Children Should Get 2nd Dose of Chickenpox Vaccine: CDC Panel
Children 4 to 6 years old should be given the varicella zoster (chickenpox) vaccine, in addition to the initial dose they received at age 12 to 18 months, an expert panel advising the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has recommended.
Up to 20 percent of children who receive a single dose of the vaccine aren't fully protected against chickenpox, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices said in recommending the second dose to the full CDC. In a statement, the panel also said a single dose administered at 18 months or younger might not continue to offer protection into adulthood.
Before the varicella vaccine was licensed in 1995, about 4 million U.S. cases of chickenpox were reported each year, leading to 13,500 hospitalizations and 150 deaths. Those numbers have since declined by up to 85 percent, the agency said.
Nonetheless, the CDC said it has been concerned about scattered outbreaks among vaccinated school children. Chickenpox cases in vaccinated children are usually mild, but the children can transmit the virus to others, including adults who are prone to more severe symptoms.
The full CDC typically follows the recommendations of its advisory panels.
Prostate Cancer Vaccine Boosts Survival: Study
Men with advanced prostate cancer who were given an investigational cancer vaccine survived an average of 4 1/2 months longer than men who received a placebo, researchers found.
Dendreon Corp's sipuleucel-T vaccine delayed disease progression and prolonged survival in men with asymptomatic metastatic hormone refractory prostate cancer, researchers at the University of California, San Francisco, said in a statement. Dendreon funded the study at 19 centers in the United States.
The vaccine, known by the brand name Provenge, is designed to stimulate immunity to prostatic acid phosphatase, an antigen found in some 95 percent of prostate cancers, the researchers said.
Median survival was 25.9 months longer among those given the vaccine, compared to 21.4 months for placebo-treated men, the researchers said. The study appears in the July issue of the Journal of Clinical Oncology.
Anemia Drug Approved for Blood Cancer
The anemia drug Revlimid (lenalidomide) has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for a new use to treat multiple myeloma, a cancer of the blood.
The new approval allows maker Celgene Corp. to market Revlimid for use in combination with the steroid dexamethasone among multiple myeloma patients who have tried at least one prior therapy, the Associated Press reported.
In clinical trials, participants who took Revlimid and dexamethasone survived an average of 29.6 months, compared with 20.2 months for those who took a combination of dexamethasone and a placebo.
Multiple myeloma affects about 50,000 people in the United States, and more than 14,000 new cases are diagnosed annually, the AP said.
Liver-Damage Reports Prompt Antibiotic Label Change
The labeling for the antibiotic Ketek (telithromycin) will be updated to reflect the possibility of severe liver damage, manufacturer Sanofi-Aventis said Thursday.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has received 12 reports of acute liver failure, four of which were fatal, the Associated Press reported. FDA safety evaluators found 23 other cases of serious liver injury among Ketek users, the wire service said.
An internal FDA memo says those injury reports, in proportion to the number of prescriptions written, exceed adverse reports for similar drugs, the AP said.
The drug has been sold in the United States since 2004. Earlier this month, Sanofi stopped enrolling children in trials of Ketek, the wire service said.
The Senate Finance Committee is investigating allegations of fraud connected with the Ketek trials, the AP reported, without elaborating.
Lawsuit Challenges Medicaid Proof-of-Citizenship Rule
A class-action lawsuit filed in Chicago seeks to strike down a law requiring Medicaid beneficiaries to prove U.S. citizenship before obtaining health benefits.
The lawsuit, filed this week in federal district court, seeks to enjoin the Bush administration from implementing the law, which is set to take effect July 1. Consumer groups fear the law would cause millions of low-income citizens to become uninsured, the Associated Press reported.
Congress passed the legislation earlier this year to ensure that only citizens or qualified legal immigrants have access to Medicaid. The move was sparked by an inspector general's report showing that most states don't verify claims of U.S. citizenship.
Under the disputed law, if records such as birth certificates or passports are unavailable, states can accept sworn affidavits from two people, one of whom cannot be a relative. The witnesses would be subject to prosecution if they commit perjury, the AP said.
Scientists Find Gene Boosts Melanoma Risk
Scientists have identified a gene that increases a person's risk of developing the most common form of melanoma skin cancer.
Researchers at the U.S. National Cancer Institute said they've identified variant forms of the melanocortin-1 receptor (MC1R) gene that increase a person's risk of melanoma, even if the person has dark skin pigmentation.
Looking for an association between inherited variant forms of MC1R and the development of melanoma, the researchers studied melanomas in 85 people at the Bufalini Hospital in Cesena, Italy, and 112 patients at the Department of Dermatology at the University of California, San Francisco.
"Knowing who is at greater risk for melanoma due to heredity, and understanding the pathways leading to cancer, are important steps in addressing a disease which is expected to be diagnosed in over 62,000 Americans in 2006," said Dr. Elias A. Zerhouni, director of the U.S. National Institutes of Health.
The findings are published in the June 29 online edition of the journal Science.
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