Science Media Centre

The European Court of Justice has ruled that national courts can decide that vaccines can cause adverse reactions, even in the absence of scientific evidence. The ruling follows a case of a French patient who was vaccinated against hepatitis B in 1998 and developed multiple sclerosis a year later. Prior to his death in 2011, […]

Influenza vaccinations are more effective in the morning, reports a new study. The UK research, published in the journal Vaccine, compared the immune response of 276 older adults vaccinated in the morning  or afternoon, and found that morning-vaccinated people had more influenza-fighting antibodies when tested one month later Read more about the study on Scimex.org The Science […]

Superbugs and vaccines are high on the agenda this week at the Australasian Society for Infectious Diseases (ASID) conference, an event which has received national media attention. Research to be presented at the meeting includes a link drawn between the overuse of topical antibiotics and the spread of  Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) skin infections. Advances […]

In conjunction with the Australasian Society for Infectious Diseases, the Science Media Centre hosted an online briefing to preview new research highlights from their international conference on infectious diseases in Auckland this week (18-21 March). Speakers presented new findings on: How prescriptions for children’s skin infections are driving the spread of a new superbug strain (MRSA) Effectiveness of the childhood […]

Australian and New Zealand researchers are teaming up to tackle the challenge of developing a vaccine for rheumatic fever. The Coalition to Advance New Vaccines for Group A Streptococcus (CANVAS), announced this week, is a new initiative funded by the governments of New Zealand and Australia. The collaboration aims to develop a vaccine against Group […]

A new study in the journal Nature describes a model that can successfully predict changes in seasonal human influenza virus from year to year. The model, developed by German and US researchers, considers the evolutionary advantages of mutations in previous influenza strains, and the frequency of these mutations, to predict the future evolution of current […]

Republished from The Conversation under Creative Commons license. By Rachael Dunlop, University of Technology, Sydney Recently released government figures show levels of childhood vaccination have fallen to dangerously low levels in some areas of Australia, resulting in some corners of the media claiming re-ignition of “the vaccine debate”. You can check how your postcode rates […]

A British doctor found guilty of serious professional misconduct over the MMR controversy has won his High Court appeal against being struck off, but experts stress that the ruling doesn’t reflect a change in thinking regarding the vaccine. Prof John Walker-Smith, a colleague of Dr Andrew Wakefield,  was involved in research which supposedly identified a […]

New research shows that perfluorinated compounds (PFCs), widely used in manufactured products such as non-stick cookware, waterproof clothing, and fast-food packaging, are associated with lowered immune response to vaccinations in children. Danish and American researchers analysed data from 587 children tested for immune response to tetanus and diphtheria vaccinations at ages 5 and 7 years. […]

The SMC put the following questions to Professor Diana Lennon, head of  Clinical Paediatrics, School of Medicine, at Auckland University, who in a new research paper* claims a delay in progressing the vaccine strategy against menigococcal B, “led to unnecessary and potentially avoidable deaths and sequelae, many lifelong”. Click here to read a previously published […]