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Nanotrope assay receives U.S. patent for diagnosing influenza and viral infections

Nanotrope, Inc. announced today that it has been issued United States patent #7,829,272 covering its ground-breaking diagnostic test for influenza and other viral infections.

17 Nov 2010

New supercomputer rating system to be released

A new supercomputer rating system will be released by an international team led by Sandia National Laboratories at the Supercomputing Conference 2010 in New Orleans on Nov. 17.

17 Nov 2010

Canada recognizes Nov. 18 as Antibiotic Awareness Day

Antibiotic resistance is an issue health practitioners around the world face daily. Numerous health-related organizations have partnered to mark tomorrow as the first Canadian Antibiotic Awareness Day in an effort to promote prudent use of antibiotics and fight the threat of antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

17 Nov 2010

NIH awards $10 million to advance technology for painless influenza vaccine delivery patch

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has awarded $10 million to the Georgia Institute of Technology, Emory University and PATH, a Seattle-based nonprofit organization, to advance a technology for the painless, self-administration of flu vaccine using patches containing tiny microneedles that dissolve into the skin.

17 Nov 2010

New mathematical method predicts dominant strain of influenza virus

Rice University scientists have found a way to predict rapidly whether a new strain of the influenza virus should be included in the annual seasonal flu vaccine. While it sometimes takes new flu strains up to three years to become dominant worldwide, the new method can predict whether they will become dominant as little as two weeks after the sequence first appears in the GenBank database, the National Institutes of Health's collection of all publicly available DNA sequences.

16 Nov 2010

Sinovac third quarter sales decrease 7% to $9.6 million

Sinovac Biotech Ltd., a leading provider of biopharmaceutical products in China, announced today its unaudited financial results for the three-month and nine-month periods ended September 30, 2010.

15 Nov 2010

Inovio third quarter total revenue decreases from $3.6 million to $1.3 million

Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today reported financial results for the quarter ended September 30, 2010.

15 Nov 2010

Researchers find influenza vaccines can contain allergenic components

People with egg or gelatin allergies shouldn't assume that just because they've had a flu shot safely in the past they will be able to again, according to a new study, presented at the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology annual meeting in Phoenix Nov. 11-16.

15 Nov 2010

Young father receives life-saving intervention prior heart transplant surgery

James "Jimmy" Armstrong hadn't missed a "Mac" in 28 years. At 44, he's one of the youngest "goats" in the Chicago Yacht Club. Sailors receive the designation of "goat" once they've completed 20 or more "Macs", the 333-mile boat race from Chicago to Mackinac, Mich. Armstrong has sailed the race every year since he was 16. But, he wasn't among the sailors this past July. Instead, he was in intensive care awaiting heart transplant following a harrowing experience spurred by severe case of myocarditis-a little-known condition causing inflammation of the heart muscle.

15 Nov 2010

Australian epidemics research programme to be disbanded

The Australian Federal Government scrapped the funding to the Australian National University’s Master of Applied Epidemiology (MAE) program. This group helps Australia’s response to major disease outbreak and will be disbanded at the end of next year. According to Emeritus Professor Robert Douglas who founded this program, this has been responsible for Australia’s response to serious epidemic outbreaks in the past.

14 Nov 2010

LUHS executive named Joan L. Shaver Illinois Outstanding Nurse Leader

Paula Hindle, MSN, MBA, RN, has been named the Joan L. Shaver Illinois Outstanding Nurse Leader. Hindle is the vice president of health-care services and the chief nurse executive at Loyola University Health System (LUHS). She will receive this award at the 13th Annual Power of Nursing Leadership Event on Friday, Nov. 19, at the Hilton Hotel in Chicago.

12 Nov 2010

Meridian fourth quarter net sales decrease 16% to $35.5 million

Meridian Bioscience, Inc., reported fourth quarter and full-year fiscal 2010 net sales of $35.5 million and $143.0 million, respectively, decreases of 16% and 4%, respectively, from the same periods of the prior fiscal year.

11 Nov 2010

TFAH's new report on flu finds higher hospitalization rates among African Americans

H1N1 flu hospitalization rates for African-Americans, Hispanics, and American Indian/Alaska Natives were nearly two to one higher than rates for Whites during the 2009-2010 flu season, according to a new report, Fighting Flu Fatigue, from the Trust for America's Health (TFAH). At the same time, both H1N1 and seasonal flu vaccination rates were lower for African Americans and Hispanics than for Whites.

11 Nov 2010

Hemispherx Biopharma awarded grant for Ampligen, Alferon development programs

Hemispherx Biopharma, Inc. announced today grant awards totaling $488,958 from the U.S. Department of Treasury in support of its Ampligen and Alferon development programs.

10 Nov 2010

Pres. Obama emphasizes U.S.-Indian partnerships to track, fight diseases

On his final day in India as part of his 10-day Asia-Pacific tour, President Barack Obama on Monday addressed the joint session of the Indian Parliament in New Dehli, where he emphasized the importance of U.S.-Indian partnerships to tackle disease and improve education, Indo-Asian News Service/Hindustan Times reports (11/8).

10 Nov 2010

Flu vaccination programs can protect employee health, save businesses money

Each year, influenza poses a tremendous burden on working adults and the many businesses that employ them, contributing to absenteeism and lost productivity. Yet, annual influenza immunization rates remain very low. New data out today show that employer-sponsored influenza vaccination programs held early in the flu season not only protect employee health, but save businesses money.

10 Nov 2010

Health advice on NHS website saves £44 million per year

The latest study has shown that as more people self diagnose using the NHS Choices website, Britain’s national healthcare service saves millions of pounds every year. The website was launched three years ago. Last year more than 100 million visits were recorded at the site which offers patients a quick reference guide to illnesses, symptoms, diagnosis and treatment. Overall, there was a 10% increase in the number of visits to the website in 2010 compared to 2009. Some 19 million people logged on to NHS Choices for information on swine flu.

9 Nov 2010

Covidien fourth quarter net sales increase 3% to $2.67 billion

Covidien plc today reported results for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2010 (July - September 2010). Fourth-quarter net sales of $2.67 billion increased 3% from the $2.59 billion reported a year ago, with foreign exchange rate movement reducing the quarterly sales growth rate by approximately one percentage point.

9 Nov 2010

Strengthening influenza vaccination programs may help states improve coverage against pandemics

Strengthening routine influenza vaccination and health programs may help states improve their vaccination coverage against future pandemics or other health emergencies, a new study suggests.

3 Nov 2010

Scientists recommend research on bacterial vaccine to prevent influenza

Secondary infections with bacteria such as Streptococcus pneumoniae, which causes pneumonia, were a major cause of death during the 1918 flu pandemic and may be important in modern pandemics as well, according to a new article in the Journal of Infectious Diseases co-authored by David M. Morens, M.D., senior advisor to the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health.

3 Nov 2010