India Has Polio Free Year

Polio is one of the world’s most dreaded diseases and in the past it has been a big deal in developing countries like India for quite some time but today we got some good news regarding the disease. India has officially gone one full year without and recorded or suspected cases of Polio which is absolutely great news for the dozens of organizations working to wipe out the disease.

Of course doctors in the area say that the fight is not over, continued immunization is required as the disease is far from eradicated but for now they’re definitely happy to see the significant decline in the number of new cases. Children in particular are much more at risk for contracting polio which is why much of the humanitarian efforts were focused on children and it definitely seems like it has worked as the number of cases is down to the record low of 0 reported cases.

Doctors and medical professionals alike are still working to develop new vaccines and cures for polio despite the significant decline in cases just in case a future flare up would happen. For now though it is great news to see that yet another major developing country has managed to win the fight against polio, this clearly means that other major diseases are likely to be dealt with in the near future as long as the development continues for the next few years.

Millions of people receive flu vaccines each year and while the effectiveness of the vaccine is still up for debate many people agree that receiving a shot for the vaccine is simply not worthwhile. Immunization through injection is not new in the slightest, it has been the standard method for quite some time, but for those who fear needles or cannot handle the pain it makes it difficult or impossible to receive treatment they need.

Fortunately a recent study shows that there might actually be hope on the horizon. New oral flu vaccines have been in development for quite some time and the latest study shows that they’re actually just as effective as their injection counterparts. Oral flu vaccines remove the pain and fear associated with needles while still offering the same level of protection.

Previously doctors recommended injections because the oral vaccine was thought to be inferior to the injections but now we know that may not be true. Multiple follow up studies are being conducted right now to find out exactly how much difference there is between the two types of vaccines but for anyone that fears needles or injections this is very good news. Worldwide this also makes it significantly easier to distribute and administer the much needed flu vaccine that likely helps to save millions of lives each and every year. This is simply great news all around for so many great reasons.

In the never ending search for vaccines against some of the world’s most devastating diseases researchers may have finally made some headway in one area. Ebola is a deadly virus that kills thousands of people around the world but there may finally be hope as scientists have developed what they think may be a successful and effective vaccine to help prevent infections.

The vaccine has been in development for years and for the past few months it has undergone extensive testing and the final results have come in finally. According to the official medical report the vaccine was successful in fighting the Ebola virus in mice and other test animals and the researchers in charge of the project believe that this will most likely carry over to humans as well. This is absolutely great news as it will help millions of people in areas affected by the virus, it is also good to know that the vaccine is apparently able to be stored for long periods of time so stockpiling the vaccine will finally be possible.

Overall scientists are very hopeful that the latest round of testing will make it possible to start distributing the vaccine for human use. No word on when the final testing or approval may be but researchers are hoping that it will be sometime soon which is definitely good news for areas affected by the virus. This vaccine could become the next big life saver worldwide.

Today a special committee that was formed by the FDA reached their final decision on what to do with a new vaccine for pneumonia in adults. The vaccine is currently the only of its kind and thanks to this ruling from the FDA it will finally be possible to actually distribute the vaccine and use it as it was designed.

The vaccine was originally designed to help fight a variety of potential illnesses but through extensive testing doctors continued to find that it was simply the most effective at preventing pneumonia in older adults. This is great news because many doctors say that it could easily and effectively save thousands of lives each year that would otherwise be caused by pneumonia.

Unfortunately the one problem with this is that the FDA committee is not the final word. The FDA itself is still going to be hearing the case on the vaccine before it becomes publicly available; fortunately the FDA decided that it is going to be classified as an incredibly important piece of work and will be pushed straight to the front of the line for the fastest approval possible. Shortly after that happens the vaccine will likely begin to become available as production steps up, no word on how long it will be before the vaccine is widely used and available for the public around the country. In the next few weeks though we may receive final word of approval for the vaccine.

A medical study released today by the National Cancer Institute shows some of the biggest advancements in cancer treatment in a number of years. The research was specifically targeting breast and ovarian cancers and according to researchers the trial vaccine is actually showing some serious promise in terms of slowing the growth.

The research was not specifically dealing with actually preventing the cancer, it focused primarily on slowing or stopping the spread of cancerous cells. In nearly all cases the patients given the trial drug showed significantly less cancerous growth than untreated women which is a significant result for any type of cancer research.

Obviously it is still too early to say for sure that this vaccine is functional or will become a true vaccine for the cancer but for now researchers are incredibly hopeful that the information will go on to help future development. If the vaccine becomes more successful and passes multiple safety tests it will likely become the standard treatment in the next few years; down the road it would likely be adapted for other cancers as well.

In general this is great news for all breast and ovarian cancer patients as well as the health world in general. An advancement such as this has not been proven in years and it could very well be one of the final steps toward a successful and effective cancer treatment that has until now been so elusive to researchers and doctors around the world.

For years scientists have been searching for a successful vaccine against the malaria parasite. Thousands of children and adults suffer from malaria worldwide and while there are medicines to treat the disease and reduce the affects no one has been able to come up with an effective vaccine. Fortunately that may have all changed; a group of researchers released test data this week that shows that their trial malaria vaccine may actually be successful.

The vaccine for malaria has been in development by GlaxoSmithKline for over 25 years and now that the team of researchers has done their first real world trial the results are promising. According to the study nearly half of all children given the vaccine were protected from serious attacks from malaria. This may seem like an ineffective vaccine but up until this point no trial medication has been nearly as effective as this one.

The research into a malaria vaccine will not be stopping here though. Funding is continuous and researchers say they will in fact continue developing this and other vaccines until they are able to find a nearly completely successful vaccine. It will likely be years before another significant test result like this is released but researchers are still hopeful that some sort of vaccine will be available sometime in the foreseeable future. For now medical experts are simply happy to see that a significant amount of progress has been made on the path towards a malaria vaccine.

Miracle Drug Could Kill All Viruses

This week a group of researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology announced that they may have successfully designed and created the world’s next miracle drug. According to initial reports the drug identify cells that have been affected by a virus and immediately kill those cells; in theory this should mean that the drug can effectively and efficiently kill any and all viruses within the human body.

The report was published this week in MIT’s medical journal and according to many experts in the medical field the results are very promising. Unlike current medication that can only treat or kill bacteria this miracle drug is reportedly able to kill viruses; that alone could make this drug the cure to the common cold and the flu.

During the initial testing of the drug the MIT research team tested the drug against a variety of viruses including the flu, polio, various strains of the common cold, and others; after extensive testing the group concluded that the drug was highly effective against each of these viruses. This is quite an accomplishment as no other drug has even been able to combat any of these viruses well let alone all of them. As always much more testing is being conducted in order to determine if this drug is safe or practical for human use; until then it will obviously not be available. Fortunately experts say there is lots of hope for this miraculous drug.

Researchers Find Potential Flu Vaccine

Finding the cure for the flu has always been a big deal in the medical industry; due to a variety of different reasons and mutations it has been considered nearly impossible but today things might have changed. Researchers from multiple medical facilities report that they may have found a single anti-body shared by all flu strands that could be used as a universal vaccine.

According to the initial reports the flu anti-body would likely be able to treat or prevent as many as 40 different strains of the flu which would be great news for everyone worldwide. Developing a vaccine based on the anti-body is also expected to be a fairly simple medical project so within the new few years experts believe it might be possible to vaccinate everyone against the flu virus.

Areas this would affect most include poor areas and 3rd world countries and according to many analysts it could save hundreds of thousands of lives. Obviously it is still too soon to say for sure if an actual flu vaccine will be developed or successful but the results from this most recent research are definitely promising in many regards. More testing and vaccine development is expected to begin sometime in the very near future and experts hope that this incredibly opportunity could reach the general public within a few short years. Until then flu shots will remain common but after that the hope is that a single vaccine may cure the world.

World’s First Person Cured of HIV

A cure for HIV and AIDS has been a major research goal for many many years and unfortunately it seemed for the longest time that very little progress was being made. Today however the world got news of a potential break in the story as a man was functionally cured of his HIV infection through a series of treatments.

Timothy Ray Brown, who was 45 at the time of treatment in 2007, was treated using a series of stem cell transplants through bone marrow. The treatment was meant to prolong his life because he was suffering from both leukemia as well as HIV at the time. According to doctors involved with and doctors studying the case the transplant apparently carried the incredibly rare HIV immunity gene which has essentially cured Brown of his HIV infection.

Obviously all sorts of investigations have been planned and initiated into the case of Brown’s HIV cure but at this time a variety of medical experts say this is nothing short of a functional cure. The process used to treat and essentially cure Brown however might not ever develop into a truly widespread cure for a variety of reasons. To begin with the immunity gene is incredibly rare and as such there is an extreme shortage of donor stem cells to test.

Either way doctors say this is a good step in the right direction for finding a cure for HIV and AIDS. More research will undoubtedly be conducted based on this story for years to come and a cure may eventually become reality thanks to Brown’s incredible luck.

Flu Vaccine Might Not be Needed This Year

Each year a new flu vaccine is developed using a complicated system of tests which are used to determine exactly which strain of the common flu is likely to spread through the population. The flu strain often changes quite drastically each year but this year medical analysts are saying that the strain might not be changing hardly at all.

This month the companies responsible for developing and making the flu vaccines announced that the studies being conducted show that the flu strain is nearly identical to last year’s strain. What this means for millions of people is that a flu vaccine this year simply won’t be necessary because the immune resistivity will be carried over from the previous flu shot.

Of course government health agencies are still encouraging all people at risk for the flu to prepare for a flu shot as flu season approaches. Fortunately the vaccine companies have also announced that they will be producing a record number of flu vaccine doses; as many as 173 million doses are expected to be prepared for distribution as flu season approaches which means a record number of people will be able to receive the vaccine if desired.

Despite what government health agencies are saying doctors are encouraging only those highly at risk to receive the flu shot. Because of the fact that last year’s flu shot will still be nearly 100% effective doctors say there is no need to waste time, money, or resources to re vaccinate those who are already protected.