Expert review of vaccines
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Influenza is an important annual respiratory pathogen with the potential to cause infrequent pandemics with devastating consequences. The establishment of highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1 as an endemic virus within duck and poultry populations in Asia increases the possibility of adaptation to humans and the threat of an emerging pandemic. Vaccines are the mainstay of prophylaxis against influenza, but there are technical and safety issues that must be overcome in the development of vaccines in order to combat avian influenza. Pandemic preparedness plans have been developed by national and international authorities but may be compromised by a lack of readily available interventions.
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Overwhelming postsplenectomy sepsis is a rare but devastating and often lethal disease. Although vaccines are available, their proper use may be questioned. Standardization of protocols for the immunization of asplenic patients should be universal, thus, likely improving on their use. This article reviews the vaccines to be administered to the asplenic patient.
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Expert review of vaccines · Feb 2004
ReviewMMR vaccine and autism: an update of the scientific evidence.
An hypothesis published in 1998 suggested that measles-mumps-rubella vaccine may cause autism as a result of persistent measles virus infection of the gastrointestinal tract. Results of early studies were not supportive and in 2001 a review by the Institute of Medicine concluded that the evidence favors the rejection of a causal relationship at the population level between measles-mumps-rubella vaccine and autistic spectrum disorder. ⋯ The vaccine also has not been found to be associated with a unique syndrome of developmental regression and gastrointestinal disorders. The evidence now is convincing that the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine does not cause autism or any particular subtypes of autistic spectrum disorder.