Articles related to VACCINES/IMMUNIZATION

Messenger RNA (mRNA) is in the spotlight right now as the basis of the Moderna and Pfizer/BioNTech vaccines for COVID-19. Thanks to this newfound prominence, its profile has been raised as a powerful tool in cancer research as well. As a courier of genetic information and protein assembler, mRNA can tell scientists which genes are active within a cell and produce the proteins that alert the immune system to the presence of cancer.

The 27-member petition, which is led by Dr. Linda Wastila, a professor of pharmaceutical health services research at the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy, calls the notion of approval to stimulate vaccination rates “backward logic.” The group of clinicians and researchers claim data should be from completed phase III trials, not interim results. “Slow down and get the science right,” the group wrote in a blog post published in The British Medical Journal.

The data was presented to the FDA, which reported 789 cases of myocarditis/pericarditis – predominantly in males – after receiving the Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna vaccines, most commonly after the second dose. Symptoms included chest pain, elevated cardiac enzymes, ST or T wave changes, dyspnea, and abnormal echocardiography/imaging for those ages 30 years and younger.

Since April 2021, there have been reports of myocarditis and/or pericarditis after receipt of an m-RNA COVID-19 vaccine, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) . Most cases have been among male adolescents and young adults ages 16 and older, typically occurring within several days after the second dose of m-RNA COVID-19 vaccine.

As millions of Americans get vaccinated, you may be being presented with many questions about what’s next and whether your patients – and you! – are going to need vaccine passports to begin traveling again. Educate yourself and your patients with these five pieces of knowledge on digital health and vaccine passport apps. Whether the interest is international or domestic travel, the information applies.

The research, taken from the CLARITY study and published in GUT, found that 865 people given the Pfizer/BioNTech or the Oxford/AZ COVID-19 vaccine and treated with infliximab (Remicade) had significantly lower concentrations of antibodies when compared to 428 people on an alternative treatment, vedolizumab (Entyvio). Infliximab is prescribed to around two million people worldwide.