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By Category: Public Health

With NATO in town, hospitals brace for bioterrorism

(Crain’s Chicago Business) While many downtown office workers worry about commuting headaches during the NATO summit, two Chicago hospital systems are prepared for far worse possibilities. The University of Chicago Medical Center and the Cook County Health and Hospitals System will both have decontamination areas set up outside their buildings to treat victims of potential Read More »

May 18, 2012
| Filed under Europe, North America, Bioterrorism, International, Policy & Initiatives, and Public Health
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Public Engagement on Facilitating Access to Antiviral Medications and Information in an Influenza Pandemic – Workshop Series Summary

(Institute of Medicine of the National Academies) Influenza pandemics overwhelm health care systems with thousands or hundreds of thousands of sick patients, as well as those worried they may be sick. In order to ensure a successful response to the patient swell caused by a pandemic, robust planning is essential to prepare for challenges public Read More »

May 17, 2012
| Filed under North America, Public Health, and Research
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Inovio Pharmaceuticals’ Universal Avian Flu Vaccine Generates Protective …

(MarketWatch) Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced today that its SynCon® avian influenza vaccine generated protective HAI titers against six different unmatched strains of H5N1 in a phase I clinical trial – a distinct clinical achievement on Inovio’s path to develop universal influenza vaccines. By design, Inovio’s SynCon® flu vaccine is not matched to any single virus.

May 17, 2012
| Filed under North America, Countermeasures, and Public Health
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Needless conflict

(Nature.com) Independent experts should be kept from undue suspicion as well as undue influence. We are what we eat. So it should come as no surprise that food-related issues such as bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), bisphenol A contamination, foot-and-mouth disease, Escherichia coli outbreaks and genetic modification resonate with the public. It is unfortunate, then, that Read More »

May 17, 2012
| Filed under Europe, North America, Agents & Toxins, Agriculture, and Public Health
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Phase I enrollment for A/H5N1 influenza vaccine trial begins

(Vaccine News Daily) Novavax, Inc., a Rockville, Maryland-based clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, has started enrollment for its second phase I clinical trial for a monovalent virus-like particle vaccine candidate against A/H5N1 avian influenza viruses. The placebo-controlled, dose-ranging, observer blind, randomized trial is being conducted as part of Novavax’s contract with the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Read More »