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- So Far, Southern California Eludes the Flu
- Mass. Has First Two Flu Cases
- Health Sense; Campus Life Poses a Unique Set of Health Risks
- Anthrax Resurfaces at a Manhattan Post Office
- Cases of Whooping Cough Mount
- Quadruple Vaccine May Replace the MMR Jab
- Single Vaccines Running Out as Parents Panic
U.S. IMMUNIZATION NEWS
So Far, Southern California Eludes the Flu
Los Angeles Times (www.latimes.com) (12/31/01) P. S2; Allen, Jane E.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, nationwide instances of influenza have been low and that applies to the Southern California area as well. In Los Angeles County, only three cases of Type A influenza were confirmed during the week ending Dec. 7 from 20 doctors submitting information, which is down from last year's 41 confirmed cases at the same point in the year. Officials still urge residents to get the flu vaccine, which takes up to two weeks to reach peak effectiveness, to prevent the flu when the 2001-2002 flu season finally hits. Nationwide, only Alaska has reported widespread flu activity, and Colorado and Vermont have had regional outbreaks of the disease.
Mass. Has First Two Flu Cases
Boston Herald (www.bostonherald.com) (12/29/01) P. 006; Lasalandra, Michael
Massachusetts health officials have confirmed the first two cases of flu in the state this season, both in young people who may have contracted the illness from outside the state. Officials also note that the two influenza cases were both the A-H3N2 strain, which is covered in this year's flu vaccine. So far this year, flu activity around the United States has been low, with only a few small outbreaks.
Health Sense; Campus Life Poses a Unique Set of Health Risks
Los Angeles Times (www.latimes.com) (12/31/01) P. S5; Foreman, Judy
In addition to companionship and camaraderie, campus life can offer dangerous health results from risky behaviors, such as alcohol abuse or unsafe sex, and the risks associated with just living in close quarters. Despite massive awareness campaigns, sexually transmitted diseases remain a high risk among college students--25 percent of 16,000 students surveyed revealed that they were infected with the human papillomavirus, 1 percent had genital herpes, and 1 percent had chlamydia. Part of the transmission problem is being aggravated by the number of rapes. Two recent surveys found that between 1.7 percent and 2.2 percent of female college students had been raped. Meanwhile, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that people between the ages of 18 years and 24 years be vaccinated against tetanus, diphtheria, measles, mumps, and rubella. Although the requirements vary by state, vaccination against hepatitis B may also be indicated, particularly if a student is working in a health sciences lab or has multiple sex partners. Students should also be immune to chickenpox and polio, and those living in close quarters should consider getting shots against meningococcus and the flu.
Anthrax Resurfaces at a Manhattan Post Office
New York Times (www.nytimes.com) (12/30/01) P. 1B8; Feuer, Alan
In New York, postal officials announced this weekend that traces of anthrax have been found on one of the high-speed mail-sorting machines at the Morgan mail-processing center in Manhattan. The center was thought to have been cleared of the lethal spores several weeks ago. According to Sue Brennan, a spokeswoman for the Postal Service, the spores were not the result of a new bioterrorism attack but appear to have been left over from the original attack two months ago. On Nov. 9, Judge John F. Keenan of the U.S. District Court in Manhattan rejected a motion by the New York Area Postal Workers Union to have the Morgan mail-processing center declared unsafe and shut down. The union's president, William M. Smith, has also objected to the anthrax vaccinations that the federal government is now offering to post office workers, claiming the government wants to treat the workers as guinea pigs. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has suggested that post office and Congressional workers be offered the anthrax vaccine after they have completed a 60-day course of antibiotics. The CDC has not, however, given a strong recommendation for the vaccination program.
Cases of Whooping Cough Mount
Associated Press (www.ap.org) (12/28/01)
Although Arkansas State Health Department officials have yet to update whooping cough figures, new cases of the illness have appeared all over north-central Arkansas, according to reports from local doctors. Dec. 7 whooping cough figures put the number of confirmed cases at 589. The disease is spread through respiratory droplets and is most severe for infants, because it can lead to blocked breathing tubes.
INTERNATIONAL IMMUNIZATION NEWS
Quadruple Vaccine May Replace the MMR Jab
London Daily Mail (www.dailymail.co.uk) (12/31/01); Kendall, Paul
In the United Kingdom, it was recently revealed that the controversial MMR vaccine could soon become a quadruple vaccine that would offer protection against chickenpox, measles, mumps, and rubella. Physicians are currently carrying out clinical trials of a four-part vaccination, referred to as MMRV. If the clinical trials are successful, medical experts are hoping the quadruple shot will become routinely available in the United Kingdom over the next few years. Two drug companies, GlaxoSmithKline and Aventis Pasteur, are working to develop an MMRV vaccine.
Single Vaccines Running Out as Parents Panic
Independent (UK) (www.independent.co.uk) (12/30/01) P. 5; Brown, Colin
In the United Kingdom, Andrew McCoig--a community pharmacist in Croydon and one of the leading suppliers for family doctors in the southeast part of the country--reports that increasing demand by some parents for the individual shots for rubella, mumps, and measles is leading to a shortage of the vaccines. McCoig said he ran out of the measles single vaccine a number of weeks ago, and fresh supplies are not due until the middle of next month. According to officials, the U.K. government is not planning to return to providing single vaccines on the National Health Service. Dr. Angus Nicoll, director of the Public Health Laboratory Service, stated recently that it was going to be extremely hard to raise levels of immunization among the U.K. population, and he warned that a "catch up" immunization campaign may be necessary if the risk of an epidemic becomes apparent.
Immunization Newsbriefs is a service of the National Network for Immunization Information (http://www.immunizationinfo.org), a special project of the Infectious Diseases Society of America (http://www.idsociety.org), the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society (http://www.pids.org), the American Academy of Pediatrics (http://www.aap.org) and the American Nurses Association (http://www.ana.org), supported by a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
NNii makes the Immunization Newsbriefs available as a public service only. Providing this information does not constitute endorsement by the NNii nor any of its partners.
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