Pharmacists can improve access to life-saving vaccines

HPV, or human papillomavirus, is the most common sexually transmitted infection. It is also the leading cause of cervical cancer. Over 1,400 Canadian women are affected yearly, with almost 400 deaths, according to the Canadian Cancer Society. It is completely preventable with the HPV vaccine, and yet, unfortunately, many people are unvaccinated. University of Waterloo researchers have found a possible solution […]

First RSV vaccine to protect infants and older adults

EU medicines regulators have approved a vaccine to protect against disease caused by the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). Abrysvo is the first RSV vaccine indicated for passive immunisation of infants from birth through 6 months of age following administration of the vaccine to the mother during pregnancy. This vaccine is also indicated for active immunisation of adults aged 60 years […]

Previous smallpox vaccine provides immunity to mpox

Vaccines against smallpox given until the mid-1970s offer continuing cross-reactive immunity to mpox (previously known as monkeypox), researchers from Karolinska Institutet in Sweden report in a study published in the scientific journal Cell Host & Microbe. During last year’s mpox outbreak, the virus spread for the first time outside Africa, causing over 85,000 cases of the disease to date. Men who […]

COVID-19 vaccine acceptance increased globally in 2022

Global willingness to accept a COVID-19 vaccine increased from 75.2% in 2021 to 79.1% in 2022, according to a new survey of 23 countries that represent more than 60% of the world’s population, published today in Nature Medicine. Vaccine acceptance decreased in eight countries however, and nearly one in eight vaccinated respondents were hesitant about receiving a booster dose. This third annual study, […]

New COVID-19 rapid-test technology performs PCR faster than similar tests on the market

For more than 30 years, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) has been the gold standard in molecular diagnostic testing, detecting genetic material, such as those from a virus or from human DNA. But PCR, including reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), is mostly done at large, centralized laboratories, not in point-of-care (POC) settings, because its instrumentation is bulky, expensive, takes a […]

COVID-19 vaccination does not appear to raise stroke or heart attack risk for patients with cardiovascular disease

Vaccination for COVID-19 does not appear to increase the risk of heart attack or stroke in patients with established cardiovascular disease, researchers reported on June 23, 2022 in Cardiovascular Research. “Our study showed that pre-existing cardiovascular disease should not prevent people from getting vaccinated against COVID-19,” said study author Dr. Esther W. Chan of the Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, […]

Why COVID vaccines are deemed non-essential for UK young children

Throughout the pandemic the University of Huddersfield’s Department of Pharmacy has been raising awareness on what vaccines are, how they are formulated, and why they’re an important part of the healthcare strategy as well as the progress on further developments in COVID vaccines, so that people can make an educated decision on becoming vaccinated or if choosing for their children. In […]

Long COVID poses risks to vaccinated people, too

Even vaccinated people with mild breakthrough COVID-19 infections can experience debilitating, lingering symptoms that affect the heart, brain, lungs and other parts of the body, according to new research from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and the Veterans Affairs St. Louis Health Care System. The study of more than 13 million veterans also found that vaccination against […]

Conventional vaccine messages miss the mark

Promotional campaigns designed to increase vaccine uptake are often ineffective, according to a new study in eight European countries. Some initiatives which highlight the benefits of immunisation may even be counterproductive, say scientists. Researchers at the Technical University of Munich worked with colleagues at the University of Trento and the London School of Economics and Political Science to test the […]

Researchers roll out data on COVID vaccine distribution and waste

Researchers are rolling out a data set that provides detailed information on COVID-19 vaccine shipments and wastage across the United States, with the goal of spurring new data analysis to improve vaccination efforts in the future. The work stems from a collaboration between researchers at North Carolina State University and BuzzFeed News. “The development and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines has […]