Cold, Flu & Cough News and Research

Latest Cold, Flu & Cough News and Research

Whooping cough outbreak despite vaccination

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21 Mar 2012

Study finds higher death rate in calorie-restricted models of IBD

In a surprising result, Michigan State University researchers looking at the effects of diet on bowel disease found that mice on a calorie-restricted diet were more likely to die after being infected with an inflammation-causing bacterial pathogen in the colon.

21 Mar 2012

MD Anderson, Transgenomic partner to evaluate use of ICE COLD-PCR

Transgenomic, Inc. today announced that it has begun a collaboration with The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center to evaluate the use of the Company's very high sensitivity ICE COLD-PCR mutation detection technology in analysis of DNA isolated from circulating tumor cells (CTCs) in blood samples from patients with advanced cancer.

21 Mar 2012

IDSA releases new rhinosinusitis guidelines

The vast majority of sinus infections are caused by viruses and should not be treated with antibiotics, suggest new guidelines released by the Infectious Diseases Society of America.

21 Mar 2012

Systagenix announces U.S. launch of EPIFIX amniotic membrane allograft

Systagenix, announced today that it will launch EPIFIX in the United States in March as part of a global distribution agreement reached with MiMedx Group, Inc.

21 Mar 2012

Sharp rise recorded in cases of new strain of whooping cough: New genotype may be evading vaccine’s protective effects

Australia’s prolonged whooping cough epidemic has entered a disturbing new phase, with a study showing a new strain or genotype may be responsible for the sharp rise in the number of cases.

20 Mar 2012

Study determines why blood oranges develop anthocyanin pigments

The anthocyanin pigments that provide the "blood" color of blood oranges are not produced in significant amounts unless the fruit is exposed to cold conditions during its development or post-harvest. No cold exposure means poor anthocyanin production and the loss of the entire crop. This means that blood oranges can be grown in many areas of the world, but they are most likely to be exposed to the correct temperature conditions in only a few regions, including their major area of production in Sicily.

20 Mar 2012

WHO hopes for release of bird flu studies, prepares for second meeting on controversy

Keiji Fukuda, WHO assistant director-general for health security and environment, "is hoping bird flu studies currently in publishing limbo will be released by the time the agency hosts a second meeting on the controversy this summer," the Canadian Press/Winnipeg Free Press reports.

20 Mar 2012

U-M teams up with India's top academic medical programs for trauma care research

The University of Michigan Health System is teaming up with one of India's top academic medical programs to collaborate on trauma care research and to foster exchanges of medical personnel and ideas.

20 Mar 2012

Study identifies new hypervariable regions in human gut viruses

A growing body of evidence underscores the importance of human gut bacteria in modulating human health, metabolism, and disease. Yet bacteria are only part of the story. Viruses that infect those bacteria also shape who we are. Frederic D. Bushman, PhD, professor of Microbiology at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, led a study published this month in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences that sequenced the DNA of viruses -- the virome -- present in the gut of healthy people.

20 Mar 2012

Novartis' Arcapta Neohaler now available in the U.S. for COPD treatment

Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation today announced that once-daily Arcapta Neohaler (indacaterol inhalation powder) 75 mcg is now available in the US and in pharmacies nationwide.

20 Mar 2012

PaxVax announces FDA acceptance of IND for PXVX-0200 cholera vaccine

PaxVax Corporation, developer of innovative and socially responsible oral vaccines against infectious diseases, announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has accepted its investigational new drug (IND) application for its single-dose oral cholera vaccine, clearing the way to begin clinical trials. The company intends to begin Phase 3 trials later this year.

19 Mar 2012

Extremely contagious RSV virus can lead to serious illness in young children

Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) is a common virus that infects the lungs and breathing passage ways. Though it may only produce minor cold symptoms in adults, it can lead to serious illness in young children and those with compromised immune systems.

17 Mar 2012

Kyolic AGE may reduce duration of cold and flu symptoms by 61%

Americans looking to impact their cold and flu symptoms this season may have a new weapon at their disposal. A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study just published by the University of Florida determined that Kyolic Aged Garlic Extract (AGE) may reduce the duration of symptoms associated with common colds or flus by as much as 61 percent.

16 Mar 2012

Abbott initiates enrollment in two HUMIRA Phase 3 trials for moderate to severe HS

Abbott today announced the initiation of two Phase 3 clinical trials designed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of an investigational use of HUMIRA (adalimumab) in adult patients with moderate to severe hidradenitis suppurativa.

16 Mar 2012

Allergy-free egg in the making

Researchers at CSIRO and experts at Geelong's Deakin University have found a way to “switch off” four egg allergens. These modified eggs could produce chickens that lay hypoallergenic eggs but the genes and DNA of the chicken would remain unaltered.

15 Mar 2012

GenMark Diagnostics fourth quarter revenues increase to $2.0 million

GenMark Diagnostics, Inc. today reported additional financial information for the fourth quarter ended December 31, 2011 that was unavailable at the time it released preliminary financial results on March 8, 2012.

15 Mar 2012

USPTO issues patent to iSonea's ultrasound-based cough detector

Medical technology company iSonea Ltd. today announced that the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has issued U.S. Patent 2009/0216127 A1 covering its cough count technology in the field of acoustic monitoring of respiratory diseases.

15 Mar 2012

Study identifies 190 proteins crucial to the functions of key immune sensors

In a healthy immune system, invading pathogens trigger a cascade of alerts and responses to fight off the infection. Sensors called toll-like receptors, or TLRs, act as one of the first lines of defense. Two of these sensors, known as TLR7 and TLR9, specifically recognize and respond to microbial RNA and DNA, respectively. But what determines how these TLRs get where they need to be and sound the alarm for pathogen infection?

15 Mar 2012

New research could make it easier to grow health-promoting blood oranges

For the red pigmentation to develop, blood oranges normally require a period of cold as they ripen. The only place to reliably grow them on a commercial scale is in the Sicilian area of Italy around Mount Etna. Here, the combination of sun and cold/sunny days and warm nights provides ideal growing conditions.

14 Mar 2012