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Call for elderly and children to be vaccinated first in response to flu vaccine shortage

Just one week after being reassured by corporate and federal officials that the United States would have a record supply of flu vaccine available, the Chairman of the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging reacted sharply today concerning the nation’s pending flu vaccine shortage.

5 Oct 2004

Moderate exercise in mice after they were infected with influenza protects them from dying

University of Illinois researchers report that four consecutive days of moderate exercise in mice after they were infected with influenza protects them from dying, compared with mice that didn’t exercise.

5 Oct 2004

Virginia Department of Health and the Get Smart Virginia program are urging consumers to become educated this cold and flu

Additionally, Governor Mark Warner has declared October 2004 Antibiotic Awareness Month in an effort to increase the public’s knowledge about the growing problem of resistance to antibiotic medications.

5 Oct 2004

UK's Department of Health flu immunisation campaign launches

Manchester United's Paul Scholes is backing the UK's Department of Health flu immunisation campaign, which launched today.

4 Oct 2004

New statement published on nonmalignant diseases related to asbestos exposure

In its first official statement since 1986 on the topic, the American Thoracic Society (ATS) has published a document entitled “Diagnosis and Initial Management of Nonmalignant Diseases Related to Asbestos.”

4 Oct 2004

Family doctors in NI angry at DHSSPS handling of flu vaccine shortage

The shortage of flu vaccines and the DHSSPS's public handling of the situation has caused anger amongst many of Northern Ireland's GPs.

4 Oct 2004

Giving flu vaccine to toddlers in the spring and fall guards against infection

Giving flu vaccine to toddlers in the spring and fall guards against infection and is easier on parents than the fall schedule of two doses administered a month apart, found researchers from Duke University Medical Center and the University of Washington.

4 Oct 2004

Additional measures to prevent H5 avian influenza in view of the recent situation in Southeast Asia

Hong Kong's Centre for Health Protection has taken additional measures to prevent H5 avian influenza in view of the recent situation in Southeast Asia. It has been maintaining close contact with the World Health Organisation over a family cluster of H5 avian influenza in Thailand.

30 Sep 2004

Drug-resistant bacteria increasingly causing infections in healthy people

An emerging form of so-called "flesh-eating bacteria" is caused by a strain that is resistant to standard first-line antibiotics. The same type of bacteria, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is causing record numbers of less-serious skin infections in children and also is emerging as a cause of pneumonia, which can be deadly

30 Sep 2004

Each year, between 25 million and 50 million Americans will suffer with the flu

Each year, between 25 million and 50 million Americans will suffer with the fever, chills, body aches and upper respiratory problems brought on by viral influenza, better known as the flu.

30 Sep 2004

As little as one standard cup of coffee a day can produce caffeine addiction

If you missed your morning coffee and now you have a headache and difficulty concentrating, you might be able to blame it on caffeine withdrawal.

29 Sep 2004

ID Biomedical awarded US$9.5 million to develop its cell culture-based influenza vaccine

ID Biomedical announced today that it has been awarded a US$9.5 million grant from the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) to develop its cell culture-based influenza vaccine.

29 Sep 2004

Last year over 36,000 Americans died from exposure to the flu

Another 200,000 people were hospitalized with symptoms of the illness. The flu and pneumonia (the most common complication of the flu) combined are the fifth leading cause of death among Americans age 65 and older.

29 Sep 2004

Chiron CEO to appear before the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging

Chiron Corporation announced that president and chief executive officer Howard Pien will appear before the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging in Washington, D.C., today in a hearing titled, "Combating the Flu: Keeping Seniors Alive."

28 Sep 2004

Two new cases of leptospirosis confirmed in Hong Kong

Hong Kong's Centre for Health Protection (CHP) of the Department of Health has confirmed two new cases of leptospirosis involving participants of the hiking activity "Team Challenge 36" held in August.

28 Sep 2004

Hong Kong influenza vaccination to start November

Six groups of people at higher risk of flu complications will make up the first category in the Hong Kong Government's Influenza Vaccination Programme, to be implemented in November and December.

27 Sep 2004

Five new human cases of West Nile virus confirmed in Mississippi

The Mississippi State Department of Health has confirmed five additional human cases of West Nile virus - one in Hinds County, one in Lee County, one in Pike County and two in Rankin County residents.

26 Sep 2004

CDC reports that too few young children are protected against influenza

A report issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that only 4.4 percent of the nation’s children aged 6 to 23 months were fully vaccinated against influenza during the 2002-03 influenza season, the first season CDC encouraged influenza vaccination for healthy children.

26 Sep 2004

American Lung Association launches online flu shot locator

As the flu season is about to begin, the American Lung Association today launched its online "flu shot locator" to help more people find and obtain flu vaccinations in their neighborhoods.

23 Sep 2004

Aventis Pasteur to manufacture and store 2 million doses of avian influenza H5N1 vaccine

HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson has announced the awarding of a contract to Aventis Pasteur Inc. to manufacture and store 2 million doses of avian influenza H5N1 vaccine

22 Sep 2004