flu vaccination

(Wiley-Blackwell) New technology now makes it possible to collect 'near real-time' data about whether people are having any side effects from vaccination.

By studying people who received the 2009-10 swine flu vaccination in Scotland, researchers showed that this rapid reporting can add another layer of safety to future vaccination campaigns.

In addition, the data collected revealed no significant safety issues in patients exposed to the vaccine.

The project's report has just been published in the British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology.

(Wiley-Blackwell) New research shows that the occurrence of narcolepsy in China is highly correlated to a seasonal pattern, with onset most frequent in April.

A significant increase in narcolepsy cases was also observed following the 2009-2010 H1N1 pandemic, but the findings now available in Annals of Neurology, a journal of the American Neurological Association and the Child Neurology Society, report flu vaccination was unlikely the cause of the increase.

Flu vaccination rates remained high during the 2010-2011 flu season, according to data in the CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

(Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America) A systematic effort to improve flu vaccination rates for health-care workers has increased flu vaccinations rates from 59 percent to 77 percent at the University Health System (UHS) in San Antonio.

A report detailing their interventions to increase vaccination was published in the June issue of Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology, the journal of the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America.

(Emory University) A study of H1N1 and seasonal influenza vaccination in a sample of black and Hispanic children in Atlanta found a low rate of vaccine acceptance among parents and caregivers.

Researchers say this low level of vaccine coverage and acceptance highlights the importance of understanding individual and community concerns that influence parents' decisions to have their children vaccinated.

(MedPage Today) -- Healthcare workers should receive annual influenza vaccination as a condition of employment and professional privileges, according to an updated position paper endorsed by two major infectious disease organizations.

ATLANTA (MedPage Today) -- Children younger than 9 who have not received any doses of the monovalent 2009 H1N1 influenza vaccine should get two doses of the trivalent vaccine for the upcoming season, regardless of their previous flu vaccination history, according to a CDC advisory committee here.

Accompanying the H1N1 flu pandemic was an increased interest in vaccination against seasonal influenza, researchers found.

National Influenza Vaccination Week continues with a focus on the importance of young adults getting vaccinated against the H1N1 flu.

Today, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius will visit Hunter College in New York City for a roundtable discussion with students and faculty about the H1N1 flu.

Secretary Sebelius will also announce a new Facebook application called, "I'm a Flu Fighter" that allows users to tell their friends that they received the flu vaccination and urge others to do the same.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) today announced a new H1N1 flu vaccination advertisement that will air during four College Football Bowl Games held over the New Year's holiday.

The ad is aimed at encouraging young people and all Americans to get vaccinated against the H1N1 flu.