The influenza vaccine has been in the market for more than 50 years. There are two aims for the vaccine to reduce morbidity (especially those at high risk), and for those already down with the influenza virus, the vaccine helps to prevent other complications, says Dr Chin. According to him, the influenza vaccine can be given to those as young as six months old. For those in the high-risk group the elderly, babies and those with medical problems like weak lungs or asthma a simple case of...

But among health experts, a bigger concern than the seasonal flu is an outright flu pandemic, such as a human strain of avian flu. This is because when the head of the household makes a choice flu shots or no flu shots on behalf of all the other household members, there is no individual decision-making, and adaptability is decreased. According to the researchers, the severity of such a health crisis could be reduced if programs were to provide several years of free vaccinations to...

The European Union's advisory panel on new drugs has recommended approval for Novartis' new cell based seasonal flu vaccine Optaflu which suggests full approval is likely to go ahead in the next two or three months. According to a press release from the European Medicines Agency (EMEA), the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP), which reviews applications for all 27 countries in the EU as well as Iceland and Norway, has given a "positive opinion" for the Swiss...

Agyen-Frempong said poultry exports, mostly day-old chicks from hatcheries in the central city of Kumasi being shipped to neighbouring countries, had been halted. Health authorities detected a case of bird flu on a poultry farm at Tema, Ghana's main port city that is 18 kilometers (11 miles) east of Accra. But imports are permissible from countries which are certified to be free from avian influenza," he said. Experts are worried weak human and animal health services in sub-Saharan Africa...

Secondly, flu strains change frequently, sometimes so much that an entirely new vaccination must be produced to fight it a process that can take six to nine months. The current status of bird flu, or avian influenza, resembles a fire in a hearth. While there, he discussed the likelihood of a flu pandemic and methods that communities can use to prepare for one as recommended by the CDC. First, the death rate of bird flu in humans is approximately 60 percent, 30 times greater than the death...