Flu News and Research

RSS

RFK Jr.’s purge of FOIA staff at FDA Spares people working on covid vaccine lawsuits

Mass firings at the FDA have decimated divisions tasked with releasing public records generated by the agency's regulatory activities in sectors including tobacco, food, medical devices, and veterinary medicine.

10 Apr 2025

Trump’s immigration tactics obstruct efforts to avert bird flu pandemic, researchers say

Aggressive deportation tactics have terrorized farmworkers at the center of the nation's bird flu strategy, public health workers say.

10 Apr 2025

Slashed federal funding cancels vaccine clinics amid measles surge

More than a dozen vaccination clinics were canceled in Pima County, Arizona.

9 Apr 2025

New approach to combat influenza and herpes with bean-based gum

In today's interconnected world, infectious diseases pose an escalating threat, as demonstrated by the coronavirus pandemic and outbreaks of H1N1, SARS, Ebola, Zika, and H5N1 (bird flu) viruses-all of which have had significant global health and economic impacts.

4 Apr 2025

KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': American health gets a pink slip

The Department of Health and Human Services underwent an unprecedented purge this week, as thousands of employees from the National Institutes of Health, the FDA, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and other agencies across the department were fired, placed on administrative leave, or offered transfers to far-flung Indian Health Service facilities in such places as New Mexico, Montana, and Alaska.

3 Apr 2025

New project aims to help pin down the process of West Nile virus transmission

Mosquitoes have been transmitting the West Nile virus to humans in the United States for over 25 years, but we still don't know precisely how the virus cycles through these pests and the other animals they bite.

2 Apr 2025

Survey shows increased awareness of alcohol’s cancer risks

Public awareness of the link between drinking alcohol and an elevated risk of cancer has grown since last fall, with more than half of Americans now saying that regularly consuming alcohol increases your chances of later developing cancer, according to a survey by the Annenberg Public Policy Center (APPC) of the University of Pennsylvania.

1 Apr 2025

Growth factor cocktail could reverse deadly effects of anthrax toxin

Anthrax, an infectious disease caused by the bacterium Bacillus anthracis, is often treatable in its early stages. But once the disease has progressed beyond the "point of no return" after just a few days, patients are almost certainly doomed.

28 Mar 2025

COVID-19 vaccines may cut risk of long COVID

Full COVID-19 vaccination may reduce post-COVID-19 condition risk by 27%, though more research is needed, especially for children and immunocompromised groups.

26 Mar 2025

Scientists develop universal vaccine targeting multiple coronaviruses

Sugar coatings aren't only for candies; they also help viruses, like the ones that cause COVID-19, hide from their hosts' immune system.

25 Mar 2025

Current, former CDC staff warn against slashing support to local public health departments

On a sunny weekday in Atlanta, a small crowd of people gathered for a rally outside of a labor union headquarters building.

24 Mar 2025

Study reveals factors affecting patient experience in emergency departments

A large scale study by researchers from the Regenstrief Institute and the Indiana University School of Medicine has found that patient pain upon arrival to the Emergency Department (ED) as well as the use of hallway beds and radiology studies in the ED are associated with patient experience, although not in the same ways.

20 Mar 2025

KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': Federal health work in flux

Two months into the new administration, federal workers and contractors remain off-balance as the Trump administration ramps up its efforts to cancel jobs and programs — even as federal judges declare many of those efforts illegal and/or unconstitutional.

20 Mar 2025

Keto controversy? Experts say it’s here to stay

Low-carb and ketogenic diets offer sustainable solutions for chronic disease, enhancing metabolic health and supporting weight loss through dietary changes.

18 Mar 2025

Current antivirals not successful in treating severe H5N1 bird flu infections

As the H5N1 avian influenza outbreak continues, scientists are working to better understand the virus's threat to human health.

17 Mar 2025

Scientists say NIH officials told them to scrub mRNA references on grants

National Institutes of Health officials have urged scientists to remove all references to mRNA vaccine technology from their grant applications, two researchers said, in a move that signaled the agency might abandon a promising field of medical research.

17 Mar 2025

U.S. consumers still unaware of raw milk risks despite bird flu findings

Although the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) located H5N1 bird flu virus in samples of raw, or unpasteurized, milk in tests in four states in April 2024, and bird flu has been detected in commercially sold raw milk, many Americans do not know that consuming raw milk and its products poses greater health risks than consuming pasteurized milk and its products, especially for children.

14 Mar 2025

Older adults may have stronger immunity to bird flu, Penn study finds

Prior exposures to specific types of seasonal influenza viruses promote cross-reactive immunity against the H5N1 avian influenza virus, according to new research from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.

13 Mar 2025

Scientists reveal how Epstein-Barr virus reactivation triggers MIS-C in children

Scientists reveal that reactivation of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), driven by TGFβ-induced immune suppression, is a key driver of multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) following COVID-19. Blocking TGFβ may offer a potential new treatment for this life-threatening condition.

13 Mar 2025

COVID-19 discovery could open the door to new treatments for chronic lung diseases

University of Virginia School of Medicine scientists have discovered how severe COVID-19 can destroy immune cells' ability to repair the lungs, helping explain the lingering effects of long COVID.

13 Mar 2025