Swine Flu News and Research

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Swine Flu or influenza A (H1N1) is a new flu virus of swine origin that first caused illness in Mexico and the United States in March and April, 2009. It’s thought that novel influenza A (H1N1) flu spreads in the same way that regular seasonal influenza viruses spread, mainly through the coughs and sneezes of people who are sick with the virus, but it may also be spread by touching infected objects and then touching your nose or mouth. Novel H1N1 infection has been reported to cause a wide range of flu-like symptoms, including fever, cough, sore throat, body aches, headache, chills and fatigue. In addition, many people also have reported nausea, vomiting and/or diarrhea.

New online tool to help medical staff quickly support COVID-19 patients

Researchers at Case Western Reserve University have developed an online tool to help medical staff quickly determine which COVID-19 patients will need help breathing with a ventilator.

3 Sep 2021

Coronavirus buildup in the lungs is likely behind high mortality rates

A buildup of coronavirus in the lungs is likely behind the steep mortality rates seen in the pandemic, a new study finds.

31 Aug 2021

AI identifies gene signatures to reveal patients’ immune responses to viral infection

Researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine used an artificial intelligence (AI) algorithm to sift through terabytes of gene expression data -- which genes are "on" or "off" during infection -- to look for shared patterns in patients with past pandemic viral infections, including SARS, MERS and swine flu.

11 Jun 2021

Experts offer plausible solutions to mitigate zoonotic risk associated with intensive animal agriculture

As early as the Neolithic period (circa 3900 BC), the domestication of animals likely led to the development of diseases including measles and smallpox. Since then, zoonotic disease has led to other major transnational outbreaks including HIV, Ebola, SARS, MERS, and H1N1 swine flu, among others.

3 Jun 2021

New method provides greater quality control and safety of heparin drug

A new method to analyze the blood thinning drug Heparin has been developed that can pinpoint contaminants more accurately and quickly, providing greater quality control and safety.

17 May 2021

Combo COVID-flu vaccine protects against current and emerging variants in animal model

Now, in new research posted to the bioRxiv preprint server, scientists at Novavax, Inc. present a vaccine including recombinant influenza hemagglutinin (HA) antigen along with recombinant SARS-CoV-2 spike protein, with saponin Matrix-M adjuvant. Both have passed independent safety tests in phase 1 trials.

10 May 2021

Interdisciplinary project explores the phenomenon of so-called “superspreaders”

Scientists from the Departments of Physics, Biomedical Sciences and Process Engineering at Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg are in the process of analyzing the emergence and spread of infectious air bubbles in our breath, known as aerosols, using tissue cultivations and artificially-produced, virus-filled suspended particles.

3 May 2021

Live "attenuated" influenza virus vaccine protects animals against respiratory infections, including SARS-CoV-2

Researchers in the United States and Austria have demonstrated the potential of a modified influenza virus as a vaccine to protect against viral respiratory pathogens, including the novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) that causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

2 May 2021

Eosinophils modify the respiratory barrier during influenza A infection, shows study

For the first time in published literature, Le Bonheur Children's Hospital and University of Tennessee Health Science Center (UTHSC) researchers showed that a variety of white blood cells known as eosinophils modify the respiratory barrier during influenza A (IAV) infection, according to a recent paper in the journal Cells.

28 Apr 2021

Study uncovers a novel autoantigen in patients with narcolepsy type 1

Researchers at the University of Helsinki have identified influenza virus peptides that resemble human protein fragments and can cause an immune response against the body’s own cells due to cross-reactivity.

26 Apr 2021

Study reports on safety of COVID-19 mRNA vaccines in pregnancy

Researchers used different surveillance systems in the United States to track adverse outcomes after coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination in pregnant people and found no major safety flags.

23 Apr 2021

Study explores how lessons from past crises could improve the pandemic response

The lack of accountability, poor communication and insufficient planning plaguing the government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic -- especially in its early months -- have roots in how the nation responded to 9/11, Hurricane Katrina and the H1N1 swine flu, a new study involving the University of Washington found.

20 Apr 2021

Little evidence of COVID-19 vaccine nationalism in public opinion

Invariably, vaccination programs in high-income countries (HICs) are in a much better position due to their ability to secure a greater number of vaccines from multiple companies. On the contrary, lower-income countries have failed to obtain a sufficient number of vaccines.

8 Apr 2021

Researchers use South Korea Data to create new framework for COVID-19-vulnerable locales

Though the U.S. and South Korea recorded their first official COVID-19 case on the same day, January 20, 2020, there were notable differences in how each country would ultimately address what has become the world's most severe pandemic since 1918.

7 Apr 2021

The case for donating US Covid vaccines overseas

A Senate committee grilled federal officials about the shortage of vaccines to protect Americans against a pandemic virus. Two months later, the U.S. public had lost interest in the virus, and millions of vaccines were sitting in warehouses — although poor countries still needed them.

19 Mar 2021

Vaccine candidate shows promise to protect against dozen-plus flu strains

Ask Eric Weaver about pandemics, and he's quick to remind you of a fact that illustrates the fleeting nature of human memory and the proximal nature of human attention: The first pandemic of the 21st century struck not in 2019, but 2009.

3 Mar 2021

New computer algorithm offers a path toward pan-influenza and coronavirus vaccine

A novel computer algorithm that could create a broadly reactive influenza vaccine for swine flu also offers a path toward a pan-influenza vaccine and possibly a pan-coronavirus vaccine as well, according to a new paper published in Nature Communications.

2 Mar 2021

Time to implement measures preventing future viral zoonoses

Now, researchers at the University of Silesia in Katowice and the Poznan University of Medical Sciences in Poland recommend measures to prevent future zoonotic outbreaks. They emphasized the importance of viral surveillance and research on new viral strains as primary strategies to combat these infections.

28 Feb 2021

Asthma may influence the evolution of influenza virus, study shows

A subtype of asthma in adults may cause higher susceptibility to influenza and could result in dangerous flu mutations.

16 Feb 2021

Predicting future mamalian hosts of SARS-CoV-2

Researchers at the Beijing Computational Science Research Center and Peking University analyzed sequences of the angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) proteins from 16 mammals and predicted the structures of ACE2- receptor-binding domain (RBD) complexes.

4 Feb 2021