Cold, Flu & Cough News and Research

Latest Cold, Flu & Cough News and Research

Evaluating risks of severe heat and cold waves on public health

Heat and cold waves affect people with certain health conditions differently, highlighting the need for tailored public service risk communication.

13 Apr 2018

Study: One-third of bacterial infections in patients with cirrhosis induced by MDR bacteria

A worldwide study initiated to investigate the epidemiology and outcomes of bacterial infections in hospitalized patients with liver cirrhosis has reported a prevalence of multi-drug-resistant bacteria of 34% and significant regional differences in the risk of developing a multi-drug-resistant infection.

13 Apr 2018

Researchers show how highly contagious norovirus infection starts in mice

Norovirus – the highly contagious gastrointestinal illness best known for spreading rapidly on cruise chips, in nursing homes, schools and other densely populated spaces – kills an estimated 200,000 people annually, mostly in the developing world.

12 Apr 2018

ATS Foundation and Insmed to provide $50,000 funding for NTM lung disease research

The ATS Foundation is pleased to announce a new ATS Foundation/Insmed Research Award in Non-Tuberculous Mycobacteria Lung Disease, which will provide one year of funding support in the amount of $50,000.

12 Apr 2018

Researchers develop new technique to study self-assembling virus shell

Northwestern Engineering researchers have developed a new way to manipulate a virus shell that self-assembles from proteins and holds promise as a carrier for disease detection, drug delivery, and vaccinations.

11 Apr 2018

Road salt increases groundwater salinization in certain hotspots

Road salt applied during the winter lingers in the environment, where it can pollute drinking water supplies. In a recent study in the Journal of Environmental Quality, researchers identify landscape and geological characteristics linked to elevated well water salinity in a suburban township in Southeastern New York.

11 Apr 2018

Is there such a thing as normal aging?

For 93-year-old Joseph Brown, the clearest sign of aging was his inability the other day to remember he had to have his pants unzipped to pull them on.

11 Apr 2018

Scientists find new molecular target to treat idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis

Scientists searching for a therapy to stop the deadly and mostly untreatable lung disease, idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), found a new molecular target that slows or stops the illness in preclinical laboratory tests.

10 Apr 2018

Researchers explore treatment target for acute kidney injury

When you have diabetes then get an acute kidney injury there is a multiplier effect that can worsen your prognosis and destroy your kidneys.

10 Apr 2018

Low and high HDL cholesterol linked to higher risk of infectious disease

Most people recognize that there is a relationship between cholesterol levels and risk of heart disease. But new research from Copenhagen University Hospital and University of Copenhagen shows that a certain kind of cholesterol might affect our health differently, that is, through a role in the immune system.

10 Apr 2018

DNA test method can help quickly prevent Legionnaires' outbreak

A DNA test method called polymerase chain reaction allowed New York City health officials to identify the source of a Legionnaires' disease outbreak within hours of specimen collection and should be considered in all Legionnaires' outbreak investigations, researchers say in the April issue of the Journal of Environmental Health.

10 Apr 2018

Study finds high COPD prevalence among China's adult population

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is widespread in China with 8.6 percent of the country's adult population - almost 100 million people -suffering from the chronic lung disease, according to a new Tulane University study published in The Lancet.

10 Apr 2018

Using biomimicry for faster detection of disease outbreaks

Our immune systems are made up of billions of white blood cells searching for signs of infections and foreign invaders, ready to raise the alarm.

9 Apr 2018

New research could pave way for better influenza vaccines

Influenza vaccines that better target the influenza surface protein called neuraminidase (NA) could offer broad protection against various influenza virus strains and lessen the severity of illness, according to new research published in Cell.

6 Apr 2018

Research reveals how bacteria prepare sticky adhesion protein

Researchers at Harvard Medical School, the University of California, San Francisco, and the University of Georgia have described how the protein that allows strep and staph bacteria to stick to human cells is prepared and packaged.

6 Apr 2018

Researchers discover Tfh cell dysfunction in HIV-infected patients

A team of chemical and biomedical engineers from the Cockrell School of Engineering at The University of Texas at Austin, in collaboration with researchers from the University of Pennsylvania, have discovered that HIV-infected patients experience a dysfunction in a certain type of immune cell: the follicular helper T (Tfh) cell.

6 Apr 2018

Research provides new insights about gender differences in airway disease risk

Human airways already demonstrate gender-based differences in DNA methylation signatures at birth, providing an early hint of which infants may be predisposed to develop respiratory disorders like asthma later in life, a research team reports in a paper published online April 3, 2018, in Scientific Reports.

6 Apr 2018

Cleaning out a fish tank leaves whole family seriously ill

Chris Matthews and his family of six ended up being seriously ill when they were cleaning out a fish tank at their home. The tank released a deadly poison from a coral when it was handled. The incident occurred last week.

6 Apr 2018

Scoliosis surgery improves quality of life for children with severe cerebral palsy

For children with severe cerebral palsy, surgery for scoliosis (sideways curvature of the spine) significantly improves the quality of life for them and their caregivers, reports a study in the April 4, 2018, issue of The Journal of Bone & Joint Surgery.

5 Apr 2018

Viruses dating back millions of years identified

Scientists have now discovered over 200 viruses that were till date unknown to humans. These belong to same strains that cause diseases such as hemorrhagic fevers (Dengue or Ebola) and influenza. Their origins have been traced back to millions of years when the animals first roamed earth. The study appeared in the latest issue of the journal Nature and was released online yesterday 4th April 2018.

5 Apr 2018