2 swine flu vaccine doses for kids under 10

October 15, 2009 - Test results of its swine flu vaccine suggest that children under 10 are likely to need two shots to be fully protected, vaccine maker Sanofi Pasteur said Wednesday.

Federal officials said the news is not surprising, since this age group needs two doses of regular seasonal flu vaccine the very first time they ever are given a flu vaccine for full immunity to develop.

The new Sanofi results back up what government tests are showing, said Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. For younger children, the protection from one shot is "modest but not sufficient to allow for one dose to do the trick," he said.

Sanofi is the only company licensed in the United States to make vaccine for children as young as 6 months old. The company tested two strengths of the vaccine, given as two shots 21 days apart. The vaccine was tested in 474 children ages 6 months through 9 years old.

Only half of children 6 months to 3 years old had enough protection after one shot of the higher strength vaccine, as did three-fourths of children 3 to 9 years old, Sanofi reported. For adults, one shot of the higher strength vaccine appears to be enough, Sanofi reported earlier.

Another option for people without medical problems is FluMist, a nasal spray vaccine. It is approved for healthy people 2 to 49 years old. The nasal spray accounts for most of the vaccine available now, although shots are starting to make their way to states. Pregnant women and young children are among the groups most urged to seek the vaccine as soon as it is available.

Gunmen fire inside Pakistan federal building

October 15, 2009 - LAHORE , Pakistan – Pakistani police say two people have been killed in a gunfight at a federal building in the eastern city of Lahore .

Senior police official Chaudhry Shafiq says one of the dead wore a suicide jacket laden with explosives. The attack began Thursday morning, when gunmen entered a building housing the Federal Investigation Agency, a premier law enforcement organization that deals with matters ranging from immigration to terrorism.

The attack is the latest to rock this U.S.-allied nuclear-armed country.

Gunmen entered a federal law enforcement building in Pakistan 's eastern city of Lahore on Thursday, firing shots and terrifying employees in the latest in a string of attacks to rock this U.S.-allied nuclear-armed country as it prepares to launch a major offensive in a Taliban and al-Qaida stronghold.

In the Taliban-riddled northwest, meanwhile, a suicide car bomber detonated his vehicle next to a police station, killing at least eight people, while a suspected U.S. missile strike killed four alleged militants, officials said.

The attack in Lahore occurred at a building housing the Federal Investigation Agency, a premier law enforcement organization that deals with matters ranging from immigration to terrorism. Local media channels reported that hostages were being held.

"We are under attack," said Mohammad Riaz, an FIA employee reached inside the building via phone by The Associated Press. "I can see two people hit, but I do not know who they are."

The attack appeared similar to a siege mounted on the army's headquarters over the past weekend that left 23 people dead and was claimed by the Taliban as their work. The militants have also claimed credit for other attacks in recent days, warning Pakistan to stop pursuing them in military operations.

The Pakistani army has given no time frame for the expected offensive in South Waziristan , but has reportedly already sent two divisions totaling 28,000 men and blockaded the region.

Fearing the looming offensive, about 200,000 people have fled South Waziristan since August, moving in with relatives or renting homes in the Tank and Dera Ismail Khan areas, a local government official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media.

source : yahoo news