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FDA clears for ProFlu+ test for marketing

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has cleared for marketing a test that simultaneously detects four common respiratory viruses, including the flu, in a patient's respiratory secretions.

21 Jan 2008

Fifth swan tests positive for bird flu in Britain

The deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu has been found in another dead swan in Dorset in the UK.

20 Jan 2008

Bird flu spreads in India

The latest bird-flu outbreak in India has now spread to two new districts in West Bengal, Nadia and Bardhaman where more dead birds have been found.

20 Jan 2008

Cell death suppression increases efficacy of M2 vaccines

Significant public attention has recently been focused on the development of new anti-influenza (flu) vaccines that provide protection against a broad spectrum of viral strains.

17 Jan 2008

Kiss but don't shake hands to stay healthy!

Scientists from the London School of Hygiene say a quick "air kiss" on the cheek is a relatively-germ free affair when compared to a hand-shake.

16 Jan 2008

Internet and IT increase physician disease reporting

With emerging diseases like the West Nile Virus, and re-emerging diseases such as the pandemic flu and drug-resistant tuberculosis, it's increasingly important to promptly detect a potential infectious outbreak within a community.

15 Jan 2008

Bird flu death toll in Indonesia reaches 95

The death toll in Indonesia from bird flu has risen to 95 following the death of a woman in West Java.

15 Jan 2008

Top expert says bird flu risk overestimated

According to a top animal health expert the H5N1 bird flu virus has now stabilised but the risk that it could mutate into a new dangerous form remains.

14 Jan 2008

Bird flu strikes again in Bangladesh and India

According to officials in Bangladesh bird flu has killed nearly 500 chickens at a poultry farm in the northeast of the country and as a result another 20,000 chickens have been culled.

14 Jan 2008

Seasonal flu levels trigger use of antiviral drugs

The Health Protection Agency has confirmed that the rate at which influenza viruses are now circulating in England has reached the point which triggers the use of antiviral drugs.

11 Jan 2008

Cranberries combat urinary tract infections

Cranberry juice, long dissed as a mere folk remedy for relieving urinary tract infections in women, is finally getting some respect.

11 Jan 2008

Confirmed H5N1 avian influenza in wild swans in Dorset

The Department for the Environment Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has today confirmed highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza among swans in the Chesil Beach area in Dorset .

11 Jan 2008

New York City mortality rate at all-time low in 2006

The death rate in New York City reached an all-time low in 2006, the Health Department reported today, as the number of deaths fell to 55,391 - down from 57,068 in 2005 and 60,218 in 2001.

10 Jan 2008

Toronto quarantines passengers from Tel Aviv with flu symptoms

Passengers on an Air Canada flight from Tel Aviv were briefly quarantined on their arrival at Toronto airport because of a health scare.

10 Jan 2008

Dengue seen as potential threat to US public health

A disease most Americans have never heard of could soon become more prevalent if dengue, a flu-like illness that can turn deadly, continues to expand into temperate climates and increase in severity, according to a new commentary by Anthony S. Fauci, M.D., director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, and David M. Morens, M.D., Fauci's senior scientific advisor.

9 Jan 2008

New sugary insights into H5N1 avian flu virus

Scientists have identified a key factor that determines the ability of influenza viruses to infect cells of the human upper respiratory tract - a necessary step for sustaining spread between people.

7 Jan 2008

MIT researchers discover key to bird flu in humans

MIT researchers have uncovered a critical difference between flu viruses that infect birds and humans, a discovery that could help scientists monitor the evolution of avian flu strains and aid in the development of vaccines against a deadly flu pandemic.

7 Jan 2008