American Morning
What you need to know about the H1N1 vaccine
CNN Senior Medical Correspondent
(CNN) - Next week, the long-awaited H1N1 vaccine is expected to arrive. At least three of the four vaccine makers have begun shipping their products to undisclosed distribution centers.
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/HEALTH/09/30/h1n1.vaccine.decision/art.h1n1.vaccine.csl.gi.jpg caption="Clinical trials to test the effectiveness and safety of the H1N1 vaccine have been under way since the summer."]
There are two types of the vaccine available: the flu shot, an inactivated vaccine containing fragments of killed influenza virus, and a nasal-spray, which is made using a weakened live flu virus. The nasal spray will most likely be the first to be widely distributed, however certain groups, including pregnant women, young children and people with compromised immune systems, cannot receive the nasal spray.
So far officials of the National Institutes of Health say that in clinical trials they've seen no serious side effects and that study subjects who have been immunized have generated a good response.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends the vaccine for certain high-priority groups because they are more likely to have serious complications if they develop swine flu. These groups include: pregnant women; caregivers and household contacts of children younger than 6 months; everyone between the ages of 6 months and 24 years; and people ages 25 to 64 with existing health problems.
HIV vaccine is possible, researchers say
CNN Medical Producer
(CNN) - A vaccine to prevent HIV infection has shown modest results for the first time, researchers have found.
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/HEALTH/09/24/hiv.vaccine/art.vaccine.gi.jpg caption="Researchers found those who received the vaccine combination were 31 percent less likely to contract HIV."]
In what is being called the world's largest HIV vaccine trial ever, researchers found that people who received a series of inoculations of a prime vaccine and booster vaccine were 31 percent less likely to get HIV, compared with those on a placebo.
"Before this study, it was thought vaccine for HIV is not possible," Col. Jerome Kim, who is the HIV vaccines product manager for the U.S. Army, told CNN.
Watch Dr. Gupta explain the study 
Kim emphasized that the level of efficacy was modest, but given the failures of previous HIV vaccine trials, "yesterday we would have thought an HIV vaccine wasn't possible."
He called the results from the trial an important first step that will help researchers work toward a more effective vaccine.
Dr. Gupta: I went to Afghanistan and all I got was H1N1
CNN Chief Medical Correspondent
It started as a cough. It wasn’t the kind of cough where something is temporarily stuck in your throat. It wasn’t the kind of cough where simply clearing your throat would’ve been adequate.
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/09/23/art.sanjay.sick.jpg caption="Dr. Sanjay Gupta, contracted H1N1 in Afghanistan, receives treatment."]
This was the kind of cough that hurts when you do it. A stinging pain that makes you wince and guard and hope that you don’t have to cough again any time soon. I thought I might have a fever, but of course, I was in the middle of covering a war in Afghanistan, and the conditions were… well, hot.
So, maybe it was that. Problem was, the next day I wasn’t feeling any better – in fact, I was worse. I woke up in my dusty desert tent and tried to step out of my sleeping bag. Two steps later, I almost hit the deck.
Incoming. Except this wasn’t due to any sirens going off, this was due to my own body simply being unable to hold myself up. I was lightheaded and freezing cold – even though it was over 100 degrees outside at that early hour of the morning.
Watch Dr. Gupta talk about his experience
I was nauseated and my entire body hurt. I tried to explain away my symptoms with lots of different excuses. You don’t sleep much while covering a war. My bulletproof jacket didn’t fit perfectly and was very heavy. There was a lot of dust and dirt, and maybe I had what the Marines referred to as the Kandahar Krud. It turned out to be none of those things.
Mother given wrong embryo in IVF mix-up
A couple's greatest joy has become, in some ways, their worst nightmare. Carolyn and Sean Savage wanted to have another child and they were having trouble, so they turned to in vitro fertilization. Then they learned the horrifying news that doctors had implanted Carolyn with another couple's embryo.
Despite a history of difficult pregnancy, Carolyn and Sean made the decision to carry the child to term and then to give that baby to its biological parents. But they also wanted to tell their story as a possible warning to other couples.
Carolyn and Sean spoke to Kiran Chetry on CNN’s “American Morning” Tuesday. Below is an edited transcript of the interview.
Kiran Chetry: Carolyn, you're 35 weeks pregnant right now. I understand you actually went to the hospital last night.
Carolyn Savage: Yeah, we just had a little false alarm last night. Being 35 weeks pregnant for me is nothing short of miraculous because I delivered my third child at 32 weeks, my second child at 30 weeks. And so it's been 15 years since I've been this pregnant. I just didn't quite know what was going on last night. So we just went in for safety purposes. And everything's fine. So hopefully we'll be able to squeeze a little more time out of this.
Chetry: Everything's going fine physically, thank goodness. Emotionally, it must be such a difficult time for both of you as you're trying to figure out what to do. Take us back to the beginning. You decided you needed to get in vitro fertilization to be able to become pregnant with your fourth child. When did you realize that a terrible mistake had been made and another couple's embryo had been implanted?
Sean Savage: I received a call, actually, at my desk in my office on my cell phone sharing with us that we were pregnant, but at the same time, that they had transferred another couple's embryos to Carolyn. So the news came simultaneously. And it was absolutely a shock.
Chetry: Carolyn, how did you react when you heard it?
Carolyn: Well, I was at home. The news went to Sean in error. They thought they were calling me and they called his cell phone by mistake. Sean came home and told me right away. It was just a very shocking moment. I couldn't even comprehend what he was saying. I know I was kind of yelling at him, asking him if he was joking. Clearly his physical demeanor indicated that there was no joke about the news he was delivering to me.
A soldier's sacrifice
Two of the biggest challenges of the Obama administration intersect in our story, “A soldier’s sacrifice.”
Back in July, Army Specialist Greg Missman was killed in Afghanistan when his convoy was hit by an IED. The explosion cut short what was Missman’s second stint in the Army. He had left the military 11 years ago but came back for one reason: health insurance.
Last year, Missman lost his job as a computer consultant. And Missman’s father Jim says his son was worried about providing health insurance for his family. Specialist Missman had a four-year-old son, Jack.
Robot doctor treats patients
What do you get when you mix a real doctor with a robot? Doc-Bot. It's a live doctor, in a TV monitor – on wheels! And if you think that sounds bizarre, wait until you see him making rounds!
CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta is inside an Army hospital with injured soldiers getting treated by the wireless, tireless, Doc-Bot.
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