An 8-year randomized, controlled phase III clinical study has shown that a patient-specific therapeutic vaccine, BiovaxID, significantly prolongs disease-free survival in follicular non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. The study, featured in ASCO’s plenary session, found that patients who received the vaccine... More »
Preliminary findings from a phase III, multicenter trial show that adding a novel cancer vaccine—called gp100:209-217(210M) peptide—to standard therapy doubles response rates and extends progression-free survival in patients with metastatic melanoma, without causing significant side effects... More »
Neither treatment-resistant Lyme arthritis HLA-DRB1 alleles nor any other HLA alleles are found with significantly greater frequency in persons in whom arthritis developed after they received the Lyme disease vaccine. Neither antibody nor T-cell responses to Borrelia burgdorferi outer surface... More »
Persons who are unresponsive to the standard hepatitis B virus (HBV) vaccine regimen may benefit from a revaccination series using a double dose of the combined hepatitis A virus (HAV) and HBV vaccine.1,2 More »
A new study presented at the 48th Annual Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy in Washington, DC, suggests that persons infected with HIV should begin antiretroviral treatment sooner than guidelines currently recommend (Marchione M. Associated Press. October 26, 2008). The... More »
Although endemic measles transmission has been eliminated thanks to vaccination efforts, outbreaks are nevertheless becoming increasingly common because of importation of the disease through international travel and a growing population of unvaccinated children in the United States. More »
Vaccines are perhaps the single most important contribution the 20th century made to civilization. They have been responsible for saving untold numbers of lives and for vastly improving the quality of many more. Although vaccines have had some bad press of late, they are still strongly recommended... More »
A 17-month-old girl awoke with drooling, cough, respiratory distress, and a muffled cry and was brought to the emergency department. She had no nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea and no history of choking, aspiration, or airway problems. More »
I thoroughly enjoyed the articles "Anti-Vaccine Media: Its Impact-and Strategies to Combat It" by Linda Nield, MD, and "Vaccinations: Immunizations Do Not Cause Autism Spectrum Disorder . . . They Prevent Disease" by Golder Wilson, MD, PhD, and Miranda Ramirez, MD (both of which appeared in the... More »
Practicing pediatricians commonly
talk with patients and parents
about medical risks. Examples of such
risks include those of a newborn having
a genetic disease, of a complication of an
illness developing, and of a patient experiencing
an adverse effect from a medication
or vaccine. Different ways... More »