Questions abound about how to best inoculate the world against swine flu as health officials plan for a campaign that could dwarf any previous flu vaccination effort.
A long line of hospital staff wraps around the corridor outside a small conference room in New York to catch a glimpse of the precious cargo.
Weight-loss surgery can sometimes reverse type 2 diabetes and ease other obesity-related conditions. Now, new research suggests that obese women who undergo bariatric surgery experience a 42 percent drop in their cancer risk.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention received a candidate vaccine virus for swine flu from one institution Friday, spokesman Thomas Skinner said in an e-mail.
For 20 hours Gao Ying lay in the rubble of her school in China's Sichuan province last spring. The May 2008 earthquake that struck southwest China had leveled many buildings across the region.
Is Gardasil vaccination reliable? I've heard plenty of ugly things about this vaccination. I have a 17-year-old daughter and her doctor recommends that she get this vaccine. I am very confused because of the negative and positive information. Would you be able to clarify?
In 2004, a bullet ripped away Connie Culp's nose, cheeks and upper jaw. Metal fragments sprayed into her skull and stripped her face away, leaving nothing except for her eyes, her chin and forehead.
The rush to respond to the swine-flu outbreak could provide an opportunity for vaccine and antiviral developers to showcase new biotechnologies sooner than expected.
In a bustling room full of computers, giant wall-mounted monitors and constantly ringing telephones, a newly gathered army is fighting a war.
A day after the World Health Organization upgraded the swine flu to a "pandemic threat" level, the nation's pharmaceutical industry warned that a vaccine to protect against the virus could still be at least three to six months away.
Questions abound about how to best inoculate the world against swine flu as health officials plan for a campaign that could dwarf any previous flu vaccination effort.
A long line of hospital staff wraps around the corridor outside a small conference room in New York to catch a glimpse of the precious cargo.
Weight-loss surgery can sometimes reverse type 2 diabetes and ease other obesity-related conditions. Now, new research suggests that obese women who undergo bariatric surgery experience a 42 percent drop in their cancer risk.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention received a candidate vaccine virus for swine flu from one institution Friday, spokesman Thomas Skinner said in an e-mail.
For 20 hours Gao Ying lay in the rubble of her school in China's Sichuan province last spring. The May 2008 earthquake that struck southwest China had leveled many buildings across the region.
Is Gardasil vaccination reliable? I've heard plenty of ugly things about this vaccination. I have a 17-year-old daughter and her doctor recommends that she get this vaccine. I am very confused because of the negative and positive information. Would you be able to clarify?
In 2004, a bullet ripped away Connie Culp's nose, cheeks and upper jaw. Metal fragments sprayed into her skull and stripped her face away, leaving nothing except for her eyes, her chin and forehead.
The rush to respond to the swine-flu outbreak could provide an opportunity for vaccine and antiviral developers to showcase new biotechnologies sooner than expected.
In a bustling room full of computers, giant wall-mounted monitors and constantly ringing telephones, a newly gathered army is fighting a war.
A day after the World Health Organization upgraded the swine flu to a "pandemic threat" level, the nation's pharmaceutical industry warned that a vaccine to protect against the virus could still be at least three to six months away.
The man who led the response to the 1976 swine flu outbreak is defending the vaccination campaign that led to more deaths than the disease, but says he's sorry for the people killed or sickened.
"We are an army," says Andrea Ivory of the group gathered with her early on a Saturday morning.
For most Americans, mosquitoes are pests whose bites leave behind itchy bumps. But in other parts of the world, mosquitoes carry a disease called malaria that kills more than a million people each year.
Is it necessary to have a colonoscopy when you're over age 50?
I am enlisted in the military and recently had an anthrax shot. Then a week later, I found out that I am pregnant. Will this shot have an effect on my pregnancy or child?
William Searing is an Eagle Scout who loves hiking, adventure, art and sports. At age 19, he's in an education program that bridges the gap from high school to getting a job. Wil has autism.
Maybe I'm the wrong ex-patient to be telling you this: Experimental surgery erased Stage III colon cancer from my shell-shocked body six years ago. But even I've got to admit that all is not well in America's operating rooms: At least 12,000 Americans die each year from unnecessary surgery, according to a Journal of the American Medical Association report. And tens of thousands more suffer complications.
Terminal lung cancer patients are living longer thanks to the world's first registered lung cancer vaccine, a leading Cuban scientist says.
In the fight against obesity, doctors have deployed stern warnings, dieting tips, liposuction and open-incision bariatric surgery. But some surgeons have found another avenue for weight loss.
A special court's Thursday ruling that no proven link exists between autism and certain early childhood vaccines seems to have done little to change the sometimes-passionate opinion fueling the debate.
I knew I was stepping into the middle of a huge controversy when Thursday night, I urged all parents to vaccinate their children.
What I am about to say, I know, is controversial. And I know that a lot of people are going to disagree with me. But as a mother, with a second child on the way, I believe this is vital to the safety of our children and must be said.
A special court ruled Thursday that evidence presented in three cases by parents of children with autism did not prove a link between autism and certain early childhood vaccines.
At 13, Michelle Cedillo can't speak, wears a diaper and requires round-the-clock monitoring in case she has a seizure. While her peers go to school or the mall or spend time with friends, the Yuma, Arizona, teenager remains at home, where she entertains herself with picture books and "Sesame Street" and "Blue's Clues" DVDs.
A childhood illness that has mostly been curbed through vaccinations has killed one child and sickened four others in Minnesota, health officials said Friday.
Since the beginning of the year the family clinic at the Children's Hospital of New Jersey has seen an influx of young children coming in for flu shots.
Concerns about health care, food and vaccine safety added to the anxieties Americans felt this year. But it wasn't all doom and gloom -- medical advances in stem cell research have scientists hoping for better transplant surgeries in the future. Here are the top health stories of the year:
Nearly one in five people in the U.S. has some form of osteoarthritis. The condition, which can affect joints, can cause severe pain and limit mobility. Arthroscopic surgery is a common form of treatment for OA of the knee, but studies on its effectiveness have shown varying results. A new study finds that arthroscopic surgery may not be the answer for many patients with OA of the knee.
A new study published in the January 2008 issue of Archives of General Psychiatry found the prevalence of autism cases in California children continued to rise after most vaccine manufacturers started to remove the mercury-based preservative thimerosal in 1999, suggesting that the chemical was not a primary cause of the disorder. Researchers from the State Public Health Department found that the autism rates in children rose continuously during the study period from 1995 to 2007. The preservative, thimerosal, has not been used in childhood vaccines since 2001, except for some flu shots. The latest findings failed to convince some parents and advocacy groups, who have long blamed mercury, a neurotoxin, for the disorder.
Genital human papillomavirus, or HPV, which infects the skin and mucous membranes, is the most common sexually transmitted disease. About 20 million Americans have the virus, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. HPV is the major cause of cervical cancer, which kills about 250,000 women worldwide each year. In the United States, cervical cancer will be diagnosed in about 12,000 women this year, and 4,000 will die, the CDC says. Women get Pap smears to detect cervical cancer and now have the option of preventing it with a vaccine. Gardasil, developed by Merck, works to protect against four strains of HPV, including two connected to 70 percent of cervical cancers.
Women at high risk for breast cancer are generally advised to have one mammogram and one magnetic resonance image scan every year, and they usually schedule them around the same time, along with a hands-on examination by a doctor. The idea is to get three different views of what's going on in the breasts.
Do more frequent mammograms pick up some breast cancer tumors that might have gone away without treatment? Possibly, according to a controversial study published this week in Archives of Internal Medicine. However, experts caution that the research raises an interesting question, but can't definitively answer it.
When Katie Shutters's 13-month-old daughter, Averie, was born, she followed the recommended vaccine schedule for two months. Then she did some research and decided to hold off on additional shots until Averie turned 9 months old. "I liked the idea of my breast milk giving her the immunities she needs and allowing her body to work for her instead of some medicine," says the stay-at-home mom from Indianapolis, Indiana. "She isn't in daycare, and we don't travel overseas. I had concerns about injecting her for no reason."
The global economic turmoil is likely to take its toll on AIDS research funding and add to the problems plaguing the search for a vaccine against the virus, scientists warned Tuesday
About one in four teen girls last year got the groundbreaking vaccine that prevents cervical cancer, federal health officials reported Thursday.
About one in four teen girls last year got the groundbreaking vaccine that prevents cervical cancer, federal health officials reported Thursday
A new study suggests they don't, but experts say that on balance flu shots are still worth getting
Eli Lilly & Co. has agreed to buy biotechnology company ImClone Systems Inc. for more than $6 billion in a deal that would expand Lilly's cancer treatment pipeline a few years before several patent expirations hit the drug maker
All children 6 months to 18 years old should receive the flu vaccine this year, federal officials said Monday, offering protection to an additional 30 million children.
Far too few Americans get their flu shots each winter, the government is warning as it calls for a record number to line up for inoculations this year -- including 30 million more school-age children
A new study suggests that the common weight-loss surgery leads to less weight loss in patients with diabetes
The cervical cancer vaccine Gardasil also works to prevent cancers of the vagina and vulva, federal health officials said Friday, as they approved expanding its use to protect against those diseases as well
Nearly a million knee surgeries are performed in North America each year to ease the pain of osteoarthritis -- but researchers say the procedure is a sham
The Measles-Mumps-Rubella (MMR) vaccine causes neither autism nor gastrointestinal disorders, a study reported Wednesday, disputing a theory that has persisted for a decade.
A radioactive tracer that "lights up" cancer hiding inside dense breasts showed promise in its first big test against mammograms, revealing more tumors and giving fewer false alarms
An expensive vaccine aimed at preventing cervical cancer makes sense for young teens when it comes to cost-effectiveness, but not for women in their 20s, contends a new report
This week, more than 25,000 people from the global HIV/AIDS community are in Mexico City, Mexico, attending the XVII International AIDS Conference. I am pleased to be among them.
When I first heard about digital mammograms, my first thought was, "This could be good."
Plans for a large-scale trial of a potential AIDS vaccine are being dropped in favor of a smaller, more focused study, the National Institutes of Health said Thursday
A vaccine designed to prevent cervical cancer is coming under fresh scrutiny amid thousands of complaints linking it to a range of health problems.
Remember peeking through a View-Master? Scientists are using the same concept behind the classic kids' toy to try to see mammograms in 3-D
A federal advisory panel has endorsed a second vaccine to combat a common and potentially fatal virus that causes diarrhea and vomiting in children
Merck's drug against HPV has been a boon to the company but is facing growing grass-roots opposition
Five years ago, Kathye Petters-Armitage's first child received the exact vaccinations on the exact schedule recommended by her pediatrician.
The first experimental bird flu vaccine made from lab-grown cells instead of chicken eggs shows promise in blocking the highly lethal virus, scientists report
A woman whose child carried the virus back from Europe urges education about vaccination
Parents are opting out of shots for their kids. What the science says about the risks--and what you should do
Testimony resumed Monday in a long-running case involving thousands of children with autism that their parents contend was triggered by an early childhood vaccination.
Attorneys will attempt to show that vaccines with the thimerosal preservative triggers symptoms of autism
Three months before she gave birth last year, Diana Simpson, a dental hygienist in Davison, Michigan, started coughing uncontrollably. The pain in her throat and chest was unbearable.
The Food and Drug Administration has ordered Merck & Co. to correct numerous manufacturing deficiencies at its main vaccine plant, the latest in a string of setbacks for the drugmaker
Polio cases have nearly doubled this year in the West African nation of Nigeria as officials struggle to fight various natural strains of the virus as well as an outbreak set off by the polio vaccine itself three years ago
This year's flu season has shaped up to be the worst in three years, partly because the vaccine didn't work well against the viruses that made most people sick
This week, the world has come together to focus on a major public health issue that affects thousands of children and their families around the world -- autism.
In light of the recent Hannah Poling decision, in which the federal court conceded that vaccines could have contributed to her autism, we think the tide is finally turning in the direction of parents like us who have been shouting concerns from our rooftops for years.
This week, the world has come together to focus on a major public health issue that affects thousands of children and their families around the world -- autism.
The parents of a 9-year-old girl with autism said Thursday that their assertion that her illness was caused by childhood vaccines has been vindicated by the federal government's decision to compensate them.
A Florida-based company's artificial immune system promises to make testing of new vaccines faster, cheaper and safer
Let's face it: There's no body part women obsess about more than breasts -- their size, shape, sag factor, and whether those strange pains stem from monthly PMS hormones or something more ominous, like breast cancer.
What does the case of 9-year-old Hannah Poling tell us about a link between vaccines and autism?
I'm the mother of two daughters, a teen and a tween. So every day, I tiptoe through hormonally laced minefields hoping to avoid emotional carnage in response to any of my random comments or actions.
Too Many Hysterectomies? One-third of all women get a hysterectomy before they turn 60. Some experts think two-thirds of them don't need it.
Argentinians planning to travel to the northern part of the country, Brazil and Paraguay were lining up for vaccinations Tuesday, because of a yellow fever breakout that has killed at least 21 people in the region.
New research finds Tamiflu-resistant strains of the most common flu virus popping up all over the world
A CDC survey finds that American adults are failing to get themselves immunized, putting themselves at unnecessary risk for disease
A paper cape sits loosely around your shoulders, covering your naked chest. A radiology technologist directs you toward an imposing-looking machine. As you hold your breath, one bare breast at a time is tightly compressed between two flat panels and X-rayed.
An experimental vaccine may help cocaine addicts break the cycle of dependency. Other addiction vaccines could follow
A routine childhood vaccine is being recalled, sparking a shortage -- but no real health risks. Alice Park explains the recall
The recall of a routine vaccine for babies due to contamination risks could trigger a shortage and likely will alarm parents, but officials said there is no known health threat
The drugmaker Merck & Co. said Tuesday that it will seek federal approval for two new experimental drugs next year, adding that it's on track to meet its sales targets.
Some major US airports are offering flu shots to travelers as they pass through security checkpoints
A crowd of frustrated parents gathered on a chilly Saturday morning outside Prince George's County Circuit Court to comply with an order from the school system to have their children vaccinated -- or else.
A new study shows that immunizations have prevented a record number of deaths in the U.S. So, what's the fuss over vaccines?
Merck's promising AIDS vaccine candidate turned out to be an absolute failure in trials, but it may still pave the way for future success
Nobody wants to get the flu this year. The dreaded, head-pounding, body-aching, feverish, nauseating, cough-fest packs equal parts misery and inconvenience.
After Marci Smith was told she had a malignant brain tumor, she had surgery and then made an appointment with an oncologist to receive chemotherapy and radiation.
When Barbara Stratton of Baltimore, Maryland, looks back at the birth of her son, Charlie, now 7, she's angry -- angry she had a surgery she believes she didn't need.
The polio eradication campaign has made remarkable strides in Nigeria. But a recent outbreak -- caused by the vaccine itself -- threatens to derail it
Merck's cervical cancer vaccine Gardasil now faces direct competition from Glaxo's Cervarix, which was approved by European health authorities, said the vaccine's maker GlaxoSmithKline on Monday.
A promising experimental vaccine to prevent the AIDS virus has failed in a crucial experiment, with volunteers becoming infected with HIV anyway, leading the drug developer to halt the study.
After years of shortages and confusion, this fall promises plenty of flu vaccine to go around -- up to 132 million doses, more than the nation has ever produced
The FDA has approved the vaccine only for girls and women up to age 26. Now a medical debate is raging over whether older women should get it too
Men should be vaccinated against a sexually transmitted wart virus to protect them against a type of mouth and throat cancer, U.S. researchers said Monday.
Invasive breast cancer rates have fallen since the substantial decline in postmenopausal hormone replacement therapy occurred, even after a decline in breast cancer screening rates, according to findings published in the 5th Journal of the National Cancer Institute.
TThe drug helps protect teenage girls from the virus that can cause cervical cancer, but a new study shows it does little to help women who already are already infected
Merck & Co. said Monday that quarterly earnings rose 12 percent on strong demand for its newer vaccines and medicines, and raised its 2007 profit forecast, sending its shares up nearly 8 percent.
The French government has agreed to subsidize a cervical cancer vaccine made by Merck for teenage girls and young women, according to Merck's marketing partner, French drugmaker Sanofi-Aventis.
GlaxoSmithKline announced the results of the biggest-ever study of a cancer vaccine Wednesday, in the hopes of bolstering the competitive strength of its Cervarix against Merck's Gardasil.
New research shows that bariatric surgeries, like gastric bypass, are safer and more effective than originally thought, especially for teenagers and seniors. But patients have to be sure to watch their alcohol intake
Authorities in northern Nigeria have filed a $2 billion civil case and were preparing criminal charges against the U.S. drug company Pfizer
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