March 12th, 2008, 9 a.m.

Prove-it Herpes™ offers considerable cost savings for healthcare industry by identifying eight herpesviruses simultaneously

Helsinki, Finland 12 March – the Finland-based biotechnology company Mobidiag today announced the new Prove-it™ Herpes test for the fast and reliable identification of herpesviruses. The microarray-based test takes less than three hours to complete and enables simultaneous identification of eight different human herpesviruses. Herpesviruses cause life-threatening central nervous system infections (CNSI), and rapid diagnosis improves likelihood of recovery. The new test is initially intended for research purposes, and Mobidiag plans to acquire European approval for use in clinical diagnostics later this year.

”Market potential for the product is enormous. In Europe alone, over 100 million euros are spent annually on herpesvirus diagnostics. We believe that Prove-it™ Herpes will gain a considerable slice of that market,” says Jaakko Pellosniemi, CEO of Mobidiag. ”What makes Prove-it™ Herpes unique is that it combines different technologies and integrates them into a single easy-to-use and capable products,” Pellosniemi continues.

In addition to illnesses such as labial herpes, chickenpox and roseola, herpesviruses can also cause serious central nervous system infections such as encephalitis. Without appropriate treatment, mortality rate from these infections can be as high as 50%. The sooner the pathogen is detected, the higher the likelihood of recovery. However, virus detection may be slow with current methods, and in severe suspected virus infection cases, medication is often started merely as a precaution. There are roughly four million of these suspected cases annually in the Industrial World, making testing and treating potential infections very expensive.

The Mobidiag test can detect and identify the viruses many times faster than conventional methods. Appropriate antiviral treatment can be administered sooner, and the level of potential permanent damage to the patient is decreased. Additionally, Mobidiag’s test reveals multi-infections caused by several herpesviruses. The detection is also exceptionally sensitive to low viral loads, which are typical in the early stages of a central nervous system infection.

”We believe that in the future, microarray-based tests will quickly become common in diagnostics due to their simplicity, speed, and reliability. A clinician can instantly check hundreds of viral and bacterial-based illnesses, offering a huge saving potential for the healthcare industry. Mobidiag will play a vital role in this development,” says Pellosniemi.

Founded in 2001, Mobidiag develops rapid diagnostic tests for hospital laboratories. The Prove-it™ Herpes test is developed in co-operation with Hospital Districts of Helsinki and Uusimaa and the University of Helsinki.

Additional information:

CEO Jaakko Pellosniemi, Mobidiag Ltd, tel. + 358 40 501 1004

Mobidiag Ltd is a Finnish biotechnology company developing, producing and marketing rapid diagnostic tests to hospital laboratories. The company focuses on detection of serious infections with DNA-tests. More information on www.mobidiag.com

From the AP

By MIKE STOBBE – 8 hours ago

ATLANTA (AP) — Children suffered higher rates of fever-related convulsions when they got a Merck & Co. combination vaccine instead of two separate shots, according to a new study presented Wednesday.

The results prompted a federal advisory panel on vaccines to water down their preference for the combo vaccine ProQuad, which protects against measles, mumps and rubella as well as chickenpox.

In the study of children ages 12 months through 23 months, the rate of seizures was twice as high in toddlers who got ProQuad, compared with those who got one shot for chickenpox and one for the three other diseases.

The risk translates to about one extra case of convulsion for every 2,000 doses of ProQuad given said Dr. Nicola Klein, who lead the federally funded study. She presented the data at a meeting of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices.

The study focused on children who develop fevers and then go into convulsions — an occurrence that frightens parents but usually has no lingering consequences. There were no deaths in the new study.

ProQuad was licensed in 2005. It’s been in extremely short supply since last year, when Merck suspended production because of manufacturing problems. The company expects to resume ProQuad production next year.

The panel had previously taken a position that they preferred doctors give children as few needlesticks as possible, and that ProQuad is preferable to giving separate shots.

It voted Wednesday to amend that, to say they’re no longer voicing a preference for ProQuad over the separate shots.

“Safety, shortages, delivery issues — lots of reasons not to state such a strong preference,” said member panel Patsy Stinchfield, an infectious disease expert at Children’s Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota.

Merck officials said their own research, though preliminary, also showed a doubling of the risk in children within five to 12 days of vaccination. However, the occurrence was low — about 5 cases in 10,000, Merck officials said.

They said there was five times more chickenpox antigen, the key ingredient, in the ProQuad shot than in the stand-alone chickenpox shot. But they said it’s not clear that would explain the difference in seizure rates.

For some reason, the difference disappears when comparing rates for 30 days, Merck officials added.

Klein’s research checked seizure rates only at seven to 10 days after vaccination, and looked at about 43,000 kids who got ProQuad and 315,000 who got the two other shots together. It found fever-related seizures occurred at a rate of 9 per 10,000 children vaccinated with ProQuad, compared with 4 per 10,000 for those who got separate shots.

Klein is co-director of Kaiser Permanente Vaccine Study Center in Oakland, Calif., one of seven sites in the study. Her work was funded by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

ProQuad costs $124 per dose, about the same as the two other shots combined.

Feb 11, 2008

Sedgwick County health officials say there has been an outbreak of Chickenpox (Varicella) in two schools in the county. KAKE News has learned that one of those schools is Tanglewood elementary in Derby.

Twenty nine cases have been reported so far in 2008. That’s compared to 23 cases in all of 2006 and 55 cases in all of 2007.
The most common symptoms of chickenpox are fever and an itchy rash which covers the body. The rash usually is most concentrated on the face, scalp, and trunk. Occasionally more serious complications occur including swelling of the brain or pneumonia.

Varicella is highly contagious and spread by coughing and sneezing. Contact with the skin lesions can also spread the disease.

Due to the high level of contagiousness, as well as the potential for serious complications, it is important to seek medical attention from your primary care physician if you or your child is exhibiting symptoms of
Chickenpox. Although children typically acquire the disease, adolescents and adults are at higher risk for a more severe case.

For the full story at wibw.com

Chicken pox cases up despite vaccine

© 2008 The Associated Press

SAN ANTONIO — Texas recorded a 41 percent increase in cases of chicken pox from 2005 to 2006, despite an eight-year-old requirement that children be vaccinated before they can enter kindergarten.

Texas enacted the vaccine requirement for the 2000-2001 school year, but has not mandated a booster for children between the ages of 4 and 6.

A federal advisory committee recommended last year that children get the second dose, after an initial dose at age 1. Texas Department of State Health Services officials said they will study the booster this spring to decide if it too should be required in schools and day care centers.

San Antonio pediatrician Dr. Dianna Burns said she has started seeing a few cases of the virus this season, which normally lasts from late winter through spring. She said most parents agree when she offers the booster.

“The problem is, we’ve had a shortage of the chickenpox vaccine,” Burns said. “That hit us just about at the beginning of school. We’ve had to prioritize to make sure everybody had at least one dose, so we prioritize toward the front.”

Chicken pox, known medically as varicella, is a viral illness marked by a low-grade fever and small blisters that break open and crust. Children with the virus are normally asked to stay home from school for a few days while they’re contagious.

Shirley Schreiber, director of health services with the Northside Independent School District in San Antonio, said vaccinated students who get chicken pox end up staying home the same number of days as they would have without the vaccine.

For the full story

Here is more information from the local news channel.

As of the first of the year, children in daycare are required to be immunized against Hepatitis A, Rotavirus, and Pnuemococcal disease.

Beginning next school year, students entering kindergarten must get a second dose of the chickenpox vaccine. Middle school students will need to be immunized against meningococcal disease, as well as tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis.

The changes are in addition to previously required immunizations, and experts say they`re a good way to keep kids, and their parents healthy.

“Immunizations are important because they not only prevent yourself from getting diseases, or your children, but also from the people around you, so it`s important to keep our kids healthy,” says Molly Sander, Immunization Program Manager.

For the rest of this article visit.

New chicken pox vaccine law puts BHS officials on the spot

01/14/2008 BRUNSWICK —

A chicken pox outbreak barred 140 students from Brunswick High School last week after school staff confirmed on Tuesday that one student had caught the virus.
“We identified the students who could be the most vulnerable to contracting this disease. These students, according to our records, had not received the related immunization or had not contracted the disease during childhood. Contact was made with the identified students along with most of their parents, and efforts were put in place to address or correct the documented status of each student,” Brunswick High School Principal Bruce Cook wrote in a letter to parents and guardians on Wednesday.

To return to school, high school students need to bring documentation of having their first of two rounds of inoculation required for immunity for children older than 13.

All but 20 students returned with the proper documentation the next day, interim Superintendent David Wallace reported at Wednesday’s School Board meeting, but seven students were still excluded as of Friday. Snow canceled classes today.

Special Education Director Paul Austin said the school confirmed one case of chicken pox on Tuesday, and a new law implemented this year meant students that didn’t have documentation of either immunity or inoculation could be sent home for up to 16 days.

For the full article visit this link

City-Cowley County Health Department and USD 465 are cooperating on a response to several reported cases of chicken pox (varicella) in school-aged children in Winfield. In past years, chicken pox has been considered a rite of passage for children. Chicken pox is now considered a vaccine preventable disease.

As of Thursday, the only reported cases have been in elementary students, but with a 10-21 day incubation period, older siblings may begin to develop chicken pox over the next few weeks as well.

Children with chicken pox are most contagious before they develop symptoms which may include a rash, fever, mild cough, runny nose, or headache. Chicken pox is spread by direct contact with the rash or through the air from an infected person’s coughing or sneezing.

All children entering kindergarten were recommended to have had two doses of the chicken pox vaccine.

The recommended two-dose vaccine does not prevent chicken pox in all cases but children who have had both vaccinations are three times less likely to get chicken pox than those who have had only one dose. The vaccine almost always prevents severe cases of chicken pox, according to the Centers for Disease Control.

For more of this story click here

Six Mattanawcook Academy, Mattanawcook Junior High and Ella P. Burr Elementary School students have been diagnosed with the mild but very contagious disease, Superintendent Michael Marcinkus said.

Officials sent a letter to parents seeking student vaccination records or medical histories. Students who can’t show they have been vaccinated or had the chickenpox might be barred from school for 16 days, as required by state law. School officials are considering a temporary inoculation program, but if that happens, it won’t occur until next week, the superintendent said.

“The health and safety of all students and employees is our main concern,” Marcinkus said Thursday.

The outbreak was discovered Wednesday among three siblings — two at Burr, one at Mattanawcook Junior High. One case was discovered at school, while the others were identified later, Marcinkus said.

For more of this story click here