Pandemic News and Research

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A pandemic is a global disease outbreak. During a pandemic, transmission can be anticipated in the workplace, not only from patient to workers in health care settings, but also among co-workers in general work settings. A pandemic would cause high levels of illness, death, social disruption, and economic loss. Everyday life would be disrupted because so many people in so many places become seriously ill at the same time. Impacts could range from school and business closings to the interruption of basic services such as public transportation and food delivery.

Study unravels some of the mystery surrounding the devastating 1918 pandemic

Often called the most devastating epidemic in the recorded history of the world, the 1918 influenza virus pandemic was responsible for more than 40 million deaths across the globe.

10 Oct 2007

Latest death in Indonesia from bird flu takes toll up to 87

The Indonesian health ministry says the 44-year-old woman was from Pekan Baru city on Sumatra, and was apparently treated for fever at several hospitals before finally being admitted to Arifin Achmad hospital on October 4th where she died the following day.

8 Oct 2007

Call for new efforts to bolster disease surveillance in the Americas

Top international health authorities are urging new efforts to bolster disease surveillance in the Americas, saying that small and poorer countries in the region have limited ability to detect, assess and report on disease outbreaks that could spread beyond their borders.

8 Oct 2007

Worrying bird flu mutations

According to researchers in the United States even thought the H5N1 bird flu virus has not transformed into a pandemic strain, it has nevertheless slowly evolved into a pathogen better equipped to infect humans.

7 Oct 2007

40,000 computers used to tackle bird flu in search for new anti-viral drug discoveries

Last month a collaboration of European and Asian researchers launched a new attack against the deadly bird flu virus, harnessing the combined power of more than 40,000 computers across 45 countries to boost the pace of anti-viral drug discovery.

4 Oct 2007

How Candida albicans transforms from its normally benign form into life-threatening form

Researchers at the Agency for Science, Technology and Research's (A*STAR) Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology (IMCB) have discovered new molecular mechanisms that provide a more detailed understanding of how the normally benign Dr. Jekyll-like fungus known as Candida albicans transforms into a serious and often life-threatening Mr. Hyde-like form.

4 Oct 2007

Oseltamivir, the active substance in Tamiflu, unchanged through sewage treatment

Swedish researchers have discovered that oseltamivir (Tamiflu); an antiviral drug used to prevent and mitigate influenza infections is not removed or degraded during normal sewage treatment.

3 Oct 2007

Another bird flu victim in Indonesia takes the death toll to 86

Though experts are investigating how the man contracted the virus, it is unclear how he could have come into contact with sick poultry as keeping backyard poultry has been banned by the Jakarta government since February.

2 Oct 2007

H5N1 able to pass through placenta to fetus and infect organs other than lungs in adults

The H5N1 strain of the bird flu virus can pass through the placenta of pregnant women to the unborn fetus, and can infect organs other than the lungs in adults. These are the conclusions of authors of an Article in The Lancet.

1 Oct 2007

New biosensor detects avian influenza in just minutes

Quick identification of avian influenza infection in poultry is critical to controlling outbreaks, but current detection methods can require several days to produce results.

27 Sep 2007

Sanofi Pasteur's new H5N1 vaccine shows promise

Sanofi pasteur, the vaccines division of sanofi-aventis Group, has announced data showing that its new investigational H5N1 pandemic influenza vaccine containing a proprietary adjuvant achieved a high immune response at the lowest dose of H5N1 antigen reported to date.

18 Sep 2007

China culls 33,000 ducks to contain bird flu outbreak

Authorities in China say a suspected outbreak of the H5N1 bird flu virus has been discovered among ducks in an outlying district of the southern city of Guangzhou.

17 Sep 2007

Key differences discovered between avian and human flu

St. Jude scientists have found key features that distinguish influenza viruses found in birds from those that infect humans.

5 Sep 2007

Indonesia denies human to human spread of bird flu

The Indonesian government has been forced to speak out about the continued spread of bird flu in the vast archipelago following the release of an analysis which suggests the deadly virus had been spread by person to person contact.

4 Sep 2007

One species' entire genome discovered inside another's

Scientists at the University of Rochester and the J. Craig Venter Institute have discovered a copy of the entire genome of a bacterial parasite residing inside the genome of its host species.

30 Aug 2007

$75 million extra for pandemic flu preparedness

HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt has announced that the Department is making available another $75 million to states, territories and four metropolitan areas to help strengthen their capacity to respond to a pandemic influenza outbreak.

30 Aug 2007

Limited human-to-human spread of Avian-flu virus in Indonesia in 2006 confirmed

In the first systematic, statistical analysis of its kind, infectious-disease-modeling experts at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center confirm that the avian influenza A (H5N1) virus in 2006 spread between a small number of people within a family in Indonesia.

28 Aug 2007

MedImmune licenses reverse genetics technology to Novartis

MedImmune, Inc. has announced that it has licensed its proprietary reverse genetics intellectual property to Novartis to support the development and construction of new vaccine strains to produce inactivated human seasonal, pre-pandemic and pandemic influenza vaccines.

24 Aug 2007

Roche and WHO reinforce Tamiflu as primary H5N1 treatment

The World Health Organization (WHO) has reinforced that Tamiflu (oseltamivir) is the primary recommended antiviral of choice in managing patients infected with H5N1 in updated guidance published on the WHO website today.

24 Aug 2007

Global public health security in the 21st century

More than at any previous time in history, global public health security depends on international cooperation and the willingness of all countries to act effectively in tackling new and emerging threats.

23 Aug 2007