Vaccine

Best of BS Opinion: India must hold the line on climate action

Today's opinions examine India's climate diplomacy lessons, vaccine resistance amid medical advances, AI's real-world limitations, RSS outreach to Gen Z and the growing threat of cognitive warfare

US vaccine policy risks undermining use of tech to advance medical science

Flaws in US vaccine policy could make it impossible to leverage technology in optimal ways to advance medical science

Rivals of the polio vaccine and the race to defeat a deadly disease

The adulation served to marginalise the contributions of others, none more so than Albert Sabin, whose competing polio vaccine proved essential in controlling the disease

India's first dengue vaccine: What is QDENGA and who can take it?

India has approved its first dengue vaccine. Japan-based Takeda's *QDENGA* is now approved for people aged *4 to 60 years* and protects against all four dengue virus serotypes.

Takeda gets DCGI approval for QDENGA, India's first dengue vaccine

The vaccine has been approved for individuals aged 4-60 years and can be administered without prior dengue screening, marking India's first vaccine-based strategy against the disease

SII to manufacture TB vaccine candidate under Gates MRI agreement

The agreement positions the Pune-based vaccine maker to manufacture the M72/AS01E TB vaccine candidate at scale if ongoing Phase III trials succeed and approvals are secured

New personalised mRNA vaccine may change pancreatic cancer outcomes

A personalised mRNA vaccine may help the immune system fight pancreatic cancer for years, with early trial data showing reduced recurrence in some patients

Qdenga dengue vaccine nears rollout in India: What experts want you to know

With dengue rising across regions, doctors break down the vaccine's benefits, safety, and why mosquito control still remains essential

Federal judge blocks US govt from slimming down vaccine recommendations

A federal judge in Boston has temporarily blocked federal health officials from cutting the number of vaccines recommended for every child, and says U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. likely violated federal procedures in revamping a key vaccine advisory committee. The decision Monday halts an order by Kennedy - announced in January - to end broad recommendations for all children to be vaccinated against flu, rotavirus, hepatitis A, hepatitis B, some forms of meningitis and RSV. Leading medical groups voiced alarm at the changes. The American Academy of Pediatrics and some other groups amended a lawsuit filed in July, asking the judge to stop the government from scaling back the nation's childhood vaccination schedule. The judge also says Kennedy's reconstitution of the vaccine advisory panel likely violated federal law. He ordered the appointments - and all decisions made by the reformed committee - put on hold.

Universal vaccine for colds, flu, Covid shows promise, suggests new study

A new study in mice explores a nasal vaccine approach that could offer broad protection against respiratory infections

Anti-vaccine sentiment threatens pandemic preparedness: Health official

Richard Hatchett, who leads the Cepi, a partnership of governments and philanthropies that was among the first to fund Covid-19 vaccines, said epidemics and pandemics remained a key global threat

Improved immunisation key to fight variant poliovirus strains: Expert

Oral polio vaccines (OPVs) are safe, effective and central to global eradication efforts, but there is a need for improved immunisation to combat the emergence of vaccine-derived poliovirus strains, a US-based public health expert said. Referring to India's current status, Gates Foundation Deputy Director Dr Ananda Sankar Bandyopadhyay said paralytic outbreaks from circulating strains of variant polioviruses have not been detected in recent years, an indication that the country has been able to "maintain high routine immunisation coverage". Notably, India was certified polio-free in March 2014. "Oral polio vaccines (OPVs) are safe, effective, affordable, and easy to deliver. Use of OPV through routine immunisation and mass vaccination campaigns has eliminated poliovirus transmission and prevented paralysis in children across the world, with 99.9 per cent of the world polio-free," Bandyopadhyay told PTI from Seattle, USA. He said variant strains primarily emerge in areas with weak .

Human trials for Japan-developed Nipah vaccine set to begin in April

A Nipah vaccine developed at the University of Tokyo is set to enter human trials in April, as India reports fresh cases of the deadly virus that currently has no approved treatment

This common vaccine may be linked to slower biological ageing in the elderly

New US research links the shingles vaccine to lower inflammation and slower biological ageing in later life, suggesting adult vaccination may support healthier ageing beyond infection prevention

New study finds no link between childhood vaccines and epilepsy risk

The findings add to growing evidence supporting vaccine safety, showing no higher epilepsy risk among children who received routine immunisations

Dr Reddy's Laboratories launches hepatitis E vaccine Hevaxin in India

The company said Hevaxin is the only hepatitis E vaccine approved by the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) and is indicated for active immunisation against HEV infection

Autism myths busted: Vaccines, parenting & the truth about the spectrum

Do vaccines cause autism? Is it bad parenting? Can autism be cured? In this episode of our fact-check series, experts debunk common autism myths and explain how misinformation delays diagnosis and fue

US vaccine expert blames policy failures for measles outbreak in Texas

Multiple measles outbreaks in Texas have pushed US cases to their highest level in more than 30 years, a vaccine expert said. Peter Hotez, dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine, told PTI in an exclusive interview that the resurgence of measles and pertussis (whooping cough) reflects gaps in both state and federal vaccination policy. The policy gaps are both at the state level, especially in 18 US states such as Texas and elsewhere, allowing nonmedical vaccine exemptions for reasons of personal belief. And now in 2025, with this new Administration at the federal level for the first time seeking to limit access to MMR vaccines or vaccines with aluminium adjuvants, all for ideological, non-scientific reasons, he said. He also pointed to failures in vaccine advocacy. The advocacy gap comes from the US Secretary of HHS, who on an almost weekly basis makes disinformed public statements and promotes antivaccine disinformation, Hotez added. Hotez ..

As anti-vaccine conferences rise, future of medicine seems to be in trouble

Vaccine decisions today go beyond personal risk-benefit - they carry cultural and political weight, often leading to judgement when outcomes don't go as expected

HPV research bolsters case for vaccine as misinformation battle intensifies

HPV vaccination reduces the incidence of cervical cancer by about 80 per cent in people vaccinated at or before the age of 16, according to findings published Monday in two Cochrane reviews