Sleep maximizes vaccine effectiveness

 

Scimex : With the roll out of COVID-19 vaccines now underway, University of South Australia sleep experts are urging people to reprioritise their sleep, as getting regular and sufficient sleep is known to boost your immune system.

In Australia, four in every ten people suffer from a lack of sleep. Globally, around 62 per cent of adults  feel that they don’t sleep well when they go to bed.

Recombinant Polio Vaccine Improved Survival Rate Among Some With Aggressive Recurrent Brain Tumor

MedicalResearch: The poliovirus receptor (CD155) is an onco-fetal cell adhesion molecule with widespread expression in all solid tumors and particularly in primary CNS tumors (adult and pediatric). Recombinant nonpathogenic polio–rhinovirus chimera (PVSRIPO) was generated by replacing a critical piece of the genetic information from the Sabin type 1 polio vaccine, making PVSRIPO incapable of harming or killing normal brain cells, but toxic/lethal in cancer cells. In preclinical models, it has been demonstrated that the infection of tumor cells, leads to the release of danger signals, which triggers a recruitment of dendritic/CD4/CD8 T cells and a destruction of tumor cells by anti-tumor T cells.

A single-injection vaccine for the polio virus

MIT: A new nanoparticle vaccine developed by MIT researchers could assist efforts to eradicate polio worldwide. The vaccine, which delivers multiple doses in just one injection, could make it easier to immunize children in remote regions of Pakistan and other countries where the disease is still found.
While the number of reported cases of polio dropped by 99 percent worldwide between 1988 and 2013, according to the Centers for Disease Control, the disease has not been completely eradicated, in part because of the difficulty in reaching children in remote areas to give them the two to four polio vaccine injections required to build up immunity.

Hope for HIV control in southern Africa: The continued quest for a vaccine

Plos: It is estimated that almost 2 million new HIV infections occurred in the world in 2015 [1]. Southern and eastern Africa, with 6.2% of the world’s population, bear a disparate half of the world’s HIV infection burden and would benefit greatly from inexpensive innovations aimed at curtailing the epidemic. A recent modelling study showed that introducing a partially (30%) effective vaccine for HIV in resource-limited settings such as southern Africa would result in an estimated 67% reduction in HIV incidence compared to a non-vaccine scenario [2]. As sub-Saharan Africa has the highest incidence of HIV infection in the world, that the introduction of a vaccine with only partial efficacy could have such a dramatic effect, despite the existing availability of comprehensive prevention methods, is strongly persuasive for the pursuit of a vaccine-based approach [3].

Respiratory syncytial virus vaccine enters clinical testing

NIH: A Phase 1 clinical trial to test the safety and tolerability of an investigational vaccine against respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) has begun at the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center in Bethesda, Maryland. The trial also will assess the vaccine’s ability to prompt an immune response in healthy adult participants. The investigational vaccine was developed by scientists at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of NIH.

A simple one-off vaccination could protect against heart attack and stroke

Melbourne: Melburnians are taking part in a world first trial led by Monash University that could see a simple one-off vaccination protect against heart attack and stroke. The trial, which started late last year, aims to determine whether the pneumococcal vaccine can reduce the risk of heart attacks and stroke by up to 20 per cent. Observational studies indicate the injection can lead to a 17 per cent protection against cardiovascular disease, but this is the first large scale study to be conducted.

New malaria vaccine up to 100% effective in early trial

London: A new malaria vaccine has been shown to be 100% effective for at least 10 weeks after the final dose, according to new research published in Nature.  The trials, led by the University of Tübingen, involved immunising 35 people who had never had malaria before with varying doses of the vaccine. The vaccine incorporated live Plasmodium falciparum sporozoites (PfSPZ), cells from the malaria-causing parasite usually injected into the bloodstream after a mosquito’s bite, alongside the antimalarial drug chloroquine.

Investigational malaria vaccine demonstrates considerable protection in Malian adults for duration of malaria season

NIH: An investigational malaria vaccine given intravenously was well-tolerated and protected a significant proportion of healthy adults against infection with Plasmodium falciparum malaria — the deadliest form of the disease — for the duration of the malaria season, according to new findings published in the February 15th issue of the journal Lancet Infectious Diseases. The study participants live in Mali, Africa, where they are naturally exposed to the parasite.

The yin-yang of cancer and infectious disease

Berkeley: Doctors have had great success using vaccines to boost the immune system to fight infectious diseases like smallpox and measles, but only recently have immune system boosters been tried against cancer. The growing success of such attempts — a booming field called immunotherapy that was pioneered at UC Berkeley — proves that studying the way the immune system deals with these two types of invaders, cancer cells and pathogens, could greatly improve therapies for both.

2016's Biggest Medical Science Revolutions

Pennsylvania: In the grand scheme of things, it can seem like progress in science and medicine moves pretty slow. For example, we still aren’t sure what causes premature birth, or why racial disparities exist in certain conditions. And, for all intents and purposes, Alzheimer’s is still a big black box. But in reality, when you put science and medicine under the microscope, you find that a single year can bring big, meaningful gains and exciting advances. So, as we welcome a brand new year, let’s pause to reflect on some of Penn Medicine’s biggest newsmakers from the last 12 months.

What’s in a Flu Vaccine

Pennsylvania: If you’re a person that gets a flu shot every year, chances are you have received it by now, along with the millions of others in the United States who have also been vaccinated. According to Centers for Disease Control survey data collected through early November 2016, forty percent of people have received a flu vaccine so far this year. Although getting the shot is simple enough, what goes into the vaccine, from a biological perspective to a policy point of view, is anything but. Flu vaccines work by priming the immune system with purified proteins from the outer layer of killed flu viruses. This induces immune cells to make antibodies that stop foreign invaders from infecting cells. Educating the immune system in this way readies it to attack flu viruses if the body sees them again.

Algorithms compete to predict recipe for cancer vaccine

Nature: Could predictive algorithms be the key to creating a successful cancer vaccine? Two US nonprofit organizations plan to find out by pitting a range of computer programs against each other to see which can best predict a candidate for a personalized vaccine from a patient’s tumour DNA. The Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy in San Francisco, California, and the Cancer Research Institute of New York City announced the algorithmic battle on 1 December. It is part of a multimillion-dollar joint project to solve a major puzzle in the nascent field of cancer immunotherapy: which of a patient’s sometimes hundreds of cancer mutations could serve as a call-to-arms for their immune system to attack their tumours.

A method for storing vaccines at room temperature

Lausanne: Several simple and inexpensive techniques make it possible to store antiviral-vaccines at room temperature for several months. This discovery by EPFL researchers and partners could make a difference in inaccessible areas and developing countries where maintaining cold-chain transportation of vaccines is complicated and expensive. Shipping vaccines in an unbroken temperature-controlled supply chain (a “cold chain”) all the way to recipients is a major logistical and financial challenge in remote areas and developing countries. According to Doctors Without Borders, the need to keep vaccines within a temperature range of 2-8°C is one of the main factors behind low immunization-coverage rates.

Two shots of HPV vaccine as good as three

Scimex: In a study published online by JAMA, Ole-Erik Iversen, M.D., Ph.D., of the University of Bergen, Norway, and colleagues examined whether human papillomavirus (HPV) type-specific antibody responses would be noninferior (not worse than) among girls and boys ages 9 to 14 years after receiving 2 doses of the 9-valent HPV vaccine compared with adolescent girls and young women ages 16 to 26 years who received the standard 3 doses.

Why a pandemic flu shot caused narcolepsy

Science: The 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic left a troubling legacy in Europe: More than 1300 people who received a vaccine to prevent the flu developed narcolepsy, an incurable, debilitating condition that causes overpowering daytime sleepiness, sometimes accompanied by a sudden muscle weakness in response to strong emotions such as laughter or anger. The manufacturer, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), has acknowledged the link, and some patients and their families have already been awarded cpmpensation. But how the vaccine might have triggered the condition has been unclear.

New and innovative approach for successful vaccination against Chlamydia infections

Vienna: Chlamydiae are the most common, sexually transmitted, bacterial pathogens in the world. Every year around 100 million people contract Chlamydia infections, which are one of the main causes of female infertility and ectopic pregnancies and can also lead to blindness – especially in developing countries. Now, for the first time in the world, an international research team including Georg Stary from the University Clinic of Dermatology at MedUni Vienna has discovered how to stimulate the immune response to Chlamydiae both efficiently and preventively. The research results have now been published in the leading "Science" magazine.

Vaccine generates double protection against Chlamydia in animals

Harvard: Chlamydia trachomatis is a formidable foe. It’s the most common sexually transmitted bacterial pathogen, infecting more than 100 million people each year. In the developing world, chlamydial infection is the leading cause of preventable blindness. Around the world, it ranks as the number one cause of infertility and ectopic pregnancy.

New single-dose malaria treatment could eventually help millions

TheConversation: A new drug that stops the malaria parasite in its tracks, and could be delivered in a single dose, has researchers excited about treatment prospects for the disease. The newly discovered synthetic compound attacks the malaria parasite at multiple stages of its life cycle. It promises an effective new mode for drug delivery that could evade the bug’s emergent resistance.

New chlamydia vaccine shows promise after being tested on mice

NHS: “Researchers in the United States say they have developed a vaccine that can protect against chlamydia,” The Independent reports. Initial results in mice have shown promise in protecting against this common sexually transmitted infection (STI). Chlamydia is one of the most common STIs in the UK, and can lead to female infertility. It can also cause blindness in babies if their mother has a chlamydia infection and babies are exposed to the bacteria when they are born.

HPV vaccine leads to fall in precancerous cervical lesions

Scimex: The introduction of the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine in the US led to a decrease in the rate of high-grade cervical lesions - abnormal tissue changes that can lead to cancer - in young women, say US scientists. However, the benefits in terms of reduced incidence of cancers themselves will take many years to evaluate because of the long lag time between infection with HPV and the development of cancer, they say.