Here are some of the latest health and medical news
developments, compiled by the editors of HealthDay:
Malaria Vaccine Only 30 Percent Effective in Infants: Study
An ongoing study shows that an experimental GlaxoSmithKline
malaria vaccine once thought to show promise is only about 30
percent effective at protecting infants aged 6 to 12 weeks from the
deadly disease.
Study results released last year suggested that the vaccine
reduced malaria risk by about half in slightly older children. Even
that is far below the protection provided from most vaccines, the
Associated Pressreported.
The vaccine's protection levels are "unacceptably low,"
according to Dr. Jennifer Cohn, a medical coordinator at Doctors
Without Borders.
The latest study included more than 6,500 infants in Africa who
received the three-shot vaccine regimen. The findings were
presented Friday at a conference in South Africa and published
online in the
New England Journal of Medicine.
The study, funded by GlaxoSmithKline and the PATH Malaria
Initiative, is expected to continue until 2012, the
APreported.
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'GM' Food Labeling Supporters Upbeat Despite California Loss
After suffering a defeat on a ballot measure in California on
Tuesday, advocates for the labeling of genetically modified foods
pledged to carry their fight to other states.
The measure that would have made California the first state to
require such labeling was defeated 53.1 percent to 46.9 percent,
The New York Timesreported.
Despite the defeat, proponents of the measure said they were
encouraged it received 4.3 million votes in support, even though
they were outspent about five-to-one by food and biotechnology
companies that opposed the measure.
The labeling advocates are now gathering signatures to place a
similar measure on the ballot in Washington state next year, the
Timesreported.