IMMUNIZATION NEWS

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U.S. IMMUNIZATION NEWS

" Anthrax Vaccine Safe, FDA Says "

Washington Post (www.washingtonpost.com) (12/31/03) P. A4

A week after a federal judge put a temporary stop to mandatory anthrax

vaccinations for military personnel on the belief that the anthrax vaccine

is experimental in some cases and therefore cannot be required for all

soldiers under military law, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has

announced that the vaccine is safe and effective and not an experimental

product. U.S. District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan stated in his decision that

he thought the vaccine was only approved for the prevention of skin-contact

anthrax, not inhaled anthrax, and would therefore be an experimental

product in cases of inhaled anthrax. The FDA statement, however, prompted

the Justice Department to ask Sullivan to reverse his temporary ban, except

for the six plaintiffs who have filed a class-action lawsuit against the

Defense Department to stop the vaccinations. The labeling for the anthrax

vaccine states that it is effective in preventing the disease no matter the

route of infection, a factor repeatedly emphasized by the FDA.

" Experts Seek New Effort to Control Hepatitis A "

New York Times (www.nytimes.com) (12/30/03) P. F7; O'Connor, Anahad

For the past four years, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

(CDC) has recommended that children in 11 Western states be vaccinated

against hepatitis A because the rate of infection in those states is twice

the national average, yet the vaccination rates there remain low. Some

health experts say that part of the trouble is that the responsibility for

enforcement of such recommendations falls to parents and schools, while

others suggest that the CDC's regional recommendation undermines its own

efforts, as parents and doctors may not understand that hepatitis A

infection is more likely in some areas. Meanwhile, a study presented by

doctors at the Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh found a need to vaccinate

all children over the age of two years against hepatitis A--just as an

outbreak of the disease struck Pennsylvania. Vaccinating all children,

says Dr. P. Greenberg, a vaccine expert at the children's hospital

and one of the authors of the study, " would prevent twice as many cases

than just vaccinating children in the 11 states with the highest rates.

Years from now, if most adults and children are immunized, then an outbreak

like the one in Pennsylvania could be avoided. "

" Meningitis Drops in 2003, Despite Several Recent Cases "

Boston Globe (www.boston.com/globe) (12/30/03); ,

New Hampshire health officials have disclosed that the strain of meningitis

that killed an 18-year-old woman in the Bennington area is not the same

strain that infected two 15-year-old students in Keene, allaying fears that

an outbreak of the dangerous illness is erupting. In addition, two other

youths who contracted meningitis last week appear to have no relation to

any of the other cases. In fact, the rate of meningitis infection has

dropped in 2003 despite this recent jump in the disease's visibility.

Another meningitis death in Massachusetts is also unrelated, according to

health officials there. The bacterial infection--which causes high fever,

headache, stiff neck, and can lead to rash, vomiting, brain damage, hearing

loss, and even death--has shown up just 39 times in Massachusetts this

year, far below the yearly average of 60 cases. The average number of

bacterial meningitis cases in New Hampshire is 15 to 30 annually, and

including the five recent infections, there have been just 14 for 2003.

INTERNATIONAL IMMUNIZATION NEWS

" Gabon: Bongo Aims to Vaccinate 80 Percent of Children in 2004 "

Africa News Service (www.allafrica.com) (12/30/03)

Only 17 percent of Gabon's children under the age of six years received

immunizations against polio, tetanus, diphtheria, whooping cough,

tuberculosis, and measles in 2002, and 4 percent of the same age group did

not receive any vaccines that year. There has been a steady decline in

vaccination coverage in recent years, said the Health Ministry's Pierre

Andre Kalimba. He noted that " one of the consequences of this situation is

the rising epidemic of measles and whooping cough that we have seen over

the past three years in Gabon. " The country's president, Bongo,

asserted recently that the immunization coverage rate in 2004 will increase

to 80 percent despite budget shortages.

" Grim Race Against Disease Grips Iran Quake Zone "

Reuters (www.reuters.com) (12/29/03); Blair, Edmund

In the aftermath of the deadly earthquake in Iran last week, rescue workers

are rushing to bury the victims as part of an effort to prevent outbreaks

of disease, including dysentery, diarrhea, diphtheria, and tetanus. The

earthquake left tens of thousands of people dead, and the survivors are

faced with bad water, poor hygiene, and little medicine. Volunteer

gravediggers received immunizations against some diseases and are working

to bury the dead quickly, before disease spreads. A Red Crescent worker

predicts major disease outbreaks if all the victims of the earthquake are

not buried in the very near future.

" Egypt Announces Intention to Manufacture Typhoid Vaccine "

BBC News (www.bbc.co.uk) (12/29/03)

In Egypt, Mubarak Scientific City's Genetic Engineering Department will

begin producing a typhoid vaccine, according to manager Madhat Sayf. Sayf

noted that the typhoid vaccine is currently produced outside of Egypt, but

producing the vaccine locally will eliminate the cost of importing it.