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.

ST131 infection is more prevalent in LTCF residents and elderly population

Antibiotic-resistant Escherichia coli (E. coli) continues to proliferate, driven largely by expansion of a strain of E. coli know as sequence type ST131. A new study points to hospitals and long-term care facilities (LTCF) as settings in which this antibiotic-resistant strain is increasingly found.

14 Mar 2013

New paper examines long-term damage that political strife can do to public health

As Kenyan citizens negotiated the tensions following the March 4 nationwide elections, memories of the violence that followed the December 2007 vote weighed heavily for many reasons.

14 Mar 2013

Researchers determine way to predict and protect against new strains of flu virus

Researchers have determined a way to predict and protect against new strains of the flu virus, in the hope of improving immunity against the disease.

13 Mar 2013

Influenza drug: an interview with Dr Jenny McKimm-Breschkin, CSIRO

Influenza or flu for short is caused by a family of viruses, which can be called influenza A or influenza B. Influenza A viruses are found in humans, animals – like swine and horses- and mostly aquatic birds. Influenza B is only found in humans.

11 Mar 2013

Einstein researchers to develop drug-impregnated intravaginal ring for HIV prevention in women

Researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University have been awarded a $12 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to develop a drug-impregnated intravaginal ring to prevent HIV infection in women.

11 Mar 2013

Marked seasonal variation in COPD exacerbations

Patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease are significantly more likely to experience exacerbations during the winter than summer months, research shows.

8 Mar 2013

Influenza vaccine linked to narcolepsy in children in England

Researchers have found an increased risk for narcolepsy in children who received the swine flu vaccination in England.

1 Mar 2013

New research reveals special face masks prevent clinical respiratory and bacterial infections

Health care workers who consistently wear special fitted face masks while on duty are much less likely to get clinical respiratory and bacterial infections, according to new research led by University of New South Wales academics.

27 Feb 2013

Hypothetical models examine spread of disease in age of modern transportation

The Atlantic Cities profiles the work of Dirk Brockmann, a theoretical physicist and professor of complex systems at Northwestern University, and other researchers who are examining how modern transportation, such as air travel, affect the spread of disease globally.

27 Feb 2013

Faecal microbiota transplantation highly effective in treating recurrent C. difficile infections

Clostridium difficile infections have developed into a virtual pandemic over the past two decades. The outcome of standard antibiotic treatment is unsatisfactory: the recurrence rates are high with every relapse increasing the risk of further follow-ups. Faecal microbiota transplantation offers a rapidly acting and highly effective alternative in treating recurrent Clostridium difficile infections (RCDI), as Professor Lawrence J. Brandt (Montefiore Medical Center, New York, USA) points out.

27 Feb 2013

Conference aims to end tobacco epidemic in developing nations

Imagine, for a moment, that a plague has ravaged the Developed World, but has not yet established its grip on the Developing Nations. If the world's leaders in public health came together for two days at Harvard to map out a campaign to prevent the plague's spread, wouldn't you want to cover that meeting?

26 Feb 2013

HIV epidemics and extra-couple relationships: an interview with Steve Bellan, University of Texas

The epicentre of the HIV pandemic is in sub-Saharan Africa, though prevalence of infection varies dramatically between countries for reasons not completely understood.

25 Feb 2013

Researchers identify new function for matriptase enzyme

Dr. Martin Richter (pharmacology), investigator with the Centre de recherche clinique Étienne-Le Bel (CRCELB) at the Centre hospitalier universitaire de Sherbrooke (CHUS) and professor in the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences of the Université de Sherbrooke (UdeS), and his collaborators have identified a new function of the enzyme matriptase, present in the human respiratory system, that can activate a viral protein involved in infections caused by the H1N1 influenza (or flu) virus.

24 Feb 2013

New drug proves to be effective in preventing spread of different flu strains

The new drug has been proven to be effective in preventing the spread of different strains of influenza in laboratory models - including resistant strains of the virus.

24 Feb 2013

New drug to safeguard against epidemic and pandemic flu strains

CSIRO scientists have helped to design a new drug to safeguard against epidemic and pandemic flu strains – as published in Science today.

22 Feb 2013

With financial commitment, Obama can add 'end of AIDS' to his legacy

"In his State of the Union address, President Obama stated with confidence that the promise of an AIDS-free generation is within our reach," Archbishop Emeritus of Capetown Desmond Tutu writes in a USA Today opinion piece, adding, "We currently possess the power to begin to end a global pandemic that has killed 25 million and infected another 34 million."

22 Feb 2013

Majority of businesses are not adequately prepared for many types of disasters

A recent study by Saint Louis University researchers found that majority of businesses are not adequately prepared for many types of disasters, especially biological events such as a pandemic.

22 Feb 2013

University of Louisville research team explores H1N1 outbreak

Just the mention of H1N1 can conjure up images of long lines of people waiting to be vaccinated, news reports of the severity of the pandemic and the count of the number of people who perished from the 2009-10 outbreak. However, some positives are coming forward.

20 Feb 2013

Study evaluates effectiveness of H1N1 vaccine in pregnant women against adverse infant outcomes

Pregnant women who received the H1N1 influenza vaccine during the 2009 pandemic were less likely to have premature babies, and their babies weighed more on average.

20 Feb 2013

New coronavirus could potentially be treated with immunotherapy

The new coronavirus that has emerged in the Middle East is well-adapted to infecting humans but could potentially be treated with immunotherapy, according to a study to be published on February 19 in mBio-, the online open-access journal of the American Society for Microbiology.

20 Feb 2013