Health Agency Warns About Possibility Of Unsafe Swine Vaccines; Old Drug Gets The Go-Ahead For STI Prevention
Read recent pharmaceutical developments in KFF Health News' Prescription Drug Watch roundup.
Reuters:
Exclusive: World Animal Health Body Warns Of Swine Fever Vaccine Risks As Vietnam Readies Exports
The World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) is warning that more testing of African swine fever vaccines is needed, triggered by Vietnam's plans to export doses in coming months to fight a disease that regularly ravages pig farms worldwide. In a world first, Vietnam authorised in July two attenuated live-virus vaccines against the disease, which is not deadly to humans but is extremely infectious among pigs and has caused repeated disruptions to the global pork market, which data provider Research and Markets said was worth about $250 billion in 2022. (Guarascio, Vu and Flores, 12/6)
CIDRAP:
With Sexually Transmitted Infections Climbing, An Old Antibiotic Gets A New Job
Sometime next year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will publish guidelines for one of the first new sexually transmitted infection (STI) prevention tools in decades. The tool—the tetracycline antibiotic doxycycline—is not new. In fact, it was first approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 1967 and has since then been used to treat a variety of bacterial infections, from respiratory infections to skin infections and STIs like chlamydia and syphilis. Safe, inexpensive, and widely available, it's the most commonly used tetracycline and is on the World Health Organization's list of essential medicines. (Dall, 12/4)
Reuters:
US FDA Says BD Recalling Infusion Pumps Due To Compatibility Issues
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said on Friday that Becton Dickinso is recalling its Alaris infusion pumps due to compatibility issues with Cardinal Health's Monoject syringes. The health regulator said Alaris pumps are validated for use with Monoject syringes. However, the dimensions for Monoject syringes have recently changed while rebranding the syringes from Covidien Monoject to Cardinal Health Monoject. (12/4)
