Flu News and Research

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Test kit mistake - labs in race to destroy deadly flu virus

As many as 3,750 medical laboratories, all but 75 of which are in the U.S., have been told by the World Health Organization to destroy a pandemic flu virus sent to them as part of routine testing kits.

13 Apr 2005

Now revealed that Salk polio vaccine was a team effort

The cure for polio came as a result of the collaboration between Thomas Francis Jr. and Jonas Salk.

10 Apr 2005

Stress might actually be beneficial to health

New research has surprisingly shown that stress, generally thought to be bad for the immune system by lowering the body's ability to fight off disease, on a short-term basis might actually be beneficial.

6 Apr 2005

Much more money needed to tackle flu virus

The World Health Organisation (WHO) is recommending that governments throughout the world need to set aside 5 per cent of what they spend on influenza vaccines to help get ready for the next big flu epidemic.

4 Apr 2005

Obesity may hinder body's ability to control influenza infection

Obesity apparently reduces laboratory mice’s ability to turn on elements of their immune systems needed for controlling influenza infection, a new University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine study shows.

4 Apr 2005

$2.6 million complaint filed against Illinois by British Ecosse Hospital Products

Gov. Rod Blagojevich of Illinois has had a legal complaint demanding nearly $2.6 million filed against him by a British wholesaler Ecosse Hospital Products Ltd. for 254,250 doses of a flu vaccine ordered by Blagojevich to provide thousands of flu vaccine doses for Illinois.

4 Apr 2005

Stress may enhance the body's ability to fight the flu

Short bouts of intense social stress improved the ability in the mice to recover from the flu. The stress apparently did so by substantially boosting the production of specialized immune cells that fought the virus.

3 Apr 2005

REPLICor to disclose unique antiviral drug

REPLICor Inc., a privately owned biopharmaceutical company, is developing a broad spectrum antiviral drug called REP 9 which has the broadest spectrum of activity in vitro ever reported for a single chemical entity.

30 Mar 2005

NIAID investigates safety of H5N1 avian influenza vaccine

Fast-track recruitment has begun for a trial to investigate the safety of a vaccine against H5N1 avian influenza, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) announced today.

23 Mar 2005

New weapon for asthmatics to combat winter asthma attacks

A British team from the University of Southampton, led by the world-acknowledged asthma experts, Professor Stephen Holgate and Professor Donna Davies, has identified a therapy used to treat multiple sclerosis (MS) as a potential novel treatment to reduce asthma attacks caused by the common cold virus.

23 Mar 2005

Asian Flu threat underestimated

Dr. Keiji Fukuda an expert at the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention is warning that the incident of the particularly lethal variation of influenza in Southeast Asia is probably far greater than has been reported so far.

21 Mar 2005

How are choices for healing performances related to religious change and gender?

Who has made Mama Raja ill? Was it witchcraft, evil spirits, malaria or God's punishment? Dutch researcher Ien Courtens discovered that in the interior of the Bird's Head of West Papua, the presumed cause of the illness determines the choice of treatment.

16 Mar 2005

Anthrax scare in Pentagon false alarm

Two of the Pentagon mailrooms have been subjected to Anthrax tests in response to what appears to have been false alarms. The tests, which have been negative, were done a day after initial testing indicated the deadly spores might be present in some areas, prompting nearly 900 workers to take antibiotics as a precaution; it closed three mail facilities - two that serve the Pentagon and one in Washington that handles mail on its way to the military.

15 Mar 2005

ID Biomedical pursues accelerated approval of influenza vaccine

ID Biomedical Corporation announced today that it has been advised by the United States Food and Drug Administration's Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (CBER) that the Company's injectable influenza vaccine is eligible for accelerated approval and priority review mechanisms, allowing possible licensure of the vaccine in time to manufacture product for the 2006/07 season.

15 Mar 2005

Disparities in health care are pervasive in America

Disparities in health care are pervasive in America. These disparities adversely impact the cardiovascular health of Americans, especially African Americans, Hispanics, poor and uneducated people, according to a report in a special disparities themed issue of Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.

15 Mar 2005

Bird flu could kill 2 million Brits

A UK expert is warning that the bird flu pandemic is imminent and inevitable and two million Britons could die.

14 Mar 2005

Ten more cases of human bird flu in Viet Nam

Full information is desperately needed to assess the risks of a pandemic that in a worst-case scenario could claim tens of millions of lives worldwide says the United Nations health agency.

14 Mar 2005

New H5N1 avian influenza vaccine

Merial today announced the introduction of a new inactivated vaccine, GALLIMUNE Flu H5N9, developed and shown to be effective specifically for use against the highly pathogenic avian influenza virus H5N1 that has caused devastating economic losses in the poultry industry in Asia, and which has been linked to the deaths of over 29 humans.

14 Mar 2005

New flu vaccine for kids hits the market

A new pediatric influenza vaccine that contains no preservatives - the only influenza vaccine approved for use in children 6 to 35 months of age - has been produced by the sanofi-aventis Group, in time for the 2005-2006 influenza season.

10 Mar 2005

Birdflu vaccine successful on monkeys

A bird flu vaccine for humans could be only months away since the success of a vaccine on monkeys in Vietnam, researchers hope to have a vaccine ready for testing in humans later this year.

10 Mar 2005