Content about Microbiology

CAMP HILL, Pa. — A retail pharmacy chain's efforts to immunize customers have won recognition from an organization of the country's pharmacists.

Rite Aid won the American Pharmacists Association's Immunization Champion Award in the national corporation and institution category, the chain said Thursday.

As many as 111 million Americans had gotten a flu shot by mid-November, representing 36% of the 305 million Americans older than 6 months of age, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported in early December. The number of people getting vaccinated is up slightly from last year, the CDC reported, most notably among children and seniors.

ATLANTA — Clover Labs, based in Fairview, Tenn., last week announced a new delivery system format — peppermint-flavored gum — for an intimacy supplement presented at the ECRM Vitamin, Diet & Sports Nutrition EPPS conference.

Branded Vantage-X, the product is designed to take up to one hour prior to intimacy.

The company has also partnered with Ansell Healthcare and Biofilm with a number of combination packs coupling Clover's Vantage-X with Lifestyle-brand condoms and Astroglide personal lubricants, respectively.

NEW YORK — Pharmacists in Florida are hoping to expand the kinds of vaccinations they can administer, according to published reports.

Tallahassee, Fla., CBS affiliate WTSP reported that a bill proposed in the state legislature would allow pharmacists to administer shots to prevent pneumonia and shingles. While pharmacists in Florida have been able to administer flu shots since 2007, the state remains one of the few where they can't administer pneumonia and shingles shots.

A committee in the state House of Representatives voted in favor of the bill, WTSP reported.

NEW YORK — The Food and Drug Administration has approved a Pfizer vaccine for Streptococcus pneumoniae in adults ages 50 years and older, the company said.

Pfizer announced the FDA approval of Prevnar 13 (pneumococcal 13-valent conjugate vaccine [diphtheria CRM197 protein]) as a single-dose for adults.

PITMAN, N.J. — According to an article in the November/December issue of the journal Medical-Surgical Nursing, rates of HIV/AIDS, herpes, syphilis, human papilloma virus and other STDs are climbing steadily across men and women older than 50 years. 

WASHINGTON — The Department of Health and Human Services on Monday announced that the first U.S. facility to use a faster and more flexible technology to make influenza vaccine was dedicated as part of an initiative that could provide vaccine supplies sooner in an influenza pandemic.

ATLANTA — As many as 111 million Americans had gotten a flu shot by mid-November, representing 36% of the 305 million Americans over the age of 6 months, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention stated in a media telebriefing Monday afternoon. The number of people getting vaccinated is up slightly from last year, the CDC reported, most notably among children and seniors.

CAMP HILL, Pa. — Rite Aid is responding to a flu vaccination campaign by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention by lowering prices on flu vaccinations, the retail pharmacy chain said Monday.

To mark National Influenza Vaccination Week, the retailer is offering flu shots for $19.99 through Dec. 17.

NEW YORK — Cases of whooping cough have been increasing in the Milwaukee area, according to published reports.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported that the bacterial infection known medically as pertussis is spreading among kids at school districts in Wisconsin, citing public health officials as saying that new, stronger vaccines may be needed.

LYNDHURST, N.J. — Despite the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommending that most people get flu shots, many members of the public remain skeptical, according to a new survey by Vitals.com.

PHILADELPHIA — A hand and respiratory hygiene program including frequent use of alcohol-based hand sanitizer helped reduce illness caused by influenza A, and reduced the number of missed school days in elementary school children, according to a study in the November issue of the Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal.