#multidose

[crossroadpharmacy]

Keeping track of multiple medications can be challenging, especially when they need to be taken at different times throughout the day. If you’ve ever struggled with pill boxes, numerous pill bottles, and the risk of missing doses, we have great news for you!

[auroramosaic]

i am writing a 3 page long rage letter to cvs pharmacy rn i have decided that, even though my ability to make change is limited, i can at the very least be a real fucking inconvenience to people making disabled lives harder and rn i am pissed w cvs and if that makes me that bitch to write letters to corporate who fucking cares it's all i can even do ugh fuck the american healthcare industry

[lemondeabicyclette]

Les responsables fédéraux amères ricains de la santé intensifient leurs efforts pour lutter contre ce qu'ils prétendent être la menace croissante de la grippe aviaire H5N1 avec des plans pour produire 4,8 millions de doses de vaccin et augmenter la surveillance de la grippe à l'échelle nationale.

La décision intervient alors que deux nouveaux cas d'infection par la grippe aviaire humaine ont été identifiés - au Michigan et en Australie - ce qui accere les inquiétudes quant au potentiel du virus à se propager chez l'homme.

Le nouveau vaccin, actuellement sous forme en vrac, sera rempli et fini dans des flacons multidoses par l'un des États-Unis. Les partenaires de fabrication du ministère de la Santé et des Services sociaux (HHS) sans perturber la production de vaccins contre la grippe saisonnière, selon le Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP) de l'Université du Minnesota.

La secrétaire adjointe au HHS pour la préparation et l'intervention, Dawn O'Connell, a déclaré mercredi que des discussions actives sont en cours dans l'ensemble des agences fédérales sur les principaux déclencheurs du déploiement des doses de vaccin H5N1.

Les déclencheurs pourraient inclure des preuves que le virus se propage à des personnes qui ne sont pas employées dans les fermes, ou entre les humains plutôt que uniquement d'animaux à les humains, ou que le virus cause une maladie plus grave chez les personnes infectées.

O'Connell a également déclaré que HHS est en pourparlers avec Pfizer et Moderna au sujet du développement de vaccins contre la grippe aviaire à base d'ARNm.

Les rapports de nouveaux cas de grippe humaine aviaire et les plans d'augmentation de la production de vaccins ont provoqué mercredi une hausse de la valeur des actions des entreprises de biotechnologie axées sur les vaccins, y compris Moderna, BioNTech, CureVac et Novavax, selon le Financial Times.

Le dernier paragraphe dévoile la vérité.

[solarmorrigan]

Feel better. One thing you can look into is if your booster came from a single dose shot or if it came from a multidose vial that the shot was drawn up from. For me personally I get very sick every time I’m given a multidose vial shot but if it’s a single I’ve got no side effects

I had no idea that was a thing! I guess I always sort of assumed multi-dose vials were standard, but that's very interesting, and good to know!

Also, thank you <3 I slept for a while and Advil is currently my dearest friend, and I'm definitely feeling better than I was

[feminist-space]

"A Snohomish County man has died from a blood infection officials believe was caused by over-the-counter eye drops, according to the Washington State Department of Health.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recalled Ezricare Artificial Tears on Thursday after a "multistate outbreak" of an extensively drug-resistant strain of Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

Public health investigators have not confirmed the Snohomish County man used an Ezricare product, although he did use artificial tears.

"Patients have been coming and going, 'What the heck? How is it possible that an eye drop could kill somebody?'" said Dr. Evie Lawson, optometrist at Eyes on You in Seattle.

KING 5 spoke with two eye and vision experts Thursday to learn more about the bacteria.

"This specific strain of Pseudomonas is actually very resistant to multiple antibiotics," said Dr. Courtney E. Francis, ophthalmologist and Medical Director at University of Washington Medicine Eye Institute.

Ezricare is sold in multidose, single-use bottles.

"Preservative-free artificial tears don't have a way to stop bacteria from contaminating them," Francis said.

If used incorrectly, Lawson said that single-use products can present risk for infection.

"You open this up, you use the drops, if you set it down next to your sink, and then you pick it up the next day, you put a drop in. If there's any-- you washed your face, water splashed over this, water has the bacteria in it, all of a sudden that's now infected, and there's nothing there to kill those bugs. And so you put the drops in, boom, you've just infected your eyes," Lawson said. "If it gets into that bloodstream, then all of a sudden it's blood-borne, it's through your entire body."

The CDC said at least five others infected in the US had permanent vision loss linked to Ezricare. You're encouraged to stop using this brand of eye drops and discard them if you have them.

But eye doctors said it's best not to panic.

"This was a very rare instance for this to occur," Francis said.

Rather, see a doctor right away if you used Ezricare and have symptoms.

"Kind of some goopy discharge, or a little bit of redness?" Lawson said. "Don't wait two weeks to see what is going to happen."

Meanwhile, Ezricare has stopped distributing the eye drops and is urging consumers to stop using the product."

[decentralvaccine]

A New Two Dose Vaccine May Prove Effective Against HIV

One major reason why it has been difficult to develop an effective HIV vaccine is that the virus mutates very rapidly, allowing it to evade the antibody response generated by vaccines.

Several years ago, MIT researchers showed that administering a series of escalating doses of an HIV vaccine over a two-week period could help overcome a part of that challenge by generating larger quantities of neutralizing antibodies. However, a multidose vaccine regimen administered over a short time is not practical for mass vaccination campaigns.

In a new study, the researchers have now found that they can achieve a similar immune response with just two doses, given one week apart. The first dose, which is much smaller, prepares the immune system to respond more powerfully to the second, larger dose.

[sunaleisocial]

A two-dose schedule could make HIV vaccines more effective

New Post has been published on https://sunalei.org/news/a-two-dose-schedule-could-make-hiv-vaccines-more-effective/

A two-dose schedule could make HIV vaccines more effective

One major reason why it has been difficult to develop an effective HIV vaccine is that the virus mutates very rapidly, allowing it to evade the antibody response generated by vaccines.

Several years ago, MIT researchers showed that administering a series of escalating doses of an HIV vaccine over a two-week period could help overcome a part of that challenge by generating larger quantities of neutralizing antibodies. However, a multidose vaccine regimen administered over a short time is not practical for mass vaccination campaigns.

In a new study, the researchers have now found that they can achieve a similar immune response with just two doses, given one week apart. The first dose, which is much smaller, prepares the immune system to respond more powerfully to the second, larger dose.

This study, which was performed by bringing together computational modeling and experiments in mice, used an HIV envelope protein as the vaccine. A single-dose version of this vaccine is now in clinical trials, and the researchers hope to establish another study group that will receive the vaccine on a two-dose schedule.

“By bringing together the physical and life sciences, we shed light on some basic immunological questions that helped develop this two-dose schedule to mimic the multiple-dose regimen,” says Arup Chakraborty, the John M. Deutch Institute Professor at MIT and a member of MIT’s Institute for Medical Engineering and Science and the Ragon Institute of MIT, MGH and Harvard University.

This approach may also generalize to vaccines for other diseases, Chakraborty notes.

Chakraborty and Darrell Irvine, a former MIT professor of biological engineering and materials science and engineering and member of the Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, who is now a professor of immunology and microbiology at the Scripps Research Institute, are the senior authors of the study, which appears today in Science Immunology. The lead authors of the paper are Sachin Bhagchandani PhD ’23 and Leerang Yang PhD ’24.

Neutralizing antibodies

Each year, HIV infects more than 1 million people around the world, and some of those people do not have access to antiviral drugs. An effective vaccine could prevent many of those infections. One promising vaccine now in clinical trials consists of an HIV protein called an envelope trimer, along with a nanoparticle called SMNP. The nanoparticle, developed by Irvine’s lab, acts as an adjuvant that helps recruit a stronger B cell response to the vaccine.

In clinical trials, this vaccine and other experimental vaccines have been given as just one dose. However, there is growing evidence that a series of doses is more effective at generating broadly neutralizing antibodies. The seven-dose regimen, the researchers believe, works well because it mimics what happens when the body is exposed to a virus: The immune system builds up a strong response as more viral proteins, or antigens, accumulate in the body.

In the new study, the MIT team investigated how this response develops and explored whether they could achieve the same effect using a smaller number of vaccine doses.

“Giving seven doses just isn’t feasible for mass vaccination,” Bhagchandani says. “We wanted to identify some of the critical elements necessary for the success of this escalating dose, and to explore whether that knowledge could allow us to reduce the number of doses.”

The researchers began by comparing the effects of one, two, three, four, five, six, or seven doses, all given over a 12-day period. They initially found that while three or more doses generated strong antibody responses, two doses did not. However, by tweaking the dose intervals and ratios, the researchers discovered that giving 20 percent of the vaccine in the first dose and 80 percent in a second dose, seven days later, achieved just as good a response as the seven-dose schedule.

“It was clear that understanding the mechanisms behind this phenomenon would be crucial for future clinical translation,” Yang says. “Even if the ideal dosing ratio and timing may differ for humans, the underlying mechanistic principles will likely remain the same.”

Using a computational model, the researchers explored what was happening in each of these dosing scenarios. This work showed that when all of the vaccine is given as one dose, most of the antigen gets chopped into fragments before it reaches the lymph nodes. Lymph nodes are where B cells become activated to target a particular antigen, within structures known as germinal centers.

When only a tiny amount of the intact antigen reaches these germinal centers, B cells can’t come up with a strong response against that antigen.

However, a very small number of B cells do arise that produce antibodies targeting the intact antigen. So, giving a small amount in the first dose does not “waste” much antigen but allows some B cells and antibodies to develop. If a second, larger dose is given a week later, those antibodies bind to the antigen before it can be broken down and escort it into the lymph node. This allows more B cells to be exposed to that antigen and eventually leads to a large population of B cells that can target it.

“The early doses generate some small amounts of antibody, and that’s enough to then bind to the vaccine of the later doses, protect it, and target it to the lymph node. That’s how we realized that we don’t need to give seven doses,” Bhagchandani says. “A small initial dose will generate this antibody and then when you give the larger dose, it can again be protected because that antibody will bind to it and traffic it to the lymph node.”

T-cell boost

Those antigens may stay in the germinal centers for weeks or even longer, allowing more B cells to come in and be exposed to them, making it more likely that diverse types of antibodies will develop.

The researchers also found that the two-dose schedule induces a stronger T-cell response. The first dose activates dendritic cells, which promote inflammation and T-cell activation. Then, when the second dose arrives, even more dendritic cells are stimulated, further boosting the T-cell response.

Overall, the two-dose regimen resulted in a fivefold improvement in the T-cell response and a 60-fold improvement in the antibody response, compared to a single vaccine dose.

“Reducing the ‘escalating dose’ strategy down to two shots makes it much more practical for clinical implementation. Further, a number of technologies are in development that could mimic the two-dose exposure in a single shot, which could become ideal for mass vaccination campaigns,” Irvine says.

The researchers are now studying this vaccine strategy in a nonhuman primate model. They are also working on specialized materials that can deliver the second dose over an extended period of time, which could further enhance the immune response.

The research was funded by the Koch Institute Support (core) Grant from the National Cancer Institute, the National Institutes of Health, and the Ragon Institute of MIT, MGH, and Harvard.

[jcmarchi]

A two-dose schedule could make HIV vaccines more effective

New Post has been published on https://thedigitalinsider.com/a-two-dose-schedule-could-make-hiv-vaccines-more-effective/

A two-dose schedule could make HIV vaccines more effective

One major reason why it has been difficult to develop an effective HIV vaccine is that the virus mutates very rapidly, allowing it to evade the antibody response generated by vaccines.

Several years ago, MIT researchers showed that administering a series of escalating doses of an HIV vaccine over a two-week period could help overcome a part of that challenge by generating larger quantities of neutralizing antibodies. However, a multidose vaccine regimen administered over a short time is not practical for mass vaccination campaigns.

In a new study, the researchers have now found that they can achieve a similar immune response with just two doses, given one week apart. The first dose, which is much smaller, prepares the immune system to respond more powerfully to the second, larger dose.

This study, which was performed by bringing together computational modeling and experiments in mice, used an HIV envelope protein as the vaccine. A single-dose version of this vaccine is now in clinical trials, and the researchers hope to establish another study group that will receive the vaccine on a two-dose schedule.

“By bringing together the physical and life sciences, we shed light on some basic immunological questions that helped develop this two-dose schedule to mimic the multiple-dose regimen,” says Arup Chakraborty, the John M. Deutch Institute Professor at MIT and a member of MIT’s Institute for Medical Engineering and Science and the Ragon Institute of MIT, MGH and Harvard University.

This approach may also generalize to vaccines for other diseases, Chakraborty notes.

Chakraborty and Darrell Irvine, a former MIT professor of biological engineering and materials science and engineering and member of the Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, who is now a professor of immunology and microbiology at the Scripps Research Institute, are the senior authors of the study, which appears today in Science Immunology. The lead authors of the paper are Sachin Bhagchandani PhD ’23 and Leerang Yang PhD ’24.

Neutralizing antibodies

Each year, HIV infects more than 1 million people around the world, and some of those people do not have access to antiviral drugs. An effective vaccine could prevent many of those infections. One promising vaccine now in clinical trials consists of an HIV protein called an envelope trimer, along with a nanoparticle called SMNP. The nanoparticle, developed by Irvine’s lab, acts as an adjuvant that helps recruit a stronger B cell response to the vaccine.

In clinical trials, this vaccine and other experimental vaccines have been given as just one dose. However, there is growing evidence that a series of doses is more effective at generating broadly neutralizing antibodies. The seven-dose regimen, the researchers believe, works well because it mimics what happens when the body is exposed to a virus: The immune system builds up a strong response as more viral proteins, or antigens, accumulate in the body.

In the new study, the MIT team investigated how this response develops and explored whether they could achieve the same effect using a smaller number of vaccine doses.

“Giving seven doses just isn’t feasible for mass vaccination,” Bhagchandani says. “We wanted to identify some of the critical elements necessary for the success of this escalating dose, and to explore whether that knowledge could allow us to reduce the number of doses.”

The researchers began by comparing the effects of one, two, three, four, five, six, or seven doses, all given over a 12-day period. They initially found that while three or more doses generated strong antibody responses, two doses did not. However, by tweaking the dose intervals and ratios, the researchers discovered that giving 20 percent of the vaccine in the first dose and 80 percent in a second dose, seven days later, achieved just as good a response as the seven-dose schedule.

“It was clear that understanding the mechanisms behind this phenomenon would be crucial for future clinical translation,” Yang says. “Even if the ideal dosing ratio and timing may differ for humans, the underlying mechanistic principles will likely remain the same.”

Using a computational model, the researchers explored what was happening in each of these dosing scenarios. This work showed that when all of the vaccine is given as one dose, most of the antigen gets chopped into fragments before it reaches the lymph nodes. Lymph nodes are where B cells become activated to target a particular antigen, within structures known as germinal centers.

When only a tiny amount of the intact antigen reaches these germinal centers, B cells can’t come up with a strong response against that antigen.

However, a very small number of B cells do arise that produce antibodies targeting the intact antigen. So, giving a small amount in the first dose does not “waste” much antigen but allows some B cells and antibodies to develop. If a second, larger dose is given a week later, those antibodies bind to the antigen before it can be broken down and escort it into the lymph node. This allows more B cells to be exposed to that antigen and eventually leads to a large population of B cells that can target it.

“The early doses generate some small amounts of antibody, and that’s enough to then bind to the vaccine of the later doses, protect it, and target it to the lymph node. That’s how we realized that we don’t need to give seven doses,” Bhagchandani says. “A small initial dose will generate this antibody and then when you give the larger dose, it can again be protected because that antibody will bind to it and traffic it to the lymph node.”

T-cell boost

Those antigens may stay in the germinal centers for weeks or even longer, allowing more B cells to come in and be exposed to them, making it more likely that diverse types of antibodies will develop.

The researchers also found that the two-dose schedule induces a stronger T-cell response. The first dose activates dendritic cells, which promote inflammation and T-cell activation. Then, when the second dose arrives, even more dendritic cells are stimulated, further boosting the T-cell response.

Overall, the two-dose regimen resulted in a fivefold improvement in the T-cell response and a 60-fold improvement in the antibody response, compared to a single vaccine dose.

“Reducing the ‘escalating dose’ strategy down to two shots makes it much more practical for clinical implementation. Further, a number of technologies are in development that could mimic the two-dose exposure in a single shot, which could become ideal for mass vaccination campaigns,” Irvine says.

The researchers are now studying this vaccine strategy in a nonhuman primate model. They are also working on specialized materials that can deliver the second dose over an extended period of time, which could further enhance the immune response.

The research was funded by the Koch Institute Support (core) Grant from the National Cancer Institute, the National Institutes of Health, and the Ragon Institute of MIT, MGH, and Harvard.

[schoje]

A partir desta segunda-feira (3), as pessoas cadastradas no Minha Vacina da Unidade Básica de Saúde (UBS) da Quarta Linha poderão realizar o agendamento da 1ª e 2ª dose do imunizante contra a Covid-19, por meio do site minhavacina.criciuma.sc.gov.br/. A iniciativa está em fase piloto e será mais uma ferramenta da plataforma. O portal liberará a opção de agendamento conforme as etapas de vacinação do município. No momento, a imunização está ocorrendo em pessoas acima de 60 anos e profissionais da saúde. Como fase de teste também, a Secretaria de Saúde mandará mensagem via WhatsApp, pelo número (48) 9-9164-5384, aos moradores aptos a receberem a dose da vacina. “As pessoas precisam ficar atentas ao número de mensagem para não pensar que é fake news. Vamos utilizar o próprio número da secretaria para fazer o chamamento das pessoas”, ressaltou o gerente de Vigilância em Saúde de Criciúma, Samuel Bucco. “Além disso, esse novo formato é para otimizar a logística a campanha, já que os frascos de vacina são multidoses, e após aberto, é necessário utilizá-los em até oito horas”, completou. Anteriormente, as equipes das UBSs entravam em contato convocando para recebimento da dose. No dia da aplicação, as pessoas precisam levar documentos pessoais e comprovante de residência para comprovação dos dados. Parceria com a DTI A melhoria foi desenvolvida pela equipe da Diretoria Tecnologia da Informação (DTI), assim como o portal. O diretor do setor, Tiago Pavan, ressalta que a plataforma traz mais transparência. O morador pode acompanhar o que está ocorrendo e de forma está ocorrendo a vacinação da Covid-19 em Criciúma. “É uma evolução do nosso sistema, que já está integrado as outras plataformas, como de gestão da saúde e o sistema de monitoramento. A TI é parceiro para dar mais assertividade e celeridade nesse tipo de processo”, frisou o diretor. Minha Vacina O Portal Minha Vacina tem o propósito de cadastrar todos os criciumenses para traçar as próximas etapas de vacinação. O portal conta com indicadores da vacinação em tempo real. Os dados são de quantas doses já foram aplicadas e porcentagem por fases.Fonte: Prefeitura de Criciúma

[crossroadpharmacy]

Our pharmacists organize your medications into easy-to-use packs based on the date and time you need to take them. For instance, all your morning medications will be bundled together, eliminating confusion.

[omkarpatel]

Eye Flu (Conjunctivitis) Market is Estimated to Witness High Growth Owing to Increasing Prevalence of Allergies

Eye Flu or conjunctivitis is a highly contagious eye infection that causes redness, tearing, irritation, and discharge from one or both eyes. It is commonly caused by bacteria or viruses. Products available in the market include eye drops, ointments, gels, and prescription medications to treat the infection and relieve symptoms. Market Dynamics:

The increasing prevalence of allergies is estimated to drive the growth of the eye flu (conjunctivitis) market. Allergies are one of the leading causes of conjunctivitis. According to a study published in The Lancet, the prevalence of allergies is increasing globally with nascent markets witnessing the fastest surge. Additionally, recent advancements in diagnostic tests and treatments are estimated to fuel the market growth during the forecast period. Rapid approvals of novel drugs and formulations with better efficacy are projected to further aid the market expansion from 2024-2031.

Market Drivers

Increasing Prevalence of Allergic Conjunctivitis

Allergic conjunctivitis is one of the most common forms of conjunctivitis. It is estimated to affect around 20% of the global population. The prevalence of allergic conjunctivitis has been on the rise over the past few decades due to increasing environmental allergens like pollen, dander, dust mites etc. Rising pollution levels have also contributed to the increasing incidence of allergic eye diseases. As per research, allergic conjunctivitis accounts for over 50% of cases of conjunctivitis. The increasing prevalence of allergic eye disorders is expected to drive greater demand for eye flu medications in the coming years.

Growing Geriatric Population

Age is a significant risk factor for conjunctivitis. Older individuals are more prone to bacterial and viral eye infections due to a weaker immune system with age. As per the United Nations, the number of people aged 60 years and above is expected to more than double by 2050, reaching nearly 2.1 billion up from 962 million globally in 2017. The rise in the geriatric population generates more demand for eye care products including anti-infective eyedrops and artificial tears to treat symptoms associated with conjunctivitis. The significant growth of the elderly demographic will propel the eye flu market forward.

Potential Side Effects of Topical Medications

While eye drops are generally safe, there is a risk of potential ocular side effects from prolonged use of topical medications used to treat conjunctivitis. Some commonly reported side effects include burning, stinging, eye redness, blurred vision and foreign body sensation. Issues like rebound redness can occur if eye drops are abruptly discontinued after long-term use. Rare but serious side effects like corneal infections also act as a deterrent. The risks associated with long-term pharmacotherapy may discourage people from opting for medication and rather try alternative treatments like compresses, thereby restraining market growth to some extent.

Market Opportunity

Increasing Adoption of Single-Use Preserved Multidose Eye Drop Containers

Traditionally eye drop bottles required preservatives and multiple uses by patients to prevent contamination. However, this posed the risk of side effects from long-term preservative exposure. Single-use containers eliminate the need for preservatives since they are used only once before being disposed of. They reduce the risk of contamination and preservative toxicity issues. With rising awareness, demand for convenient single-use containers is growing fast compared to conventional multidose bottles. Leading players are actively developing innovative unitary dose packaging systems. In 2016, only 10% of the eye drop market comprised of single-use containers but it is estimated to capture 30% share by 2024. This emerging trend presents substantial growth opportunities for players.

Market Trends

Burgeoning Online Sales and E-Commerce Platforms

E-commerce is surging globally and revolutionizing the way healthcare products are accessed and purchased. Consumer preference for online shopping continues to rise due to convenience. An important trend gaining traction is the growth of online sales of OTC eye care products. Major retailers are strengthening their online presence and several dedicated eye care product websites have also emerged. This offers benefits like ease of purchase from home, home delivery, discounted prices and improved access in remote areas. The growth of e-shopping portals offering a wide assortment of eye medications is a key trend driving the self-care market for conjunctivitis. It is estimated that 10–15% of total eye drop sales will be through online channels by 2023. Evolving retail dynamics will significantly impact future growth patterns in this market

[decentralvaccine]

Benefits Of Alternating Arms For Vaccines

If you’ve presented the same arm for every dose of a particular vaccine, you may want to reconsider. Alternating arms may produce a more powerful immune response, a new study suggests.

The researchers studied responses to the first two doses of Covid-19 vaccines. Those who alternated arms showed a small increase in immunity over those who got both doses in the same arm.

For individuals who respond poorly to vaccines because of age or health conditions, even a small boost may turn out to be significant, the researchers said. At this point in the pandemic, with most people having had multiple vaccine doses or infections, alternating arms for Covid vaccines may not offer much benefit.

Yet if confirmed by further study, the results could have implications for all multidose vaccines, including childhood immunizations.

“I’m not making recommendations at this point, because we need to understand this a lot better,” said Dr. Marcel E. Curlin, an infectious disease physician at Oregon Health & Science University who led the work.