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.

Immunizing school-aged children from flu can protect others as well

Mathematical models predicted it, and now a University of Florida study confirms it: Immunizing school-aged children from flu can protect other segments of the population, as well.

10 Dec 2014

Cannabis Science, CFA partner to improve health-related education infrastructure in Africa

Cannabis Science, Inc., a U.S. Company specializing in cannabis formulation-based drug development and related consulting, is pleased to announce its President & CEO, Mr. Raymond C. Dabney, along with CBIS's Senior Scientific Advisor, Dr. Roscoe M. Moore, Jr., have initiated a partnership between CBIS and the Constituency for Africa to help improve the healthcare and health-related education infrastructure in Africa.

9 Dec 2014

Study shows seasonal flu vaccines may protect individuals against many different viruses

Seasonal flu vaccines may protect individuals not only against the strains of flu they contain but also against many additional types, according to a study published this week in mBio, the online open-access journal of the American Society for Microbiology.

9 Dec 2014

Children born prematurely need to be placed in a priority group for seasonal flu vaccination

Children born prematurely are at an increased risk of flu-related complications, despite not being identified as an “at risk” group in UK, USA, or WHO guidelines, and should be a priority group for the seasonal flu vaccination, new research published in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine suggests.

8 Dec 2014

UCLA researchers devise plan to reduce HIV transmission in Africa

While Ebola has attracted much of the world's attention recently, a severe HIV epidemic rages on around the world and in sub-Saharan Africa in particular. Globally, more than 34 million people are infected with HIV; in sub-Saharan Africa alone, 3 million new infections occur annually.

3 Dec 2014

EU-designed forecasting model developed to predict spread of Ebola

Forecasters predicting the spread of Ebola are using one of the most sophisticated modeling systems in the world - the result of an EU research project.

2 Dec 2014

(RED) raises money for ‘Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria’

As the world reaches a tipping point in the AIDS fight, (RED) and its iconic partners Apple, Bank of America, The Coca-Cola Company and Starbucks marked World AIDS Day 2014 by rallying millions of people around the AIDS fight, and raising money for the Global Fund to fight AIDS, TB and Malaria.

2 Dec 2014

Report: Child poverty widespread in America's largest cities

Years after the end of the Great Recession, child poverty remains widespread in America's largest cities. A paper just released by the National Center for Children in Poverty, a research center based at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health, reports that nearly three children in five living in Detroit are poor, according to the most recent Census figures. This rate has grown by 10 percentage points since the onset of the Great Recession in 2007.

2 Dec 2014

Leading experts to discuss specific strategies to combat Ebola

Where do we stand in the fight against Ebola -- and what should be done now?

1 Dec 2014

Flusurvey to offer self-administered nasal swab to all participants

People taking part in this year’s Flusurvey, the UK’s biggest crowd-sourced study of influenza will for the first time be offered a swab to confirm if their symptoms are caused by a flu virus or not as part of a new collaboration with i-sense. Data from social media and internet searches will also be combined with Flusurvey, allowing flu trends to be monitored across the UK more accurately and earlier than ever before.

20 Nov 2014

'Spillover' of henipaviruses into humans underway, study finds

Another family of viruses, deadly in some cases, may have already jumped from fruit bats into humans in Africa, according to a study published today in the journal Nature Communications. The study provides the first, preliminary scientific evidence that "spillover" of henipaviruses into human populations is underway.

19 Nov 2014

Scientists call for public to help monitor spread of flu across the UK

People taking part in this year's Flusurvey, the UK's biggest crowd-sourced study of influenza will for the first time be offered a swab to confirm if their symptoms are caused by a flu virus or not as part of a new collaboration with i-sense. Data from social media and internet searches will also be combined with Flusurvey, allowing flu trends to be monitored across the UK more accurately and earlier than ever before.

18 Nov 2014

Study reveals the origin of world's AIDS pandemic

A study published in Science magazine reveals for the first time where, when and how the world's AIDS pandemic originated. Thanks to a statistical analysis of all the genetic data available on the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), an international research team has just confirmed that the scourge broke out in 1920 in Kinshasa, the capital of what is now the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

13 Nov 2014

Stradis Healthcare signs definitive agreement to acquire Medikmark

Stradis Healthcare is pleased to announce that it has entered into a definitive acquisition agreement with Medikmark, a leading provider of healthcare kits based in Waukegan, IL, under which Stradis will acquire all shares of Medikmark.

7 Nov 2014

Gentiva Health Services reports revenues of $498.0 million for Q3 2014

Gentiva Health Services, Inc., one of the largest providers of home health, hospice and community care services in the United States, today reported net revenues of $498.0 million, adjusted EBITDA of $48.5 million and adjusted income attributable to Gentiva shareholders per diluted share of $0.28.

5 Nov 2014

University of Adelaide-led project develops new test to eradicate H5N1 bird flu

A University of Adelaide-led project has developed a new test that can distinguish between birds that have been vaccinated against the H5N1 strain of avian influenza virus or "bird flu" with those that have been naturally infected.

31 Oct 2014

Insilico Medicine, CCARL and Plantbiosis partner to advance research on aging

Through this unique partnership, the Baltimore-based Insilico Medicine and Lethbridge-based CCARL will provide expertise in aging research and build on the personalized medicine and drug discovery platforms OncoFinder and GeroScope to develop new systems for age-related diseases.

31 Oct 2014

Study details crucial role of culture in achieving better health

The systematic neglect of culture is the single biggest barrier to advancing the highest attainable standard of health worldwide, say the authors of a major new report on culture and health, led by Professor David Napier, a leading medical anthropologist from University College London (UCL), UK, and published in The Lancet.

30 Oct 2014

Imaxio awarded ANR funding to improve efficacy of vaccines for seasonal influenza

Imaxio, a biopharmaceutical company specialized in vaccines, today announces that it has been awarded funding of EUR 600,000 (USD 772,000) by the French National Research Agency (Agence Nationale de la Recherche, ANR) for the OPTIVAC project 'leveraging On t-cell immune resPonse To Improve influenza VACcines'.

28 Oct 2014