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.

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

Scientists identify potential target that could combat allergies of early childhood

A pandemic of ailments called the "allergic march" -- the gradual acquisition of overlapping allergic diseases that commonly begins in early childhood -- has frustrated both parents and physicians. For the last three decades, an explosion of eczema, food allergies, hay fever, and asthma have afflicted children in the United States, the European Union, and many other countries.

16 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

Economic slowdown should not hamper global fund donations

With the new knowledge that providing antiretroviral treatment to people living with HIV would "contribut[e] to a sharp slowdown in the spread of the virus," "scaling up treatment now may prove to be the least expensive option if we want to bring this deadly pandemic, which still infects 1.8 million people every year, under control," Michel Kazatchkine, executive director of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria writes in the Guardian's "Poverty Matters Blog."

6 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

European Respiratory Journal publishes updated WHO guidelines on drug-resistant TB

The European Respiratory Journal is today publishing the updated guidelines of the World Health Organization (WHO) that aim to help manage drug-resistant tuberculosis.

4 Aug 2011

Avaxia receives BARDA contract to develop new radiation mitigation drug

Avaxia Biologics, Inc., a privately-held biotech company developing oral antibody drugs that act locally within the gastrointestinal tract, announced today it was awarded a contract with the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), for the research and development of an oral antibody therapy to mitigate the gastrointestinal damage that follows radiation exposure that might occur after a nuclear incident.

4 Aug 2011

NIH, NanoBio sign licensing agreement to develop vaccine against RSV infections

NanoBio Corporation today announced a licensing agreement with the National Institutes of Health (NIH) that represents a significant step forward in developing the first vaccine to protect against respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infections.

4 Aug 2011

BARDA awards contracts for development of drugs for radiation injury to the GI tract

The first two contracts for advanced development of drugs to treat gastrointestinal (GI) tract injuries associated with acute radiation syndrome were awarded today by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA).

2 Aug 2011

BD third quarter revenues increase to $2.014 billion

BD, a leading global medical technology company, today reported quarterly revenues of $2.014 billion for the third fiscal quarter ended June 30, 2011, representing an increase of 10.0 percent from the prior-year period.

From BD (Becton, Dickinson and Company) 2 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

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

Social media may improve public health system's ability to prepare, recover from disasters

Social media tools like Facebook, Twitter and Foursquare may be an important key to improving the public health system's ability to prepare for, respond to, and recover from disasters, according to a New England Journal of Medicine "Perspective" article from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania to be published this week.

28 Jul 2011

Follow-up dose recommended to defend children against pandemic virus outbreaks

Researchers from Australia determined that pediatric liver transplant patients who received a single-dose of the H1N1 vaccine were not adequately protected against the virus compared to healthy children.

27 Jul 2011

Circumcision prevents HIV transmission & cocktail of anti-HIV drugs prolong life

Reports came in last Wednesday that circumcision reduces transmission of HIV, in regions where transmission is high. To researchers, this procedure proves to be a cost-effective way to handle the pandemic. In South Africa, a study reported that men with circumcisions reduced new HIV infections by 76%.

24 Jul 2011

EMA says link between narcolepsy and Pandemrix 2009 H1N1 vaccine exists

A final review result from Europe's drug regulatory agency released a positive link between narcolepsy and the Pandemrix 2009 H1N1 vaccine. The agency recommends a labeling change that limits the vaccine's use in children and teens to when protection is needed and seasonal trivalent vaccine isn't available.

21 Jul 2011