Recent News

By Category: Agents & Toxins

FDA approves new seasonal influenza vaccine

(FDA) The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today announced that it has approved Flublok, the first trivalent influenza vaccine made using an insect virus (baculovirus) expression system and recombinant DNA technology. Flublok is approved for the prevention of seasonal influenza in people 18 through 49 years of age. Unlike current flu vaccines, Flublok does not  Read More »

New Way to Test Airborne Pathogen Sensors Slated for BioWatch Program

(National Defense Magazine) The test and evaluation community for the past 70 years has used one method to find out whether sensors designed to detect weaponized pathogens work as advertised. It is not a simple task. One can’t walk out into a field and release live anthrax spores into the air. That would obviously endanger  Read More »

Integrated neglected tropical disease control and elimination programs: A global health ‘best buy’

(EurekaAlert) A recently released report, entitled “Social and Economic Impact Review on Neglected Tropical Diseases,” highlights links between neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) and socio-economic prosperity. Published by Hudson Institute’s Center for Science in Public Policy, in partnership with the Global Network for Neglected Tropical Diseases, an initiative of the Sabin Vaccine Institute, the paper found  Read More »

Major step toward an Alzheimer’s vaccine

(ScienceDaily) A team of researchers from Université Laval, CHU de Québec, and pharmaceutical firm GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) has discovered a way to stimulate the brain’s natural defense mechanisms in people with Alzheimer’s disease. This major breakthrough, details of which are presented January 15 in an early online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of  Read More »

CDC: 11 lab workers infected from 2004 to 2010

(USA Today) At least 11 workers at U.S. biological laboratories were infected with dangerous pathogens from 2004 to 2010, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Tuesday in a report on security measures stemming from the deadly 2001 anthrax attacks. None of the infected workers died. The Atlanta-based agency said the infection rate  Read More »