Britain's Department of Health has chosen GlaxoSmithKline's cervical cancer vaccine Cervarix for the country's human papillomavirus immunization programme ahead of rival Gardasil.

The vaccine offers immunity to the strains of a virus which cause 70 percent of cases. It protects against two strains of human papillomavirus

Many U.S. hospitals and birthing centers, particularly in the South, are not providing maternity care that is fully supportive of breastfeeding, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report.

A CDC study published Thursday analyzed responses from nearly 2,700 birth facilities in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico

One in 4 American children has not been vaccinated properly, according to a new study by the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention of CDC.

CDC researchers added that these make the toddlers vulnerable to infectious diseases that are popping up in the United States

Polio cases in 2008 have nearly doubled in Nigeria as officials struggle to fight an outbreak set off by the polio vaccine itself three years ago. The West African nation is fighting off various natural strains of the virus and outbreaks linked to the vaccine.

However, Nigeria has a very low immunization rate to fight the crippling disease because of its weak health system. Poliomyelitis, often called polio or infantile paralysis, is an acute viral infectious disease that is highly contagious and spreads easily from human-to-human contact. In endemic areas, wild polioviruses can infect virtually the entire human population

Drug maker GlaxoSmithKline announced Thursday that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved a vaccine to stop the leading cause of diarrhea in infants. The Rotarix vaccine is primarily used to prevent rotavirus gastroenteritis in infants.

The vaccine will offer protection against the most commonly circulating rotavirus types in the U.S. and allow infants to complete the vaccination series by four months of age. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) currently recommends that children complete the rotavirus immunization series by six months of age