The U.S. government has recommended adding GlaxoSmithKline Plc's Rotarix vaccine to the choices for immunizing infants against the deadly intestinal virus that causes diarrhea and vomiting in children. Rotarix is a liquid and given in a two-dose series to infants from 6 to 24 weeks of age.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices has already endorsed Merck and Co Inc's RotaTeq saying both are equally effective. There are many different strains of rotavirus. The vaccine protects against rotavirus gastroenteritis caused by the G1, G3, G4, and G9 strains

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

Dental amalgam or silver fillings in our teeth are toxic and harmful to our health, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said on its website Thursday. The revised federal warning is not aimed at the general public but for pregnant women and young children.

The federal regulatory agency admitted on the website that mercury-containing dental fillings "may have neuro-toxic effects on the nervous systems of developing children and fetuses

A possible vaccine against meningitis B has shown "encouraging" results when tested on 150 babies in Britain in the preliminary trial. Pharmaceutical giant Novartis had successfully concluded phase II trials and had moved on to large-scale trials that will show whether the vaccine is protective in everyday life.

In the phase II trials, the babies were injected with the new vaccine at two, four and six months of age, with a booster at 12 months. Blood samples taken a month after the third dose and again a month after the booster showed the children had developed good immune responses against certain strains of meningitis B bacteria

All adults aged 60 and older should be vaccinated against shingles, a skin rash caused by the same virus that causes chickenpox, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommended on Thursday.

The ZOSTAVAX vaccine for shingles reduces the chance of developing shingles for those 60 and up, though the odds get worse with increasing age. The vaccination was recommended by an influential government advisory panel in 2006. The CDC officially adopted the recommendation this week