Health trends

Flu vaccine approved

The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently announced that it has approved the 2011-2012 influenza vaccine formulation for all six manufacturers licensed to produce and distribute influenza vaccine for the United States (US). Vaccination remains the cornerstone of preventing influenza, a contagious respiratory disease caused by influenza viruses.

The vaccine formulation protects against the three virus strains that surveillance indicates will be most common during the upcoming season and includes the same virus strains used for the 2010-2011 influenza season.

On average, between five and 20 per cent of the US population develops influenza each year, leading to more than 200,000 hospitalisations from related complications, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Influenza-related deaths vary yearly, ranging from a low of about 3,000 to a high of 49,000 people.

"Vaccines to prevent seasonal influenza have a long and successful track record of safety and effectiveness in the United States," said Karen Midthun, director of FDA's Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research. "It is important to get vaccinated every year, even if the strains in the vaccine do not change, because the protection received the previous year will diminish over time and may be too low to provide protection into the next year."

Source: The US Food and Drug Administration

Osteoporosis drugs and cancer

The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) notified health-care professionals and patients about its ongoing review of data from published studies to evaluate whether use of oral bisphosphonate drugs is associated with an increased risk of cancer of the oesophagus.

FDA has not concluded that taking an oral bisphosphonate drug increases the risk of oesophageal cancer. There are insufficient data to recommend endoscopic screening of asymptomatic patients. FDA will continue to evaluate all available data supporting the safety and effectiveness of bisphosphonate drugs and will update the public when more information becomes available.

Oral bisphosphonates are commonly used for the prevention and treatment of osteoporosis as well as to treat other bone diseases such as Paget's disease. There have been conflicting findings from studies evaluating the risk of oesophageal cancer. The drugs include: Fosamax (alendronate), Actonel (risedronate), Boniva (ibandronate), Atelvia (risedronate delayed release), Didronel (etidronate), and Skelid (tiludronate).

Source: The US Food and Drug Administration