Respiratory News and Research

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Philippines tightens SARS screening at all entry points

The Philippine Department of Health (DOH) is assuring the public that there is no immediate threat of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) in the country despite the new cases found in neighboring China.

28 Apr 2004

Russia's housing conditions linked to high rates of asthma amongst children

Scientists from the University of Birmingham, UK, have worked with the Harvard School of Public Health and universities in Russia to look for the first time at environmental factors causing breathing problems in Russian children.

28 Apr 2004

Anesthesiologists battle post-op pain

Post-operative pain is the No. 1 issue for people who've had surgery-and University of Utah anesthesiologists are helping these patients fight that battle on several fronts.

27 Apr 2004

$11 million for lung injury research

Northwestern University has received an $11 million Program Project Grant (PPG) from the National Institutes of Health to define the mechanisms that cause changes in the alveolar epithelium during lung injury.

27 Apr 2004

Psoriasis medications can treat more than the skin

The National Psoriasis Foundation, Dermatology Nurses Association, Dermatologists and People with Psoriasis have collaborated to offer a new resource to help people with psoriasis cope with the social and emotional impact of psoriasis.

27 Apr 2004

Inspire announces positive results in cystic fibrosis study

Inspire Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced top-line results in a Phase II study of INS37217 Respiratory in patients with mild cystic fibrosis (CF) lung disease.

27 Apr 2004

Britain wheezes at bottom of European lung league

Data from The European Respiratory Society’s (ERS) new European Lung White Book shows that the death rate from respiratory diseases in the UK is 105 per 100,000 people, which is twice the EU average. The only countries with a higher rate are former Soviet Union countries - Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan – and Ireland.

27 Apr 2004

Morning cough six times more likely to disappear if you stop smoking

It seems logical enough: if you stop smoking, there is every chance that certain tobacco-related complaints will improve or even disappear. Yet no long-term study has ever been undertaken to confirm or disprove this piece of folk wisdom. A cohort study to be published in April's European Respiratory Journal (ERJ) will now fill that gap.

27 Apr 2004

How clean are your lungs?

The airways that conduct air into and out of the lung contain secretions - mucus - that trap inhaled particles. These are removed from the lung by a process called mucociliary clearance that moves the mucus, dead cells and inhaled particles and microorganisms towards the throat from where they are swallowed.

27 Apr 2004

Quality of dietary fat is associated with allergies

The quality of dietary fat is associated with the risk of hay fever and allergic sensitisation, but not atopic eczema and bronchial hyperreactivity.

27 Apr 2004

SARS antibody sent to China

Responding to a request from a Chinese biotechnology company working closely with officials in China, Medarex, Inc. and the Massachusetts Biologic Laboratories (MBL) of the University of Massachusetts Medical School (UMMS) have shipped to Beijing a sample of the fully human antibody to SARS developed by Medarex and MBL/UMMS.

26 Apr 2004

New Australian report outlines the health benefits of breastfeeding

A new report released by the NSW Centre for Public Health Nutrition, Australia outlines the health benefits of breastfeeding, which is the foundation for a lifetime of good health.

25 Apr 2004

Australia's health system is on alert for SARS

Australia's health system is on alert to detect any possible cases of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) following reports of four possible SARS cases in China, including one death.

25 Apr 2004

Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) overview

Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) is an atypical form of pneumonia that first appeared in November 2002 in Guangdong Province, China.

24 Apr 2004

Taiwan raises SARS level to CODE RED

In response to two suspected SARS cases reported in China, Taiwan Department of Health has announced today that starting from April 24, the SARS responsive level will be escalated to level A or Code Red, the highest state of alert.

24 Apr 2004

WHO calls for Sudan humanitarian assistance

Intensified and urgent action is needed in the Greater Darfur Region of western Sudan to address one of the most severe humanitarian emergencies today. Given the current situation, the humanitarian crisis will last several months.

23 Apr 2004

Respiratory syncytial virus, a common cold virus, can act as a 'hit and hide' virus

An international team of researchers has discovered that respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), a common cold virus causing bronchiolitis in children, can act as a 'hit and hide' virus. It was thought that the virus could only survive in the body for a few days, but these new results show that the virus can survive for many months or years, perhaps causing long-term effects on health, such as damage to the lungs.

23 Apr 2004

First Chinese case of case of SARS since January 2004

On April 22, 2004, the Chinese Ministry of Health reported a possible case of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in a 20-year-old woman who works as a nurse in a hospital in Beijing. If confirmed, this will be the first case of SARS since January 2004, when Chinese health authorities confirmed SARS coronavirus (SARS-CoV) infection in three persons in Guangdong Province.

23 Apr 2004

Third Melbourne hospital infected by Serratia bacteria

A spokeswoman for The Royal Women's Hospital says three babies so far have been isolated after they were found to be carrying the serratia bacteria.

22 Apr 2004

Clinical trial of curcumin in people with cystic fibrosis

Cystic Fibrosis Foundation Therapeutics, Inc. (CFFT), the nonprofit drug discovery and development affiliate of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, today announced that it is funding a clinical trial of curcumin in people with cystic fibrosis (CF).

22 Apr 2004