The godfather of vaccines discussing the future of vaccinology — dr. stanley plotkin, MD.

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Dr. Stanley Plotkin, MD (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanley_Plotkin), is an American physician, scientist, and scholar, who in the 1960s, while working at Wistar Institute in Philadelphia, played a pivotal role in discovery of a vaccine against rubella virus (which is now used worldwide as a key component of the MMR vaccine), and has worked extensively on the development and application of a wide range of other vaccines including those for polio, rabies, varicella, rotavirus and cytomegalovirus (https://www.epiv.eu/).

Dr. Plotkin graduated from New York University in 1952 and obtained a medical degree at Downstate Medical Center in Brooklyn. He was a resident in pediatrics at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and at the Hospital for Sick Children in London.

In 1957, Dr. Plotkin served in the Epidemic Intelligence Service of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) of the U.S. Public Health Service for three years and then served as a member of Wistar’s active research faculty from 1960 to 1991.

Today, in addition to his emeritus appointment at Wistar, Dr. Plotkin is emeritus professor of Pediatrics at the University of Pennsylvania (https://www.med.upenn.edu/apps/faculty/index.php/g275/p1554), and works as a consultant advising vaccine manufacturers, biotechnology firms, non-profits and governments.

There should be some vaccine against common cold because globally millions of people suffer s due to this disease.

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Vaccines are an effective public health strategy, but so far, science has not been able to develop one for the common cold.

In a recent study published in Scientific Reports, researchers identified serological Hepatitis C virus (HCV) signatures and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) signatures through the secondary utilization of ribonucleic acid sequencing (RNA-seq) analysis data among previous and existing smokers with or without COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease).

Viral detection by RNA sequencing analysis has increased the knowledge base of viruses causing human infections. Identifying undiagnosed viral infections by using existing nucleic acid sequencing data could facilitate epidemiological survey-based analysis and aid in the development of diagnostic and therapeutic options for improved population health.

If you enjoy some good toilet technology, then I think “urine” for a treat. Starling Medical is poised to launch its at-home urine diagnostic patient-monitoring platform, dubbed “StarStream,” that doesn’t rely on the traditional catching containers or dipsticks.

Now, if you’re thinking this technology sounds familiar, you would be correct: My colleague Haje Jan Kamps wrote about Withings’ U-Scan, a urinalysis device, earlier this month when the health-focused consumer tech company debuted it at CES. U-Scan also sits in the toilet for at-home monitoring.

However, Alex Arevalos, Starling’s co-founder and CEO, told TechCrunch that this is an underserved market — the global urinalysis market is forecasted to be valued at $4.9 billion by 2026, meaning there is plenty of room for Withings and a scrappy startup.

A monoclonal antibody treatment was found to be safe, well tolerated, and effective in protecting against malaria in a small group of healthy volunteers who were exposed to malaria in a challenge study, according to new research published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases by researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM).

“The study demonstrates the feasibility of using monoclonal antibody therapies to help prevent malarial infection and holds promise for deployment to places where the disease is endemic,” said Kirsten Lyke, MD, Professor of Medicine and Director of the Malaria Vaccine and Challenge Unit in the Center for Vaccine Development and Global Health (CVD) at UMSOM. “This may allow us to revisit malaria eradication efforts.”

There were 241 million malaria cases and 627,000 deaths reported worldwide in 2020 alone, which is a 12 percent increase from 2019. Public health experts contend new strategies are urgently needed to achieve the United Nation’s sustainable development goal of 90 percent reduction in malaria incidence and mortality by 2030. Scientists have tried for decades to develop a highly effective malaria vaccine without much success.

A novel virus, potentially fatal to whales and dolphins, has been discovered by researchers at the University of Hawaiʻi Health and Stranding Lab. Prior to its discovery in 10 whale and dolphin host species across the Pacific, the virus was found in only a single marine mammal worldwide, a Longman’s beaked whale stranded on Maui in 2010. The findings are published in Frontiers in Marine Science.

The discovery of beaked whale circovirus (BWCV) in whales and dolphins expands the knowledge of marine mammal species that can become infected with the disease. Circoviruses are DNA viruses that cause disease in birds, pigs and dogs, and in severe cases can become fatal.

“Our study found Cuvier’s beaked whales tested positive for BWCV in Saipan and American Samoa, nearly 4,000 miles away from the first discovered case,” said Kristi West, director of the UH Health and Stranding Lab. “The positive cases found outside of Hawaiʻi were surprising, and indicates that this virus is spread across the Central and Western Pacific and may have a global presence in marine mammals.”