Cold, Flu & Cough News and Research

Latest Cold, Flu & Cough News and Research

Emerging infectious diseases will get worse

Emerging infectious diseases pose a global threat to human and animal health, and the problem is likely to worsen, warns an expert in the British Medical Journal (BMJ).

26 Nov 2005

Another case of non-lethal bird flu in Canada

A mild form of avian flu has been discovered at a second farm in southwestern British Columbia, but Canadian officials said the public health risk remains minimal.

24 Nov 2005

Passenger and crew lists on demand will protect America from disease say US health officials

U.S. health officials, using the excuse that they need to protect Americans from bird flu and other diseases, are proposing regulations that will require airlines and shipping firms to hand over passenger and crew lists on demand and expand how they report serious illnesses.

24 Nov 2005

Mother of all rows over flu jabs

British Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt when she blamed doctors for a shortage of the flu vaccine has triggered the mother of all rows with the British medical fraternity.

24 Nov 2005

China has another death from bird flu

According to local media the Health Ministry has said that a 35-year-old woman farmer in Anhui province developed fever and pneumonia-like symptoms on Nov. 11 after contact with sick and dead poultry, and she died on Nov. 22.

24 Nov 2005

U.S. bans some of Canada's poultry because of bird flu

Following the discovery of a non lethal strain of the bird flu virus in a duck in British Columbia, the United States has placed an interim ban on poultry from the area.

22 Nov 2005

Health experts in the UK warn flu vaccine will run out

Fear of a flu pandemic has triggered an unprecedented demand for winter flu vaccines and health officials in the UK are warning that the NHS could run out of supplies.

22 Nov 2005

Japanese ban Canadian poultry imports

Japan has placed a temporary ban on all poultry imports from Canada following the discovery of a case of avian influenza in a duck on a farm in southwestern British Columbia.

22 Nov 2005

China to use police in fighting bird flu

China which has had 17 outbreaks of the deadly H5N1 strain of avian flu since the middle of last month, is struggling to control the virus which has now been found in seven provinces over a wide ranging area.

22 Nov 2005

Diets rich in meat increase the likelihood of developing chronic respiratory symptoms

A new study finds that eating mostly meat, refined starches, and sodium may increase the likelihood of developing chronic respiratory symptoms, including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

21 Nov 2005

Early wheezers continue to have poorer lung function as they age

Among children who exhibit asthma-like symptoms during preschool years, researchers have found that patterns of wheezing prevalence and levels of lung function are established by age 6 and do not significantly change for at least 10 years.

21 Nov 2005

Who gets bird flu vaccine first when there's not enough to go round?

According to the top health official in the U.S., it will be three to five years before the United States can produce enough bird flu vaccine to inoculate its population against a potentially deadly outbreak in humans.

21 Nov 2005

Indonesia has bird flu victim no.68

According to reports a 35-year-old man Indonesian is the latest suspected victim of the avian flu virus.

21 Nov 2005

Sweets may decrease the production of the stress-related hormone glucocorticoid

Researchers from the University of Cincinnati (UC) have found that eating or drinking sweets may decrease the production of the stress-related hormone glucocorticoid--which has been linked to obesity and decreased immune response.

20 Nov 2005

Bird flu early warning system to be set up by UN

According to a United Nations official an early warning bird flu system is to be set up to alert countries of incoming migratory birds which could be carrying the deadly virus.

20 Nov 2005

Bird flu scare in Canada

According to a Canadian health official test results on wild migratory ducks across Canada have not shown any link to the deadly Asian strain of the bird flu virus that has spread from Southeast Asia to Europe.

20 Nov 2005

Bird flu spreads in China while Bush's $ 7.1 billion pandemic fund stalls

As World health experts predicted there will be more human bird flu infections in China, the U.S. Congress has stalled the funding of President George W. Bush's plan to cope with a pandemic.

20 Nov 2005

Alarming deaths of Tamiflu patients - FDA to investigate

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration are investigating the deaths of 12 children in Japan who took Roche's flu-fighting drug Tamiflu.

20 Nov 2005

Six gene variants predict heart muscle damage after cardiac surgery

Duke University Medical Center researchers have found that patients with six specific variants of genes involved in the body's immune response are significantly more likely to suffer damage of heart tissue after cardiac surgery.

16 Nov 2005

Human bird flu cases confirmed in China

According to official sources in China, at least one person has died from bird flu, confirming widespread suspicion that the deadly virus has now spread in people in another large Asian country where it might prove hard to contain.

16 Nov 2005