Cold, Flu & Cough News and Research

Latest Cold, Flu & Cough News and Research

Doing more harm than good? Epidemic of screening burdens nation’s older patients

Elena Altemus is 89 and has dementia. She often forgets her children's names, and sometimes can't recall whether she lives in Maryland or Italy.

20 Dec 2017

When nursing homes push out poor and disabled patients

Anita Willis says the social worker offered her a painful choice: She could either leave the San Jose, Calif., nursing home where she'd spent a month recovering from a stroke — or come up with $336 a day to stay on.

20 Dec 2017

Special precautions not required when people with egg allergy take flu shots

For years, people with an egg allergy have been told to avoid or take special precautions when getting a flu shot because most influenza vaccines are grown in eggs and contain a tiny amount of egg protein. An updated practice parameter from the Joint Task Force on Practice Parameters stresses that people with egg allergy should receive their yearly flu shot, and that no special precautions are required.

19 Dec 2017

Untreated and overweight children may have worse asthma symptoms

Asthma affects almost 1 in 10 children in the U.S. and is a leading cause of emergency room visits and hospitalizations in preschoolers. According to new research from Duke Health and collaborators, symptoms may be worse for children ages 2 to 5 who are overweight.

19 Dec 2017

EPFL scientists create gold nanoparticles to combat all viruses

HIV, dengue, papillomavirus, herpes and Ebola - these are just some of the many viruses that kill millions of people every year, mostly children in developing countries. While drugs can be used against some viruses, there is currently no broad-spectrum treatment that is effective against several at the same time, in the same way that broad-spectrum antibiotics fight a range of bacteria.

18 Dec 2017

Spatial deconvolution of marker expression in whole heart subjected to ischemia-reperfusion

When a coronary artery is obstructed by atheroma, blood flow is depressed or even arrested. This causes hypoxia of cardiac cells associated with the deprivation of nutrients. In clinic, the first objective is to restore blood flow. However, this is associated with a burst in oxidation of cellular proteins and lipids. This oxidation enhances cell death and participates to the so-called reperfusion injury.

From Logos Biosystems 18 Dec 2017

“Man flu” actually a thing and not to be ridiculed, says science

“Man flu” refers to a common cold or flu which when occurring in men is usually presented with exaggerated symptoms and the severity of those symptoms. It has long been ridiculed in society. Science now explores if men truly suffer more when they are down with a cold.

17 Dec 2017

Chronic Kidney Disease Audit finds wide variations in coding of CKD patients in primary care

Sustainability and Transformation Partnerships, Clinical Commissioning Groups and primary care practices must all work together to improve outcomes for patients with Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD), according to the national Chronic Kidney Disease Audit published today.

15 Dec 2017

Valley fever cases see sharp increase in November, say UVA experts

Valley fever cases in November saw a 50-percent spike over the previous month, leading experts at the University of Arizona Valley Fever Center for Excellence to predict a significant increase in cases in 2018.

15 Dec 2017

Offering lifesaving treatment for cervical cancer results in a net loss for hospitals

The evidence is clear: Cervical cancer is best treated with brachytherapy, a form of radiation therapy. Yet the use of this potentially lifesaving treatment has been declining, and a new study from the University of Virginia School of Medicine may explain why.

15 Dec 2017

Cornell engineers develop new method to measure vital signs using radio waves

No visit to the doctor's office is complete without a blood-pressure cuff squeezing your arm and a cold stethoscope placed on your chest.

14 Dec 2017

Relieving Symptoms of Cystic Fibrosis with Exercise

We know that exercise is beneficial in helping someone to maintain their lung function, stay strong and active and maintain a good quality of life. We also know that exercise can complement ‘airway clearance techniques’ – breathing exercises prescribed by physiotherapists to help clear the lungs of mucus.

14 Dec 2017

Human ‘common cold’ virus kills healthy chimpanzees in Uganda

In the wild, chimpanzees face any number of dire threats, ranging from poachers to predators to deforestation.

13 Dec 2017

Lactic acid bacteria can offer protection against subtypes of influenza A virus

Lactic acid bacteria, commonly used as probiotics to improve digestive health, can offer protection against different subtypes of influenza A virus, resulting in reduced weight loss after virus infection and lower amounts of virus replication in the lungs, according to a study led by Georgia State University.

13 Dec 2017

Survey shows prevalence of diarrhea in people living with HIV

Napo Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a human health company developing and commercializing novel gastrointestinal prescription products from plants used traditionally in rainforest areas, and a wholly-owned subsidiary of Jaguar Health, Inc., today released the results of a survey of 350 people living with HIV and AIDS on "Talking to Your Doctor About Symptoms".

13 Dec 2017

Time-lapse imaging reveals how antimicrobial treated surfaces kill superbugs in two hours

Experts at the University of Warwick have produced microscopic footage of the potentially deadly E. coli bacteria being wiped out in just two hours on an antimicrobial treated ‘intelligent’ surface.

13 Dec 2017

New report reveals steep rise in lung disease admissions to emergency departments during winter

An 80% rise in lung disease admissions to emergency departments in winter plays a major part in pushing our A&E services over the edge. Yet, only 10% of hospital trusts who responded to an FOI request had plans in place to make more beds available for respiratory patients warns a new report from the British Lung Foundation.

12 Dec 2017

Study: Employees with influenza have more lost work time

Employees with laboratory-confirmed influenza have more lost work time- including absences and reduced productivity while at work- compared to those with other types of acute respiratory illness (ARI), reports a study in the December Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine.

11 Dec 2017

Retirement’s revolving door: Why some workers can’t call it quits

In his view, Tim Franson utterly failed at retirement. After 20 years as a high-ranking vice president at drugmaker Eli Lilly, Franson and his wife, Chris, a successful real estate agent, thought they were quietly retiring nearly a decade ago to Bonita Springs, Fla.

11 Dec 2017

CAR T cell therapy shows long-lasting remissions in non-Hodgkin's lymphoma patients

In a pair of clinical trials stretching from Philadelphia to Tokyo, the chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy Kymriah (formerly known as CTL019) demonstrated long-lasting remissions in non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) patients.

11 Dec 2017