From Medscape:

DESPITE IOM REPORT, CONGRESSMAN WANTS RECALL OF MMR VACCINE, CITING AUTISM RISK

The chair of the House Government Reform Committee today (April 26,2001) blasted federal science and health officials for not recalling MMR vaccine that he says may be causing autism, and for allowing some lots of DTaP vaccine that contain thimerosal to be distributed.http://id.medscape.com/37199.rhtml?srcmp=id-050401

NEW GUIDELINES ON DIAGNOSIS, TREATMENT OF MENINGITIS ISSUED

With the incidence of meningococcal disease in the UK at a 50-year high, and doctors facing a record number of lawsuits for misdiagnosing the condition, the Meningitis Research Foundation yesterday issued new guidance for GPs on diagnosing and treating meningitis and septicemia. http://id.medscape.com/37193.rhtml?srcmp=id-050401

PREGNANT WOMEN CAN PASS NEW CMV STRAINS TO FETUS

Pregnant women with preconceptual immunity to CMV are not protected against infection with a new strain of the virus and may also transmit it to their infants, according to results from a new study published in the May 3^rd issue of The New England Journal of Medicine. http://id.medscape.com/37397.rhtml?srcmp=id-050401

SELF-REPLICATIVE RNA VACCINES PROTECT MICE FROM VIRAL DISEASES

Self-replicative RNA vaccines are capable of protecting mice against influenza A virus, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), and a tickborne encephalitis virus, according to a report published in the May 1^st issue of The Journal of Infectious Diseases.

http://id.medscape.com/37242.rhtml?srcmp=id-050401

RECOMBINANT YEAST VACCINES INDUCE PROTECTIVE CELL-MEDIATED IMMUNITY

Whole recombinant yeast vaccines can activate dendritic cells and induce protective cell-mediated immunity, according to a report published in the May issue of Nature Medicine.

http://id.medscape.com/37240.rhtml?srcmp=id-050401

SAFETY OF ACELLULAR PERTUSSIS VACCINE CORROBORATED

Acellular pertussis vaccine is less likely to cause seizures than whole cell pertussis vaccine, according to a study of nearly a million children aged 2 years or younger by the US CDC. http://id.medscape.com/37197.rhtml?srcmp=id-050401

VACCINATIONS GIVEN DURING ACTIVE BREASTFEEDING ARE BETTER TOLERATED

Infants who receive diphtheria-pertussis-tetanus immunization while actively breastfeeding show fewer signs of discomfort than infants who are not breastfeeding, say researchers from McGill University’s Montreal Children’s Hospital Research Institute.

http://id.medscape.com/37205.rhtml?srcmp=id-050401

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