Rates of infection by the 2009 H1N1 influenza virus may have peaked in late October, but the pandemic flu virus continues to be a potential source of illness in all age groups, including the elderly, according to a new report by Quest Diagnostics Incorporated, the world's leading provider of diagnostic testing, information and services. [More]

The deaths of 41 people from six countries who had received the H1N1 (swine flu) vaccine were not directly linked to the vaccine, the WHO said Thursday, the Associated Press/MSNBC reports (11/19). [More]

BD today announced the completion of its acquisition of HandyLab, Inc., an Ann Arbor, Michigan-based company that develops and manufactures molecular diagnostic assays and automation platforms. [More]

Inovio Biomedical Corporation, a leader in DNA vaccine design, development and delivery, announced today that a combination of its synthetic consensus H1N1, H2N2, H3N2, and H5N1 influenza vaccine candidates achieved protective antibody responses against several different influenza sub-types and strains in ferrets. [More]

Immunization with either live attenuated influenza vaccine (LAIV, also known as FluMist®), or trivalent inactivated influenza vaccine (TIV), appears to offer a protection (~ 45%) against the novel A/H1N1 virus, the cause of the present influenza pandemic. However, the benefit was largely attributed to the youngest age group. The finding emerges from an evaluation of medical encounters and seasonal influenza immunization of U.S. military service members. [More]

Washington State Nurses Association (WSNA), representing more than 1,600 registered nurses at Sacred Heart Medical Center, is holding a press conference today to highlight serious concerns about the safety of nurses and patients at Sacred Heart Medical Center during this H1N1 pandemic. [More]

A commentary in the December issue of The Lancet Infectious Diseases brings to light the gaps in knowledge on the transmission of a common pathogen - the influenza virus - and its impact on decisions about how best to protect health care workers. Infectious diseases specialist Leonard Mermel, DO, medical director of infection control for Rhode Island Hospital, looks at the ongoing debate in light of the H1N1 pandemic, what past research tells us about the spread of influenza, and what is missing in the debate. His commentary is currently available in an online first edition. [More]

A new study on pediatric H1N1 influenza admissions has found that asthma is a significant risk factor for severe disease in children with pandemic H1N1 compared with the seasonal flu. [More]

HIV/AIDS program grants made by U.S.-based foundations totaled $618 billion in 2008, an 11 percent increase from the previous year, according to a new report by Funders Concerned About AIDS, the Chronicle of Philanthropy reports. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation accounted for the majority of the grants, and when it was "excluded, foundation giving [for HIV/AIDS] actually declined 3 percent compared to 2007." [More]

Adamas Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a privately held company, announced today that it has expanded its Phase 2 clinical study of a proprietary investigational triple-combination antiviral drug therapy for influenza to include centers in the United States, Canada and Europe. The study, which was initiated in August 2009 in the Southern Hemisphere, is designed to investigate Adamas' triple combination antiviral drug (TCAD) therapy as a treatment for influenza A, including novel influenza A/H1N1, the cause of the current flu pandemic. [More]

DxNA, a molecular diagnostics company headquartered in St. George, Utah, announced today that the DxNA GeneSTAT PCR system has successfully completed evaluation studies under the direction of a California laboratory supported by the Joint FAO/IAEA Programme in Food and Agriculture. [More]

Researchers at Yale School of Medicine have found that exaggerated responses of the immune system explain why the elderly succumb to viral infections more readily than younger people. Published in the November 19 Cell Host & Microbe, the study bucks the general belief that declining immune responses are to blame for susceptibility to viral infections. [More]

Sinovac Biotech Ltd. ( SVA), a leading developer and provider of vaccines, announced today that it has filed a shelf registration statement on Form F-3 with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. [More]

Bird flu viruses would have to make at least two simultaneous genetic mutations before they could be transmitted readily from human to human, according to research published today in PLoS ONE. [More]

Though tuberculosis "is one of the world's leading killers … few citizens, scientists and policymakers are demanding more attention to TB research, treatment and prevention. … It's time to bring TB research into the 21st century," Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, writes in an MSNBC opinion piece. [More]