CHICAGO, Oct. 4, 2010 (Reuters) — Newborn babies whose mothers got a flu shot while pregnant are less likely to get the flu or to be admitted to the hospital with a respiratory illness in the first six months of life, U.S. researchers said on Monday.

During most flu seasons, babies under six months tend to have fewer cases of flu-like illnesses than those who are 6 to 12 months old, most likely because they are protected by their mothers’ natural antibodies.

But in severe flu seasons, such as the 2009 swine flu pandemic, these youngest children, who are too young to get flu shots themselves, are more likely to be hospitalized and die from flu than older babies.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has for years recommended that pregnant women be vaccinated against seasonal flu, but the study adds to other research showing that newborn babies benefit, too.

Researcher Angelia Eick, formerly of Johns Hopkins in Baltimore and now of the Armed Forces Health Surveillance Center in Silver Spring, Maryland, wanted to see if giving pregnant women flu shots could increase protection for babies under 6 months old.

Eick and colleagues studied children on Navajo and White Mountain Apache Indian reservations. In these communities, children are more prone to severe respiratory infections than those in the general population.

The team studied 1,160 mother-infant pairs over three flu seasons. The mothers and babies gave blood samples before and after the flu season and they were monitored for flu symptoms.

In the flu season following the child’s birth, babies whose mother had been vaccinated were 41 percent less likely to have a lab-confirmed flu infection and 39 percent less likely to be hospitalized for a flu-like illness.

They also found babies whose mothers had been vaccinated had higher levels of flu antibodies at birth and at 2 to 3 months of age compared with babies whose mothers did not get a flu shot.

“Although influenza vaccination is recommended for pregnant women to reduce their risk of influenza complications, these findings provide support for the added benefit of protecting infants from influenza virus infection up to six months,” Eick and colleagues wrote in the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine.

The findings are particularly relevant with the 2009 H1N1 flu virus, which hit pregnant women and young babies especially hard, the team wrote.

Current flu vaccines protect against the H1N1 virus as well as two other strains of the flu.

Sourced & published by Henry Sapiecha

Could Improve Gene Therapy

for Brain Cancer

Science (Aug. 11, 2010) — An ingredient in the venom of the “deathstalker” scorpion could help gene therapy become an effective treatment for brain cancer, scientists are reporting. The substance allows therapeutic genes — genes that treat disease — to reach more brain cancer cells than current approaches, according to the study in ACS Nano.

Miqin Zhang and colleagues note that gene therapy — the delivery of therapeutic genes into diseased cells — shows promise for fighting glioma, the most common and most serious form of brain cancer. But difficulties in getting genes to enter cancer cells and concerns over the safety and potential side effects of substances used to transport these genes have kept the approach from helping patients.

The scientists describe a new approach that could solve these problems. Key ingredients of their gene-delivery system are chlorotoxin, the substance in deathstalker scorpion venom that can slow the spread of brain cancer, and nanoparticles of iron oxide. Each nanoparticle is about 1/50,000th the width of a human hair. In tests on lab mice, the scientists demonstrated that their venom-based nanoparticles can induce nearly twice the amount of gene expression in brain cancer cells as nanoparticles that do not contain the venom ingredient. “These results indicate that this targeted gene delivery system may potentially improve treatment outcome of gene therapy for glioma and other deadly cancers,” the article notes.

Sourced & published by Henry Sapiecha

The skin

The skin:

• protects us from injury
• cools us when we get too hot
• prevents us from becoming dehydrated.

The skin has two main layers.

• Epidermis: The top or outer layer.

Contains three different kinds of cells:

• 1. basal cells
  2. squamous cells
  3. melanocytes – produce a dark pigment called melanin, the substance that gives skin its colour.

• Dermis: The layer underneath the epidermis.

Contains the roots of hairs, glands that make sweat, blood and lymph vessels and nerves.

Skin cancer

Skin cancer develops when a cell in the skin goes through a series of changes that make it a cancer cell.

Exposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation in sunlight is the main factor that causes skin cancer cells to become cancer cells.

Skin cancers are named after the type of cell they start from. These are:

• basal cell cancer
• squamous cell cancer
• melanoma.

Science (May 27, 2010) — Nottingham scientists have been given the green light to test a vaccine which they hope could reverse, and even cure malignant melanoma, the most deadly type of skin cancer.

Scancell Holdings plc, led by Professor Lindy Durrant of the University’s Division of Clinical Oncology within the School of Molecular Medical Sciences, believes the new vaccine, which targets tumour cells without damaging healthy tissue, could be successful in treating patients with malignant melanoma.

Incidences of malignant melanoma have more than quadrupled over the past 30 years and in the last 25 years rates of malignant melanoma have risen faster than for any other cancer. It is now the most common cancer in younger adults aged 15 to 34, which may be linked to risky associated behaviour such as exposure to the sun on foreign beach holidays and the use of tanning booths. Every year, most of the 2,000 skin cancer deaths result from malignant melanoma.

Professor Durrant said: “Up until now, early diagnosis has been a crucial factor in the successful treatment of this disease. In the early stages it can be cured by completely removing the skin melanoma by surgery. However, in cases where it has not been picked up until further down the line, we have found that chemotherapy and radiotherapy simply do not work, although new compounds are being tested.

“It is still at a very early stage and impossible to predict the outcome of the clinical trial but if our results from the lab are replicated in patients I think we have a good chance of dramatically improving the chances of successful treatment — we are hoping that the vaccine will cure between 10 and 20 per cent of patients with malignant melanoma.”

Testing for the new SCIB1 vaccine has been given approval by the Gene Therapy Advisory Committee and the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency and clinical trials are due to start shortly at Nottingham City Hospital and centres in Manchester and Newcastle.

It will initially be given to patients who are suffering from advanced malignant melanoma which has spread to other parts of the body.

The new vaccine works by activating the body’s own natural defence systems — it contains DNA and genetic material from tumours meaning it ‘switches’ on the specific immune cells that target melanoma. This means that it targets only the cancer and not the surrounding healthy tissue.

The team of scientists believe that, in principle, new vaccines based upon the same principle could also be used to target other types of cancer tumours, such as breast and prostate.

Sourced and published by Henry Sapiecha 28th May 2010

FAME Pharmaceutical, a local company based in Yangon, has successfully produced a A(H1N1) vaccine, Flower News reported on March 2.

The medicine was produced using Shikimic acid extracted from the Chinese star anise. The acid helps prevent the spread of the A(H1N1) virus, said U Tin Maung Aye, a director of Fame Pharmaceutical.

Roche, an international pharmaceutical company, produces the Tamiflu vaccine based on the Oseltamivir compound derived from the Chinese star anise.

“The [production] method will be different. But we are producing a similar formula to Tamiflu. It can be used even before A(H1N1) symptoms are diagnosed as a preventative measure,” U Tin Maung Aye said.

Protect yourself, protect your community

A new FREE vaccine to protect Australians from pandemic (H1N1) 2009 influenza virus is ready. Panvax® H1N1 vaccine was registered by the Therapeutic Goods Administration on 18 September 2009.
There is clear evidence of serious or fatal health complications for some people who catch this flu. It is a new strain of flu that spreads easily from person to person, and experience in other countries shows that this is not just a winter flu – it could come back during spring and summer.

Vaccination is the safest response for the community, particularly as large numbers of people continue to be infected, and some are suffering serious health complications. By getting vaccinated you can protect yourself and help stop this flu spreading.

How a vaccine works

Panvax® H1N1 Vaccine contains extracts of protein from the new flu strain. Once you get vaccinated, proteins prompt your body to produce antibodies to protect you from the virus.
Protection after vaccination varies from person to person, but people generally start producing the antibodies that provide protection two weeks after the vaccination. Protection is expected to last for at least one year.

This vaccine does not contain live virus and cannot give you influenza.

People who should get immediate vaccination

All people can get vaccinated but some people are more at risk of severe outcomes if they catch this flu. Vaccination is strongly recommended for:

• Pregnant women
• Parents and guardians of infants up to six months old
• People with underlying chronic conditions, including:
  • heart disease;
  • asthma and other lung diseases;
  • cancer;
  • diabetes;
  • kidney disease;
  • neurological disease;
  • other chronic conditions (talk to your GP)
• People who are severely obese
• Indigenous Australians
• Frontline health workers
• Community care workers

Where do I get vaccinated? How do I get this vaccine?

Vaccinations will be available from 30 September. Vaccination will be available from a range of locations, including GP offices, vaccination clinics, hospitals and health centres. To check vaccination location in your State or Territory, go to:

Health department websites and phone numbers

WA: call 1800 186 815 or visit http://www.health.wa.gov.au/swine_flu/home/
SA: call 1800 022 222 or visit www.flu.sa.gov.au
VIC: call: 1300 882 008 or visit www.humanswineflu.health.vic.gov.au
TAS: 1800 358 362 (1800 FLU DOC) or visit www.pandemic.tas.gov.au
ACT: call 02 6205 2300 or visit www.health.act.gov.au/flupandemic
NSW: visit www.emergency.health.nsw.gov.au/swineflu/vaccination/index.asp, or call 180 2007 for your local Public Health Unit contact
QLD: 13HEALTH (13 43 25 84) or vist www.health.qld.gov.au/swineflu/html/vacc.asp
NT: call 08 8922 8044 or visit www.swinefluvax.nt.gov.au

Sourced and published by Henry Sapiecha 18th October 2009