Cold, Flu & Cough News and Research

Latest Cold, Flu & Cough News and Research

Parents still lack H1N1 information from schools, according to Red Cross poll

A poll conducted by the American Red Cross shows that while a majority of Americans are planning to take precautions against the H1N1 virus, more than a third of parents (39%) have received no flu information from their children's school or daycare.

9 Aug 2009

Hard To Treat Diseases (HTDS) Chile flu vaccine tender

Hard to Treat Diseases, Inc. subsidiary, Shenzhen Mellow Hope Pharm Industrial Co., Ltd. (Mellow Hope) announced today that the general manager of Mellow Hope paid a visit to Chile, in regards to a significant new business development opportunity related to Mellow Hope's MedVac flu vaccine products. The company intends to participate in a formal tender process to supply a couple separate orders to a couple separate and unrelated entities in Chile.

9 Aug 2009

Sanofi Pasteur submits supplemental application for influenza A(H1N1) 2009 monovalent vaccine to FDA

Sanofi Pasteur announced today the company has submitted to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) a supplemental application for licensure of its influenza A(H1N1) 2009 monovalent vaccine.

7 Aug 2009

Updated Federal Guidelines for 2009 H1N1 influenza in schools

Updated federal guidelines offer state and local public health and school officials a range of options for responding to 2009 H1N1 influenza in schools, depending on how severe the flu may be in their communities.

7 Aug 2009

H1N1 vaccine will be approved, ready for use by September, WHO says

By September, the first H1N1 (swine) flu vaccines will be approved and ready for use, WHO director of the Initiative for Vaccine Research Marie-Paule Kieny said Thursday, Reuters reports. Kieny also expressed optimism that "vaccine production yields were improving, following a disappointing start that triggered some worries about supplies," the news service writes.

7 Aug 2009

HIV genome decoded

"Researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have decoded the entire HIV genome, opening the door to understanding how viruses infect humans – knowledge that could lead to new antiviral drugs," the Triangle Business Journal reports. The building block of HIV is a single stranded RNA, not a double stranded DNA (Gallagher, 8/6).

6 Aug 2009

Distinctive gene expression in brains of relapsing heroin-addicted rats

A group of genes whose expression is significantly altered following exposure to drug paraphernalia after an enforced 'cold-turkey' period have been identified. Researchers writing in the open access journal BMC Neuroscience studied gene expression in the brains of heroin-addicted rats, identifying those genes that may be involved in precipitating a relapse.

6 Aug 2009

Discovery of 'tell-tale' viral signature in blood that identifies underlying viral infection

Scientists have identified a genomic "signature" in circulating blood that reveals exposure to common upper respiratory viruses, like the cold or flu, even before symptoms appear.

6 Aug 2009

Pattern of gene expression in blood provides clues to etiology of respiratory infections

Scientists have shown that they can identify and characterize an individual's response to a respiratory viral infection by examining the pattern of gene expression in their blood.

6 Aug 2009

Automated network could predict disease outbreaks that originate in animals

The AP/San Francisco Chronicle examines Los Alamos National Laboratory researchers' efforts to create an automated network to monitor animals in an effort to predict disease outbreaks because two out of every three human diseases "originated in animals."

6 Aug 2009

Fast-tracked H1N1 vaccines will not compromise safety, WHO says

Efforts to fast-track the approval of H1N1 (swine) flu vaccines will not compromise the safety or quality controls of vaccine production, the WHO said in a written statement Thursday, the Mail & Guardian reports.

6 Aug 2009

Bloomberg examines China plague cases, potential for disease spread

"Plague-spreading fleas are expanding their territory, putting more people at risk of catching the lethal illness, a WHO official said," Bloomberg reports, in an article that examines the recent deaths of three people in China from the pneumonic plague.

6 Aug 2009

Ichor Medical Systems awarded $3.3 million to develop Alzheimer’s vaccine

Ichor Medical Systems of San Diego has announced that it has been selected to receive a $3.3 million grant award from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) for development of a vaccine for Alzheimer’s disease.

6 Aug 2009

Importance of increased funding for molecular diagnostics

On July 9, 2009, the Society for Women’s Health Research convened experts on Capitol Hill to educate lawmakers on the importance of increased funding for new medical tests, called molecular diagnostics.

6 Aug 2009

Take Care Health Systems now offering nebulizer treatments for acute respiratory distress

Take Care Health Systems is now offering nebulizer treatments, when clinically appropriate, for clinic patients exhibiting acute respiratory distress.

6 Aug 2009

2 billion worldwide could het H1N1, says WHO

The WHO on Tuesday maintained that roughly two billion people could become infected with the H1N1 (swine flu) virus, Reuters reports.

6 Aug 2009

Tips to avoid heat stroke

The first sign of dangerous heat stroke can be just that – no sweat. As the temperature rises, your body’s natural cooling mechanism, sweat (or more kindly, perspiration), evaporates and helps to cool your body. But on those hot, humid cut-the-air-with-a knife days, evaporation is slowed and your body may not be able to keep itself cool.

5 Aug 2009

Baxter completes production of batches of CELVAPAN A/H1N1 pandemic vaccine

Baxter International Inc. (NYSE: BAX) today announced that it completed production of its first commercial batches of CELVAPAN A/H1N1 pandemic vaccine in late July and is discussing plans for distribution with national health authorities, subject to obtaining appropriate authorizations. CELVAPAN, the brand name for the company’s A/H1N1 pandemic influenza vaccine, is made using Baxter’s proprietary Vero cell culture technology.

From Baxter International Inc. 5 Aug 2009

Structure of an entire HIV genome decoded

The structure of an entire HIV genome has been decoded for the first time by researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The results have widespread implications for understanding the strategies that viruses, like the one that causes AIDS, use to infect humans.

5 Aug 2009

Iowa funds swine vaccine research

A grant from a state economic development fund will help Iowa State University researchers develop and evaluate a vaccine designed to protect swine from novel H1N1 and other strains of influenza.

5 Aug 2009