Cold, Flu & Cough News and Research

Latest Cold, Flu & Cough News and Research

TB must also be reduced to achieve the goal of ending AIDS epidemic by 2030

The World Health Organization has set a goal of ending the AIDS epidemic by 2030. To achieve that goal, the Forum of International Respiratory Societies, of which the American Thoracic Society is a founding member, is calling on governments, health advocates and non-government organizations on World AIDS Day to strengthen their response to AIDS and tuberculosis.

27 Nov 2019

Research could help design better flu vaccines

Each year millions of Americans become sick with the flu, hundreds of thousands are hospitalized and tens of thousands die. Getting the flu shot can reduce the chances of infection. But, at best, the vaccine is only effective 40% to 60% of the time, according to the CDC.

26 Nov 2019

Research shows how gut microbes affect stomach flu

A new study shows that gut microbes can modulate the severity of norovirus infection (the stomach flu, or the winter vomiting bug), based on the gut location first affected. Published in the journal Nature Microbiology on November 25, 2019, the study indicates new possibilities to treat norovirus infection.

26 Nov 2019

Simple precautions to avoid food poisoning during the holiday season

Preparing a holiday feast can begin as soon as you get home from the grocery store. But if you want to serve family and friends a delicious meal that keeps them coming back for more, food safety guidelines need to be part of the recipe.

26 Nov 2019

Nothing to sneeze at: The $2,659 bill to pluck doll’s shoe from child’s nostril

It was supposed to be a fun evening out for Katy and Michael Branson. But their 3-year-old daughter, Lucy, apparently had other ideas.

26 Nov 2019

KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: How’s that open enrollment going?

Open enrollment for 2020 health coverage under the Affordable Care Act is halfway over. So far, sign-ups appear to be lagging behind last year’s, but not dramatically.

26 Nov 2019

Splicing factor enhances ability of triple negative breast cancers to grow and metastasize

If your DNA is a cookbook, a single gene is a recipe. But it's a flexible recipe that if edited one way can make a pie; edited another way can make a cake. And that difference can mean cancer, as a team of researchers who looked at those gene editors writes in the 26 November issue of Cell Reports.

26 Nov 2019

Validation of new method for studying how different drugs interact in the body

Scientists at Oregon State University may have proven how much people love coffee, tea, chocolate, soda and energy drinks as they validated their new method for studying how different drugs interact in the body.

26 Nov 2019

Gut microbes can tamp down or boost the severity of norovirus infection

The highly contagious norovirus causes diarrhea and vomiting and is notorious for spreading rapidly through densely populated spaces, such as cruise ships, nursing homes, schools and day care centers. Each year, it is responsible for some 200,000 deaths, mostly in the developing world.

25 Nov 2019

Glaucoma risk increased by air pollution

The more polluted the air, the higher the risk is that those who live in that area will develop glaucoma, says an interesting new study from the UK, published today in the journal Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science.

25 Nov 2019

Suspended animation in humans successfully tried for the first time

Researchers from the University of Maryland School of Medicine, for the first time have put a patient in “suspended animation” successfully. Using this method, they lowered the body temperature of the human patient for the first time. This would help surgeons to prolong the time of surgery to correct traumatic injuries. The plan of their feat was published in the latest issue of the New Scientist last week.

25 Nov 2019

New antiviral drug drives treatment resistance in influenza viruses

On January 31, 2019, an 11-year old boy in Japan went to a medical clinic with a fever. The providers there diagnosed him with influenza, a strain called H3N2, and sent him home with a new medication called baloxavir.

25 Nov 2019

New treatment method for periodontal disease could spare patients from many side effects

New biodegradable rods promise to provide better treatment for periodontal disease. Researchers from the Institute of Pharmacy at Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg have re-combined an already approved active ingredient and filed for a patent for their invention together with two Fraunhofer Institutes from Halle.

25 Nov 2019

New flu drug makes influenza viruses develop resistance

Researchers have discovered a mutation in strains of influenza treated with a drug that makes the virus resistant to treatment.

25 Nov 2019

New highly sensitive test for dengue virus developed using DNA star

Researchers have developed a new method for detecting and destroying the dengue virus that could be adapted for other viruses.

25 Nov 2019

Decreasing inappropriate antibiotic use is key strategy to control drug resistance

Antibiotic resistance is a larger public health threat than most people realize. And, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports about half of all antibiotics in outpatient settings are incorrectly prescribed.

22 Nov 2019

Immunity within the lung tissue provides most protection for preventing pneumonia

Previous research has shown that recovery from bacterial pneumonia hugely improves our defense against further infections by seeding the lungs with immune cells called lung resident memory T (TRM) cells, but how these cells actually protect the lungs against future bacterial infections has been unknown until now.

21 Nov 2019

Researchers turn to older treatment methods for new health challenges

The last thing anyone wants during a stay in the hospital is a hospital-acquired infection. Nosocomial infections, as they are called, are on the rise as more pathogens become resistant to drugs currently available.

21 Nov 2019

Doctors place patients in suspended animation in first trial of its kind

For the first time, doctors have placed people in suspended animation in an effort to repair fatal

21 Nov 2019

Research team publishes findings from study of TAF1 syndrome

An international, multidisciplinary research team from more than 50 institutions, led by geneticist and psychiatrist Gholson Lyon, MD, PhD, of the New York State Office for People With Developmental Disabilities' Institute for Basic Research in Developmental Disabilities, today announced publication of findings from its study of the rare disease TAF1 syndrome.

21 Nov 2019