Updates: HIV vaccine reassessment; 2nd rotavirus vaccine approved; Avian flu vaccine supply

Here are a few updates on topics we've been covering over the past several months:

• HIV vaccine research -- Several months after the failure of what was billed as the 'most promising' HIV vaccine candidate, NIAID organized a meeting late last month to reassess the state of HIV vaccine research and plans for the future. The "Summit on HIV Vaccine Research and Development" garnered significant media attention from the Washington Post and New York Times, among other outlets. The apparent take-away message from the meeting was that renewed effort must be directed toward basic research and novel ideas. A subsequent Times editorial argued that the potential benefit of a vaccine is too great to give up hope. A webcast of the meeting is available at the NIAID summit website.

• Rotavirus vaccines -- As expected, on Thursday, FDA approved GSK's Rotarix, now the second rotavirus vaccine available in the United States. Here's a story from the Associated Press, the FDA press release and the GSK release. The major difference between Rotarix and Merck's RotaTeq is that Rotarix requires two doses compared to three for RotaTeq. No word yet on the price of Rotarix, which had already been licensed in over 100 countries. It is expected to be available in the U.S. later this year.
  

• Pandemic flu planning -- Another update on the federal government's pandemic flu planning was released by HHS Secretary Michael Leavitt late last month. Updates on vaccine development and stockpiling figure prominently in the report. It notes that enough pre-pandemic vaccine for 13 million people was stockpiled by the end of 2007. This CIDRAP News story has more details.

Journal roundup: Racial disparities and school requirements, Parental comprehension, MMR media coverage, and more

As we do periodically, here are some papers of note published recently in the medical literature. (Most require a subscription in order to view the full text.)

• "Effect of a School-Entry Vaccination Requirement on Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Hepatitis B Immunization Coverage Levels Among Public School Students" (Pediatrics, Vol. 121, No. 3); Included in an issue with several papers on vaccination, this study analyzes racial/ethnic differences in Hepatitis B vaccination status among adolescents in Illinois before and after the establishment of a school-entry requirement. The authors conclude, "There was a dramatic decrease in the disparity of hepatitis B vaccination coverage between white and black or Hispanic students. School-entry requirements effectively increased hepatitis B vaccination coverage levels regardless of race or ethnicity and should be considered for other recently recommended adolescent vaccines."

• "Parents' vaccination comprehension and decisions" (Vaccine, Vol. 26, No. 12, 1595-1607); Based on a series of in-depth interviews with parents, the researchers report on the attitudes and mental frameworks that shape feelings about vaccination. They conclude that the parents were generally favorably toward vaccination, but "many had limited understanding of how [vaccination] works, making them potentially vulnerable to misinformation (or disinformation)."

• "Media Coverage of the Measles-Mumps-Rubella Vaccine and Autism Controversy and Its Relationship to MMR Immunization Rates in the United States" (Pediatrics, Vol. 121, No. 4); This paper published by our colleagues at Penn and The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia examines changes in U.S. vaccination rates in the wake of papers published in the scientific literature suggesting a link between MMR vaccine and autism compared to mainstream media coverage of the same controversy. The authors conclude, "There was a significant increase in selective MMR nonreceipt that was temporally associated with the publication of the original scientific literature, suggesting a link between MMR and autism, which preceded media coverage of the MMR-autism controversy."

• "On message, off target: Official advice on vaccination is too often poorly transmitted" (Nature, Vol. 452, No. 128); An editorial published in response to press reports noting presumptive Republican presidential nominee John McCain's sympathy toward arguments suggesting a link between vaccines and autism. The editors argue that new, enhanced communication strategies from CDC and other agencies are necessary to counter allegations of vaccine safety concerns.