Secretary of Health, Human Services to hear recommendations for improving immunization

Article Abstract:

Measles (rubeola), a disease preventable by vaccination, is on the increase, a situation that says much about the adequacy of the vaccination system in the US. If vaccines already in use, such as those against measles, pertussis (whooping cough), and diphtheria, are not being administered, what will be the fate of new, as-yet-untried agents, such as the Haemophilus influenzae vaccine (for two-month-olds)? The number of measles cases reported in 1990 during the first 35 weeks is 19,731, an increase of 71 percent as compared with last year. Mortality, too, is high; 90 have died. Barriers that prevent parents from properly immunizing their children include limited clinic hours and lack of access to clinics. Measles increased disproportionately among minority preschool children from 1989 to 1990; at the same time, it decreased among minority children of school age. As many as 40 percent of the cases of measles reported in 1989 resulted from failure of the vaccine; only 20 percent of the cases in 1990 can be attributed to this cause. The National Vaccine Advisory Committee to the Secretary of the US Department of Health and Human Services will issue a report in December regarding the status of vaccination. It will probably state that the current system is not easy to use, with clinics closed during convenient hours and long waiting times. Insurers and health maintenance organizations should provide immunization, and enrollment in Medicaid should be made simpler. A New York State law requires nonimmunized people to be vaccinated when they are admitted to a hospital; this should be adopted elsewhere. Users of the Women's, Infants', and Children's Program (WIC) of the Department of Agriculture, and of the Aid to Families of Dependent Children program, should be covered. Mass vaccination programs, in general, do not reach the groups they have targeted. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)

Usage, Evaluation, Preventive health services, Preventive medicine, Measles vaccine, Measles vaccines, Vaccination centers

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Will US polio immunization rely on IPV or OPV?

Article Abstract:

The Centers for Disease Control and the Vaccine Safety Forum of the Institute of Medicine have recommended the recently developed inactivated poliovirus vaccine (IPV) for immunization. IPV is considered safer than the live oral polio vaccine (OPV) currently administered. The IPV would likely be given for the first two or three times, then followed by OPV. The IPV costs $5.50 more than the OPV. If the U.S. changes to the IPV, it could cause global eradication problems because countries where the incidence of polio is high would want to switch to IPV. Also, the U.S. may need to shift its funds from the World Health Organization vaccination program to pay for the increased cost for domestic IPV vaccines. Oral polio vaccine is considered more effective in eradicating polio in developing countries.

Standards, Complications and side effects, Dosage and administration, Poliomyelitis vaccine, Poliovirus vaccines

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Scientists flock to hear cloner Wilmut at the NIH

Article Abstract:

Ian Wilmut explained his research to a packed audience at the National Institutes of Health a few month after publishing a paper on the cloning of a sheep in Feb, 1997. The sheep, whose name was Dolly, was created when the scientists took the cell nucleus of a 6-year-old sheep and placed it into a sheep egg whose nucleus had been removed. The resulting egg was placed in a ewe's uterus and was born normally. This is the first time an adult nucleus has been successfully switched to an embryonic state. The scientists are working primarily to improve animal husbandry.

Research, Cloning, Animal culture, Animal husbandry

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