-care facilities create major disruption.
Alyssa L. Miller
Flu outbreaks in nursing homes can lead to pneumonia, stroke and heart attacks among elderly residents. Staff are a major potential source of infection, but only around one in five get an annual flu shot…
Bird flu transmission to humans is rare and hasn't occurred with this new strain.
AAP
The circulation of a new strain of the H5N1 avian flu virus from China and Vietnam has prompted calls from the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the UN for health authorities to be ready for a possible…
Mutations of the flu virus render drugs ineffective for treating infected patients.
Leonid Mamchenkov
By Aeron Hurt, WHO Collaborating Centre for Reference and Research on Influenza
The United Nations Food and Agricultute Organisation is warning authorities to be on high alert after a mutant strain of bird flu was found to be spreading across Asia. While bird flu hasn’t traditionally…
We're still a while away from a vaccine for the type of flu virus that causes pandemics such as swine flu.
TreintagenariO -Serie B/Flickr
By Ian Barr, WHO Collaborating Centre for Reference and Research on Influenza
Have you ever wondered why you need to get an influenza vaccination each year to protect yourself? Or even why it seems like another pandemic threat is announced before every flu season?
Well, it’s all…
People with chronic medical conditions and others in high-risk groups should get a flu shot.
mcfarlandmo/Wikimedia Commons
The number of people suffering from influenza in Australia this year has soared compared to recorded numbers from previous years, with nearly 8,000 cases so far compared to about 2,000 last year.
We don…
A person harmed while helping the community attain herd immunity should be compensated.
AAP
By Heath Kelly, Victorian Infectious Diseases Reference Laboratory
When someone is adversely affected by a vaccine in Australia, their only way to receive compensation is through the courts. But this is not the case worldwide.
Vaccines undergo rigorous testing to ensure…
An FDA audit of CSL's laboratories has found the company doesn't follow good manufacturing practice.
AAP
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), has just issued a warning letter about the safety of CSL’s influenza vaccine, Fluvax. The letter follows FDA’s latest annual inspection of CSL laboratories and…
Active surveillance would provide reassurance about the safety of the flu vaccine.
AAP
Today the Gillard Government released an independent assessment of Australia’s management of vaccine adverse events.
Commissioned by the Parliamentary Secretary for Health and Ageing, Catherine King…
