Lancet
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The influenza A (H1N1) 2009 monovalent vaccination programme was the largest mass vaccination initiative in recent US history. Commensurate with the size and scope of the vaccination programme, a project to monitor vaccine adverse events was undertaken, the most comprehensive safety surveillance agenda in the USA to date. The adverse event monitoring project identified an increased risk of Guillain-Barré syndrome after vaccination; however, some individual variability in results was noted. Guillain-Barré syndrome is a rare but serious health disorder in which a person's own immune system damages their nerve cells, causing muscle weakness, sometimes paralysis, and infrequently death. We did a meta-analysis of data from the adverse event monitoring project to ascertain whether influenza A (H1N1) 2009 monovalent inactivated vaccines used in the USA increased the risk of Guillain-Barré syndrome. ⋯ US Federal Government.
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Millions of children still die unnecessarily from pneumonia and diarrhoea, mainly in resource-poor settings. A series of collaborative consultations and workshops involving several hundred academic, public health, governmental and private sector stakeholders were convened to identify the key barriers to progress and to issue recommendations. ⋯ However, these problems are solvable. Advocacy could help to mobilise needed resources, raise awareness, and prioritise childhood pneumonia and diarrhoea deaths in the coming decade.