U.S. heath ethicists are considering bird flu pandemic priorities -- specifically, when there isn't enough vaccine for everyone, who gets the first doses?
University of Vermont ethicist Alan Wertheimer, professor emeritus of political science and current visiting scholar at the National Institutes of Health, along with NIH's Bioethics Chief Ezekiel Emanuel, recommend placing healthy people from early adolescence to middle age toward the front of the line for vaccination.
They argue vaccine policy should consider the amount an individual has invested in his or her life. A 20-year-old, they suggest, has developed more unfulfilled interests, plans and hopes than a baby and, therefore, deserves a higher priority for vaccine.
Wertheimer concedes the subject is controversial.
"People don't like to ask the sorts of the questions in this paper," Wertheimer said. "It would be nice if we did not have to confront this issue. And we may not have to. But at some point, it seems likely that we may have to confront a pandemic or something else that poses a similar dilemma."
The study appears in the journal Science.
Copyright 2006 by United Press International
Related stories:
HIV conquers immune system faster than previously realized
New research into the earliest events occurring immediately upon infection with HIV-I shows that the virus deals a stunning blow to the immune system earlier than was previously understood. According to scientists at Duke University Medical Center, this suggests the window of opportunity for successful intervention may be only a matter of days – not weeks – after transmission, as researchers had previously believed.
Researchers discover new battleground for viruses and immune cells
Vaccines have led to many of the world’s greatest public health triumphs, but many deadly viruses, such as HIV, still elude the best efforts of scientists to develop effective vaccines against them. An improved understanding of how the immune system operates during a viral infection is critical to designing successful anti-virus vaccines. Scientists from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), have added an important dimension to this knowledge.
Pneumococcal vaccine associated with 50 percent lower risk of heart attacks
Pneumococcal (pneumonia) vaccination was associated with a 50% lower risk of heart attacks 2 years after vaccination, suggests a large hospital-based case-control study published in
CMAJ.
Flu vaccine not associated with reduced hospitalizations or outpatient visits among young children
Use of the influenza vaccine was not associated with preventing hospitalizations or reducing physician visits for the flu in children age 5 and younger during two recent seasons, perhaps because the strains of virus in the vaccine did not match circulating strains, according to a report in the October issue of
Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, one of the
JAMA/Archives journals.
3 share Nobel prize for work on AIDS and cancer
(AP) -- Three European scientists shared the 2008 Nobel Prize in medicine on Monday for separate discoveries of viruses that cause AIDS and cervical cancer, breakthroughs that helped doctors fight the deadly diseases.
Jump seen in staph-linked flu deaths in kids
(AP) -- More children have died from flu because they also had staph infections, according to a new government report that urges parents to have their kids get the flu shot.
Survey confirms parents' fears, confusion over autism
The first national survey of attitudes toward autism reveals that a small but significant percentage of people still believe the disease is caused by childhood vaccines. The survey of 1000 randomly selected adults was conducted for the Florida Institute of Technology.
Researchers develop novel anti-tumor vaccine
A novel anti-tumor vaccine for
neuroblastoma and melanoma developed by scientists and clinicians at Children's National Medical Center in collaboration with investigators from the University of Iowa is showing significant impact on tumor growth in mice, according to new research published in the October edition of the research journal
Cancer Immunology, Immunotherapy. The vaccine uses the tumor's own protein to induce an immune system response, allowing for a personalized approach to treatment.