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Flu immunization targets fall short for health workers and pregnant women

According to a new survey despite recent improvements in influenza vaccination rates among U.S. health care personnel, their rates for the 2010-2011 flu season still fell short of national health objectives.

18 Aug 2011

World must invest equally in bird flu prevention and response

The "reports during the past two weeks of two recent infections and another death" from H5N1 (avian) influenza "raised little concern except among public health officials," Robert Gatter, co-director of the Center for Health Law Studies and professor of law at Saint Louis University, writes in an Atlanta Journal-Constitution opinion piece, adding that "the fact that bird flu in developing nations receives little public attention reveals that the world has become complacent about this threat."

18 Aug 2011

Emotions hinder disease eradication

In a New York Times essay, journalist Donald McNeil writes, "To a doctor, all epidemics are objectively different … But to the mortals they mow down, all epidemics are emotionally alike — an onslaught of fear, awe, repulsion, stigma, denial, rage and blame — and doctors would be foolish to forget that."

17 Aug 2011

Study finds broadest immune response from LAIV nasal spray vaccines for children

Children younger than 3 years old receive the same protective antibody response from the recommended two doses of licensed seasonal influenza vaccines regardless of whether the two doses are injected by needle, inhaled through a nasal spray or provided through one dose of each in any order, according to researchers funded by the National Institutes of Health.

17 Aug 2011

Tel Aviv University scientists work to determine how H1N1 becomes pandemic

The last century has seen two major pandemics caused by the H1N1 virus - the Spanish Flu in 1918 and 2009's Swine Flu scare, which had thousands travelling with surgical masks and clamoring for vaccination. But scientists did not know what distinguished the Swine Flu from ordinary influenza in pigs or seasonal outbreaks in humans, giving it the power to travel extensively and infect large populations.

16 Aug 2011

Sinovac second quarter sales increase 52.5% to $15.7 million

Sinovac Biotech Ltd., a leading provider of biopharmaceutical products in China, announced today its unaudited second quarter financial results for the period ended June 30, 2011.

12 Aug 2011

WHO declares end to global swine flu pandemic

"The World Health Organization is declaring an end to the global swine flu pandemic," the Associated Press/Seattle Times reports.

12 Aug 2011

PBS NewsHour examines use of Twitter to track disease spread

PBS NewsHour's blog "The Rundown" examines "a recent slate of independent studies" that assert "Twitter can accurately track the spread of a virus or disease - and do it much faster than traditional surveillance methods."

12 Aug 2011

Twitter, Facebook emerging as disease-fighting tools

From Iowa to Brazil, researchers are discovering there is a distinct association between complaints, worries and random rants on the social media site and the spread of medical issues as wide-ranging as the flu, dengue fever and pollen-induced allergies.

11 Aug 2011

Current Medical Research & Opinion publishes new data on EVISTA for postmenopausal osteoporosis

Eli Lilly and Company today announced that data on EVISTA® (raloxifene HCl tablets) therapy for more than three years was published online in Current Medical Research & Opinion.

10 Aug 2011

New report: U.S. antiseptics and disinfectants market to reach $2.9B by 2016

In 2009, the disinfectant and antiseptic market was worth around $3.4 billion, but by 2010 had grown over 12%, to reach a value of $3.8 billion, according to a new report available from companiesandmarkets.com.

9 Aug 2011

NIH awards Jefferson $4.8M grant to study vaccine to clear rabies virus from central nervous system

Thomas Jefferson University received a National Institutes of Health (NIH) $4.8 million grant to test a new rabies vaccine with the potential to cure the virus infection, even after it has made its way into a person's central nervous system (CNS). Today, if an unvaccinated person is infected with rabies and it spreads to the brain, there is little chance for survival.

8 Aug 2011

Triple threat of catching three varieties of flu in one season

Each year, 200,000 Americans are hospitalized due to flu-related complications. That number can rise or fall - often dramatically - based on the effectiveness of the selected flu vaccine, said Dr. Jorge Parada, director of infection prevention and control at Loyola University Health System.

5 Aug 2011

Gold nanoparticles for rapid, accurate diagnosis of flu

Arriving at a rapid and accurate diagnosis is critical during flu outbreaks, but until now, physicians and public health officials have had to choose between a highly accurate yet time-consuming test or a rapid but error-prone test.

4 Aug 2011

Viewpoints: Geithner, Bowles, Simpson, Ryan, Vladeck, Wilensky on health spending and the deficit

The agreement sets up a powerful mechanism for agreement on tax reforms to strengthen growth, and entitlement reforms to strengthen programs such as Medicare. A congressional committee with fast-track authority will have a Nov. 23 deadline to recommend a balanced package of long-term reforms to produce $1.5 trillion in additional deficit reduction.

4 Aug 2011

Needle-free nanopatch vaccine delivery system

The needle-free nanopatch vaccine delivery system is coming soon after a consortium of investors put up $15 million for its development. The money will enable University of Queensland's Professor Mark Kendall to continue his work on the technology. It is described as the biggest breakthrough in vaccine delivery since the invention of the syringe more than 150 years ago.

3 Aug 2011

Universal flu vaccine based on “super antibody” coming soon

Researchers have finally found the first antibody which can fight all types of the influenza A virus. The results of the experiments on flu-infected mice, published in Science Express, showed the antibody could be used as an “emergency treatment” for flu as well.

31 Jul 2011

UK MRC, Humabs discover first neutralizing antibody that targets all influenza A subtypes

A paper published today in the scientific research journal Science, describes a novel, proprietary monoclonal antibody (FI6) discovered in a collaboration between Humabs BioMed SA, the Institute for Research in Biomedicine and the UK Medical Research Council.

29 Jul 2011

Tips to make family vacations less hazardous for kids and parents

Family vacations live in infamy. Sometimes it's for the lasting memories of family bonding and new wonders experienced together, and sometimes for the horrors of just trying to get to a destination.

29 Jul 2011

Universal flu vaccine with super antibodies in near future

Researchers are close to developing a “super antibody” against flu that could be used as a universal treatment and pave the way for the development of a universal vaccine against the disease that affects billions of people every year.

29 Jul 2011