Cold, Flu & Cough News and Research

Latest Cold, Flu & Cough News and Research

Anthrax vaccine will add to America's arsenal against bioterrorism

A company, based in Rockville, Maryland in the USA, with the help of government funding, has used the human genome to develop a vaccine that may give protection from anthrax.

19 Dec 2007

WHO says Pakistan bird flu cluster no cause for alarm as yet

According to an expert at the World Health Organization, the cluster of suspected bird flu cases in Pakistan may be a combination of infections from poultry with limited person-to-person transmission.

19 Dec 2007

Bird flu a worry in Pakistan, Africa and Indonesia

A medical team has been sent to Pakistan by the World Health Organization (WHO) to investigate the latest bird flu outbreak there.

19 Dec 2007

New robotic surgery technique appears promising for the removal of cancer in tonsils

Typically, surgeons trying to remove tonsils of patients with cancer through the mouth have limited access to the area, according to background information in the article. If the cancer has spread to any of the surrounding tissues, an open approach involving cutting through the skin is needed. These procedures take a long time, can cause long-term difficulty swallowing and usually require the placement of a tracheotomy tube.

18 Dec 2007

What makes us shiver?

Researchers at Oregon Health & Science University's Neurological Sciences Institute have uncovered the system that tells the body when to perform one of its most basic defenses against the cold: shivering.

18 Dec 2007

Research provides new information about the body's immune system

Researchers at Oregon Health & Science University have uncovered new information about the body's immune system in a study that suggests new strategies may be in order for protecting the country's aging population against disease.

18 Dec 2007

Medical College of Georgia selected as RNA laboratory for worldwide diabetes study

The Medical College of Georgia Center for Biotechnology and Genomic Medicine has been selected to isolate RNA and DNA from the blood of thousands of children involved in a worldwide study of the causes of type 1 diabetes.

18 Dec 2007

How might lack of light cause depression?

People troubled by depression usually experience their dark moods in an on-again, off-again fashion.

18 Dec 2007

Scientists identify and repress breast cancer stem cells in mouse tissue

By manipulating highly specific gene-regulating molecules called microRNAs, scientists at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) report that they have succeeded in singling out and repressing stem-like cells in mouse breast tissue - cells that are widely thought to give rise to cancer.

18 Dec 2007

Constipation most common cause of children's abdominal pain

A new study led by a University of Iowa researcher showed that acute and chronic constipation together accounted for nearly half of all cases of acute abdominal pain in children treated at one hospital.

18 Dec 2007

Age-old remedy buts kids' coughs

According to experts at the Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt, a recent study may have discovered an intriguing option to help quiet children's coughs.

18 Dec 2007

Highly promising Alzheimer's and Parkinson's research

The TI Pharma project is a large-scale study into the brain material of Alzheimer's and Parkinson's patients, who gave permission to the Netherlands Brain Bank for their tissue to be used for scientific research.

17 Dec 2007

U.S. efforts to monitor H5N1 could easily miss entry of the virus into North America

A University of Kansas investigator closely following the spread of the avian influenza known as H5N1 said that U.S. government monitoring efforts easily could miss the entry of the virus into North America.

13 Dec 2007

Australian researchers plan for a pandemic

Sydney researchers have produced useful food and nutrition guidelines for survival rations to be used in the event of a pandemic such as influenza which appear in this week's Medical Journal of Australia.

13 Dec 2007

New UK Centre for Zoonosis Research to open in Liverpool

The UK's National Centre for Zoonosis Research, dedicated to the study of animal-borne human diseases, will be opened at the University of Liverpool.

12 Dec 2007

Exercise testing to predict mitral regurgitation

In as many as one in five people over age 55, when the heart contracts to send blood around the body, some degree of backward leakage occurs across the mitral valve, a condition known as mitral regurgitation (MR).

12 Dec 2007

Lethal human H5N1 influenza virus Replikin gene still upregulated

Replikins Ltd. has announced its latest findings regarding the virus replikin count in human H5N1 influenza virus. The company's software-driven analysis has found that the prevalence of these sequences has remained high in Indonesia; in addition, higher counts now have been found in China.

12 Dec 2007

Exercise testing may help predict seriousness of mitral regurgitation

12 Dec 2007

Effects of space radiation on astronauts

Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) scientists recently led a team of researchers to study potential effects of space radiation on astronauts. The results of their study are revealing and will provide the foundation for ensuring the safety of crew members participating in long distance space travel.

12 Dec 2007

Nanogen reaches milestone in influenza project

Nanogen, Inc. has announced that it has delivered the second phase milestone requirements, including the point-of-care prototype device to detect influenza viruses rapidly in clinical samples, to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for their evaluation.

10 Dec 2007