Pediatricians will join call for mandatory flu shots. The American Academy of Pediatrics plans to call for all health workers to get flu vaccinations, saying unvaccinated doctors, nurses and other medical staffers pose a threat to patients. [News Source]

Bird flu jumps to pigs. The H5N1 bird flu virus may be evolving the ability to spread from mammal to mammal, says a team who have discovered that pigs in Indonesia have been infected with the disease since 2005. It's one step in the frightening chain of events that could lead to human transmission and a pandemic. [News Source]

More Seniors Get Flu Shot After Personalized Reminders, Provider Urging Personalized post cards or phone calls can be effective in encouraging more seniors to get their annual flu shots, according to a new review of evidence. Professional facilitators are also successful at urging providers to perform a suite of preventive services, including flu shots for seniors. The results apply to people age 60 and older living in the community, the authors note. Studies of the ... [News Source]

Medicago announces a single low dose of its H5 VLP Vaccine achieves 100% cross-protection in lethal challenge study in … Medicago Inc. , a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on developing highly effective and affordable vaccines based on proprietary manufacturing technologies and Virus-Like Particles , today announced that a single low dose of its pandemic vaccine formulated for the H5N1 Indonesia strain of Avian flu provided 100% cross-protection in ferrets against a lethal challenge with the highly ... [News Source]

Bird flu surveillance continues in ND BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — State and federal wildlife agencies plan to continue testing wild birds in North Dakota for highly pathogenic strains of avian influenza, better known as bird flu. [News Source]

Data finds low risk of serious complications in 2009 H1N1 infection An analysis of data from influenza cases in Wisconsin indicates individuals with 2009 H1N1 infections were younger than those with H3N2 (2007-2008), and that the risk of most serious complications was not higher in adults or children with 2009 H1N1 compared with recent seasonal strains, according to a study in the September 8 issue of JAMA. [News Source]

Risks of ‘imported’ measles An outbreak of measles at an international youth soccer event illustrates the risks of with "imported" measles, according to a study in the September issue of The Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal. The journal is published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a part of Wolters Kluwer Health, a leading provider of information and business intelligence for students, professionals, and institutions ... [News Source]

Personalized reminders effective in encouraging seniors to get annual flu shots Personalized post cards or phone calls can be effective in encouraging more seniors to get their annual flu shots, according to a new review of evidence. Professional facilitators are also successful at urging providers to perform a suite of preventive services, including flu shots for seniors. [News Source]

Fluctuation in PCV-7 vaccine dosing time increases pneumococcal serotype 19A strains: Study Infants who received heptavalent pneumococcal conjugate vaccination (PCV-7) at 2, 4, and 11 months were more likely than unvaccinated controls to have nasopharyngeal (in the nasal passages and upper part of the throat behind the nose) acquisition of pneumococcal serotype 19A, a leading cause of respiratory pneumococcal disease, according to a study in the September 8 issue of JAMA. [News Source]

NIH awards St. Jude $8.6M to focus on anticancer agent research in children With its new expansion of the Pharmacogenomics Research Network (PGRN), the National Institutes of Health (NIH) awarded St. Jude Children's Research Hospital a prestigious grant to focus on anticancer agent research in children. [News Source]