Vaccine

Cervical cancer is the second most prevalent cancer (second to breast cancer) to affect women in South Africa. The most common cancer to affect black women - 31 per cent of all cancers - it is also preventable and treatable. It is associated with the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV), of which the most prevalent strains are 16 and 18. Cervical cancer also appears to be an opportunistic infection among those living with HIV as it links to a weakened immune system. In South Africa a woman's risk of developing cervical cancer is one in 26. Each year 6 700 women develop cervical cancer while 3 700 die from the disease annually in South Africa.

Eleven suspected cases of measles are been treated in the Ndebala village in Eastern Cape, the department of health said on Saturday.

The Department of Health has introduced a new anti-tetanus vaccine for children, it was announced on Friday. The department's Fidel Hadebe said the vaccine was introduced to clinics and hospitals as of 1 February 2008 . Diftavax Td is to be administered to children at the age of six and 12 years.

Scientists have captured an image of the AIDS virus in a biological handshake with the immune cells it attacks, and said on Wednesday they hope this can help lead to a better vaccine against the incurable disease.

In the UK, primary care practitioners administer infant immunisations at 2, 3 and 4 months of age. Despite recommendations for use of a wide-long (23G,25mm) needle, many UK practitioners immunise infants using a narrow-short (25G, 16mm) needle and uncertainty has arisen because of insufficient data to define best practice.

Along with the rest of the global community, the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI) commemorates today, May 18, World AIDS Vaccine Day a day to renew commitments to the research and development of new preventive technologies to halt the HIV/AIDS epidemic. On this day nine years ago, U.S. President William Jefferson Clinton challenged the world to battle the global killer by developing an AIDS vaccine.

Promising findings from two studies are offering the hope of a safe and effective vaccine against the most common cause of childhood diarrhoea.

A pioneering vaccination programme for children has virtually wiped out a killer bug in the Gambia - and could save hundreds of thousands of young lives across Africa.

Manhica, Mozambique - Groundbreaking malaria vaccine trials in Mozambique have shown good results but cannot alone win the fight against one of Africa's biggest killers, a senior research scientist says.

The AIDS Vaccine Advocacy Coalition (AVAC), a US-based NGO, has released a new publication to help the general public understand why an effective vaccine for the disease has been elusive.