Vaccines

A new study showing an estimated 7% of American teens and adults carry the human papillomavirus in their mouths may help health experts finally understand why rates of mouth and throat cancer have been climbing for nearly 25 years. The evidence makes it clear that oral sex practices play a key role in transmission. The new data, published online Thursday by the Journal of the American Medical Assn., are the first to assess the prevalence of oral HPV infection in the U.S. population.

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — A Pakistani doctor who led a phony vaccination campaign aimed at helping the CIA pinpoint Osama bin Laden's whereabouts was convicted of treason Wednesday and sentenced to 33 years in prison, a decision that is likely to further fray Washington's fragile relations with Islamabad. U.S. officials have been seeking the release of Shakeel Afridi since his arrest by Pakistani authorities after the secret American commando raid that killed the Al Qaeda leader in his sprawling compound in the garrison city of Abbottabad a year ago. In January, Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta told CBS' "60 Minutes" that Afridi had provided intelligence that assisted the raid and criticized Pakistan's arrest of someone involved in helping track down the world's most wanted man. From the start, however, Pakistani authorities have regarded Afridi as a traitor and have ignored Washington's calls for his release.

Vaccines aren't just for kids, but few adults are up-to-date with their shots. These are the adult immunizations recommended by the Centers for the Disease Control and Prevention : VACCINEAGE RANGEFREQUENCY Tetanus, diptheria, pertussis (Td/Tdap)19 and upOnce every 10 years Human papillomavirus (HPV)19-263 doses, women only Varicella (chickenpox)19 and up2 doses Zoester (herpes)60 and up1 dose Measles, mumps, rubella19-491 or 2 doses Measles, mumps, rubella50 and up1 dose, if other risk factor present Influenza19-491 dose per year, if some other risk factor is present Influenza50 and up1 dose per year Pneumococcal19-64 1 or 2 doses, if some other risk factor is present Pneumococcal65 and up1 dose Hepatitis A19 and up2 doses, if some other risk factor is present Hepatitis B19 and up3 doses, if some other risk factor is present Meningococcal19 and up1 or more doses, if some other risk factor is present Vaccines are indicated for people who lack evidence of immunity.

States that require vaccination for pertussis, meningitis and tetanus for admission to middle school have a higher vaccination rate than states that do not, but the rate is not nearly as high as one might expect from such a requirement, researchers reported Monday. States that required only that educational materials be sent home for those vaccines and the human papilloma virus (HPV) vaccine showed no improvement in vaccination rates. Vaccines for tetanus and pertussis are typically given during childhood, but the effects can diminish over time and a booster shot is recommended in early adolescence.

The Food and Drug Administration said Friday that it has approved seasonal influenza vaccines produced by six manufacturers and at least two of the companies said they have already begun or will soon begin shipping the vaccines to U.S. customers. The vaccine protects against the pandemic H1N1 influenza virus that caused an uproar last winter, as well as two other strains of influenza that are not as widespread but that nonetheless can be a problem. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices in February changed its recommendations for who should receive the shots.

Vaccines to help people recover from such addictions as nicotine, cocaine, heroin and methamphetamines now appear scientifically and medically achievable after doctors reported Monday that a vaccine to treat cocaine dependence had produced a large enough antibody response to reduce cocaine use in 38% of addicted individuals. Those results come on the heels of last week's announcement that the federal government would fund a large clinical trial of a nicotine vaccine based on earlier promising studies.

International donors have pledged more than $4 billion this week to support vaccines for children in developing countries. Two of their primary targets? Diarrhea and pneumonia - horrible specters elsewhere in the world, much less so in this country. "For the first time in history, children in developing countries will receive the same vaccines against diarrhea and pneumonia as children in rich countries," Microsoft co-founder and philanthropist Bill Gates was quoted as saying.

Each year, malaria kills more than 1 million people -- 90% of them in sub-Saharan Africa and 80% of them younger than 5 -- and makes 300 million people seriously ill. Major progress in controlling the disease has been made by the widespread adoption of bed nets to keep mosquitoes from attacking children at night and by the use of artemisinin-based therapy, which is the most effective treatment for infections. But vaccines have historically proved the best technique for controlling infectious diseases, and researchers have high hopes for a new one called RTS,S/AS2A, or Mosquirix.

Maybe Study Number Ten will suffice to reassure the one in four parents who have come to fear vaccinating their babies that doing so will not raise the likelihood of the kids' developing autism. Then again, maybe no number of costly and carefully designed and executed studies will dislodge the fear of vaccines among parents that has taken root in the United States. We'll see. But on Tuesday, the journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics--called Pediatrics --released Study Number Ten anyway.

As concern spreads about H1N1 flu, a new survey of California voters found that while most consider the vaccine safe, a majority had no plans to get vaccinated. The poll also found that blacks and Latinos are far more likely than other groups to say they believe the vaccine could be unsafe. Only 5% of those surveyed said they already had been inoculated, a figure that remained consistent across income groups. Of the rest, 52% said they did not plan to get vaccinated. Among the 40% who said they wanted the vaccine, 12% said they already had attempted to find it but failed.

My aunt Marion is in the hospital dying of liver and kidney failure, the result of her 20-year struggle with heroin use. I was told of her imminent death the same day news broke about a vaccine against the drug. "Breakthrough heroin vaccine could render drug 'useless' in addicts," one headline read. "Scientists create vaccine against heroin high," proclaimed another. Meanwhile, my aunt finds temporary relief in the ever more frequent administration of opiate pain medication - the very kind of drugs she used illegally.

Dr. Leila Daughtry Denmark, a Georgia pediatrician who was the country's oldest known practicing physician when she retired at 103, died Sunday at her daughter's home in Athens, Ga., her family announced. She was 114. Denmark was the world's fourth-oldest person when she died, according to the Gerontology Research Group, which verifies claims of extreme old age. The third of 12 children, she was born Feb. 1, 1898, in eastern Georgia and grew up on a farm learning to tend to plants and wanting to heal animals, she later said.

It's the latest start for a flu season in 29 years, and thus far, severe cases have been few. But that doesn't necessarily mean Americans have dodged any seasonal illness bullets. Influenza is just beginning to gain a foothold around the country.  "The flu season has officially begun," Dr. Joseph Bresee told reporters Friday morning during a briefing at the agency's headquarters in Atlanta. Infections have reached all 50 states, said Bresee, who is chief of the epidemiology prevention branch at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control's influenza division.

Exposure to perfluorinated compounds, or PFCs, a class of chemical used in food packaging and textiles, was associated with a lowered immune response to the tetanus and diphtheria vaccines in 5- to 7-year-olds in the Faroe Islands, researchers reported Tuesday in the journal JAMA. The scientists followed close to 600 children from the islands, which are in the Norwegian Sea north of Scotland and are a self-governing part of the Kingdom of Denmark, because people there eat a lot of seafood.  A marine-based diet is associated with increased exposures to PFCs, according to background information in the JAMA report.

International aid groups say they're under siege in Pakistan, demonized by hard-line Islamists, viewed as spies by suspicious Pakistanis and, now, increasingly sidelined by the government. The groups report that in the last year, they began to feel unwanted in the country, and in some cases persecuted. Nongovernmental organization visa requests languished or were outright rejected. New travel restrictions hampered aid workers' movement. Some workers were arrested and harassed. Western aid officials believe that the Pakistani government's suspicions about the groups rose dramatically last year after the U.S. commando raid that killed Osama bin Laden in May in the military city of Abbottabad.

Some girls may be more likely to overestimate the protection they receive from the HPV vaccine, new research shows. Human papillomaviris, the most common sexually transmitted infection, can infect the genital areas of men and women, cause genital warts and raise the risk of cervical cancer. The new study, published this week by the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, looked at the perception of HPV risk among a population of 339 girls between age 13 and 21. At an average age of 16.8 years, 57.5% of these girls were sexually experienced, and most of them reported "continued need" to practice safe sex. However, a good 23.6% appeared to believe mistakenly that their risk of other sexually transmitted diseases was also lower -- even though the HPV vaccine does not protect against the rest of the pantheon of such diseases, such as HIV/AIDS, gonorrhea and syphilis.

"Vigilance With Vaccines" [Feb. 7] [on the risks created by parents who don't vaccinate their children] was very one-sided. There are numerous doctors and specialists who do not recommend vaccinating our children. The truth is, vaccines can do more harm to your health than good. Sherri Andrade Laguna Niguel

If H1N1 flu vaccine shortages persist, California may not be able to vaccinate those most at risk by the end of December, public health officials said Thursday, amid furor over how the vaccine has been distributed so far. "We believe by and large the vaccine is being given to those who should receive it," said Dr. Gil Chavez, an epidemiologist with the California Department of Public Health, but "we may not be able to meet the target if the vaccine...

Finding a vaccine to stop herpes has been frustrating for researchers. The family of herpes viruses inflict suffering on millions of people. Herpes simplex virus type 1 is generally linked to fever blisters and genital herpes and type 2 causes genital sores. A study published Wednesday shows progress toward a vaccine but hardly perfection. Researchers evaluated 8,323 women ages 18 to 30 who were not infected with either virus. Almost 3,800 of the study participants received an experimental vaccine known as glycoprotein D. Previous studies suggested the vaccine could be effective against herpes type 2. But after 20 months of follow-up, the new study found the vaccine was partially effective in preventing herpes type 1 (after two or three doses)

Vaccination against human papilloma virus was recommended for U.S. girls almost five years ago. In October, a government advisory committee also recommended routine vaccination for boys ages 11 and 12.   But vaccinating girls only makes the most sense, researchers said Tuesday. Using mathematical models, researchers in the Netherlands found vaccinating girls is the best way to reduce heterosexual transmission because girls have the highest prevalence of the virus. Immunizing the group with the highest prevalence achieves the largest population-wide reduction of the virus.