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.

Increase in public health spending linked with reduction of pandemic influenza mortality

Pandemic A (H1N1) 2009 mortality rates exhibited wide diversion between countries. Based on data from a total of 30 European countries, a study published in the journal PLoS ONE found that the greater the state financial "generosity" to health sector the lower the pandemic influenza mortality.

13 May 2011

Aethlon seeks FDA meeting for re-initiation of Hemopurifier IDE study

Aethlon Medical, Inc. announces that it has submitted a request to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for a face-to-face meeting to discuss re-initiation of an Investigational Device Exemption (IDE) study of the Aethlon Hemopurifier in the United States.

10 May 2011

Novavax first quarter net loss decreases to $7.5 million

Novavax, Inc. today announced its financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2011.

9 May 2011

NBA Cares, SAHM and Tulsa Shock guard partner for teen vaccine awareness campaign

Tulsa Shock guard Andrea Riley and Basketball Hall of Famer Bob Lanier teamed up with NBA Cares and the Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine today to bring Vaccines for Teens to the Tulsa community.

5 May 2011

CEL-SCI receives Polish government approval to commence Multikine Phase III clinical trial in head, neck cancer

CEL-SCI Corporation announced today that it has received approval to begin enrollment of patients in its Phase III clinical trial of Multikine® from the Polish Minister of Health. This approval marks a very important milestone, namely that all nine countries in the study have now given official government approval. Five of about 48 clinical centers for this global trial will be located in Poland.

5 May 2011

Pregnant women with H1N1 more likely to have low birth weight baby

In 2009, the United States was gripped by concern for a new winter threat: the H1N1 strain of influenza. According to research conducted through that winter, pregnant women were right to be concerned.

3 May 2011

HIV/AIDS research in Africa

Nowhere in the world has the AIDS/HIV pandemic cut a greater swath of devastation than in sub-Saharan Africa, where two-thirds of all people infected with the virus reside. As Barbara Smith, PhD, RN, FAAN, discovered firsthand, no segment of society there has been left unscathed.

30 Apr 2011

Healthcare advertising agencies earn Med Ad News recognition

UBM Canon has announced the winners of the 22nd annual Med Ad News Manny Awards 2011. The gala event, held at the Sheraton New York Hotel and Towers, culminated with the naming of AbelsonTaylor Inc. as Agency of the Year: Category I.

30 Apr 2011

CEL-SCI receives no objection letter to initiate Phase III clinical trial of Multikine in Canada

CEL-SCI Corporation announced today that the Biologics and Genetic Therapeutics Directorate of Health Canada has issued a final "no objection" letter for CEL-SCI to be able to begin enrollment of patients for a Phase III clinical trial of Multikine in Canada.

30 Apr 2011

CEL-SCI initiates Multikine Phase III trial in head and neck cancer

CEL-SCI Corporation announced today that it has commenced its global Phase III clinical trial for Multikine, the Company's flagship immunotherapy, at the Meenakshi Mission Hospital and Research Centre in Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India, the first clinical site in India.

28 Apr 2011

EPO grants patent to Microbix' VIRUSMAX vaccine enhancement technology

Microbix Biosystems Inc., a biotechnology company commercializing novel technologies to enhance vaccine production yields, and other innovative biologics, announced today that the European Patent Office recently granted patent protection for the company's proprietary VIRUSMAX technology, which is designed to increase influenza vaccine yields and has demonstrated an average yield increase of at least two-fold over current vaccine production methods.

27 Apr 2011

FDA grants Cepheid marketing clearance for Xpert Flu diagnostic test

Cepheid today announced it has received clearance from the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) to market Xpert® Flu. The diagnostic test, which runs on Cepheid's GeneXpert® System, simultaneously detects and differentiates Influenza A, Influenza B, and the 2009 H1N1 influenza virus in about one hour.

26 Apr 2011

Congressman Holt congratulates Vaxinnate for BARDA award to develop next generation of flu vaccines

U.S. Congressman Rush Holt (R-12th) visited the headquarters of VaxInnate Corporation today, where he congratulated the biotechnology company on having received a U.S. government contract to fund development of the next generation of flu vaccines and called for more technology investments to improve the health of all Americans.

22 Apr 2011

GM-SCF therapy can reduce flu symptoms and prevent death

New research on mice has shown that pulmonary administration of granulocyte macrophage-colony stimulating factor significantly reduces flu symptoms and prevents death after a lethal dose influenza virus.

22 Apr 2011

Countries agree to draft framework on virus sharing, WHO says

After almost four years of negotiations, the WHO on Saturday announced it had reached an agreement on sharing flu virus samples, Agence-France Presse reports.

19 Apr 2011

Also in global health news: U.N., Libyan government reach deal over aid; USAID monitoring HIV/AIDS in Philippines; WFP warns of Afghanistan food shortages; U.N. appeals for more aid in Cote d'Ivoire, Namibia

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Monday at a press conference in Hungary announced that the organization had reached an agreement with the Libyan government to provide humanitarian aid in the country's capital city of Tripoli, the Associated Press reports.

19 Apr 2011

Virus-sharing draft agreement very close; U.S. yet to formally approve, Reuters reports

A draft agreement that would ensure countries would share virus samples in exchange for access to affordable vaccines derived from such samples in the event of a pandemic is nearly complete, senior diplomats told Reuters on Thursday.

16 Apr 2011

WHO group hopes to have virus-sharing draft agreement finalized by Friday

Countries are narrowing in on a "deal to speed up their response to the next flu pandemic by sharing virus samples in return for access to affordable vaccines," co-chairs of a WHO working group told reporters on Tuesday, Reuters reports.

15 Apr 2011

Novartis, Duke sign deal to develop pandemic flu vaccine

The Duke Human Vaccine Institute today announced a collaboration and strategic agreement with Novartis Vaccines and Diagnostics to enable the rapid development of a vaccine and accelerate preparedness in case of a pandemic virus threat such as pandemic influenza.

15 Apr 2011

Viral infection likely to encourage pneumonia spread

Bacteria that cause pneumonia and meningitis are only able to spread when individuals are infected with flu, says a scientist reporting at the Society for General Microbiology's Spring Conference in Harrogate. The work could have implications for the management of influenza pandemics and could help reduce incidence of pneumococcal infections in very young children, who are more susceptible to disease.

11 Apr 2011