Cold, Flu & Cough News and Research

Latest Cold, Flu & Cough News and Research

VHI releases report on HMO quality and satisfaction

Open enrollment is fast approaching for thousands of HMO members in Virginia. Every year during this period, members have the option of selecting a health plan by comparing plan benefits and monthly premiums for the upcoming year.

29 Sep 2011

Scientists report discovery of potential new drug for epidemic keratoconjunctivitis

Scientists are reporting discovery of a potential new drug for epidemic keratoconjunctivitis (EKC) - sometimes called "pink eye" - a highly infectious eye disease that may occur in 15 million to 20 million people annually in the United States alone. Their report describing an innovative new "molecular wipe" that sweeps up viruses responsible for EKC appears in ACS's Journal of Medicinal Chemistry.

29 Sep 2011

Latest research from world's leading allergists to be presented at ACAAI 2011 meeting

Be among the first to hear the latest research from the world's leading allergists presented at the 2011 annual scientific meeting of the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI), Nov. 3-8, in Boston.

29 Sep 2011

Adamas begins ADS-5102 Phase 2/3 clinical trial in Parkinson's disease

Adamas Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a privately held company, announced today that it has initiated a Phase 2/3 clinical trial of its proprietary investigational drug ADS-5102 (amantadine HCl extended release) for the treatment of levodopa induced dyskinesia (LID) in patients with Parkinson's disease.

28 Sep 2011

Anthrax defenses need to be strengthened: Experts

It has been a decade since the anthrax attacks brought home the reality of bioterrorism and the nation now has a stockpile of some basic tools to fight back against a few of the threats that worry defense experts the most.

28 Sep 2011

GAVI to purchase $1 billion in childhood vaccines for distribution in 37 of the poorest nations

The Geneva-based GAVI Alliance, a fund backed by governments, the World Bank, the WHO and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, said in an e-mailed statement on Tuesday that it will purchase more than $1 billion in vaccines against rotavirus, pneumococcal and other diseases through deals made with GlaxoSmithKline, Pfizer Inc. and Merck & Co. to immunize children in 37 of the poorest nations, Bloomberg reports.

28 Sep 2011

X-chromosome related microRNA may impact immunity and cancer

As anyone familiar with the phrase 'man-flu' will know women consider themselves to be the more robust side of the species when it comes to health and illness. Now new research, published in BioEssays, seems to support the idea. The research focuses on the role of MicroRNAs encoded on the X chromosome to explain why women have stronger immune systems to men and are less likely to develop cancer.

28 Sep 2011

UCSF neuroscientist wins PECASE award for research into addiction

Linda Wilbrecht, PhD, a neuroscientist at the Ernest Gallo Clinic and Research Center at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), is one of 94 researchers named today by President Obama as a recipient of the Presidential Early Career Awards for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE).

28 Sep 2011

Emissions from livestock farms cause lung patients living nearby to experience more exacerbations

Emissions from livestock farms cause asthma and COPD patients living nearby to experience more exacerbations, according to research presented today at the European Respiratory Society's Annual Congress in Amsterdam.

28 Sep 2011

UCI professor wins Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists & Engineers

Rommie Amaro, UC Irvine assistant professor of pharmaceutical sciences and computer science, has been selected by President Obama for the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists & Engineers.

28 Sep 2011

Microbiologist offers advice to guard against coming down with the flu

October marks the beginning of flu season, and once again, health care professionals are exhorting people to get a flu shot. Microbiologist John Tudor, Ph.D., professor of biology at Saint Joseph's University in Philadelphia, agrees that it's time to roll up our sleeves and offer up our arms for the vaccination.

28 Sep 2011

MicroDose initiates MDT-637 Phase 1 trial in respiratory syncytial virus

MicroDose Therapeutx, Inc. today announced that the first human subject has been dosed in a Phase 1 clinical trial of MDT-637, MicroDose's inhalable small molecule antiviral fusion inhibitor for the treatment of respiratory syncytial virus.

28 Sep 2011

Methodist Hospital internist offers few simple suggestions to prevent cold and flu

The first few breezes of fall bring with them not only the promise of a welcome change in season, but also the threat of colds and flu. Dr. Joshua Septimus, an internist at The Methodist Hospital in Houston, offers a few simple suggestions to protect you and your family this cold and flu season. "The most useful tip I can pass along is to wash your hands," says Septimus. "It sounds so simple, but it is truly the most important thing you can do to protect yourself."

27 Sep 2011

Lead compound activates infection-fighting REDD1 protein and kills flu strain

A compound tested by UT Southwestern Medical Center investigators destroys several viruses, including the deadly Spanish flu that killed an estimated 30 million people in the worldwide pandemic of 1918.

27 Sep 2011

Scientists uncover how methylation changes can influence blood stem cell's fate

Scientists at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) and the University of Southern California (USC) have uncovered intriguing new evidence helping to explain one of the ways in which a stem cell's fate can be determined.

27 Sep 2011

TPI revenue increases 48.9% to $95.2 million for fiscal year 2011

Tianyin Pharmaceutical Co., Inc., a pharmaceutical company that specializes in patented biopharmaceutical, modernized traditional Chinese medicine, branded generics and other pharmaceuticals, announced the financial results for the Fiscal Year 2011.

27 Sep 2011

Synta announces results of ganetespib, docetaxel Phase 1 combination study on solid tumors

Synta Pharmaceuticals Corp. announced that results of a Phase 1 study of ganetespib in combination with docetaxel in solid tumors were presented at the Annual Meeting of the European Society of Medical Oncology in Stockholm, Sweden.

27 Sep 2011

MSU creates new malaria vaccine with immune-stimulating gene

Continuing a global effort to prevent malaria infections, Michigan State University researchers have created a new malaria vaccine - one that combines the use of a disabled cold virus with an immune system-stimulating gene - that appears to increase the immune response against the parasite that causes the deadly disease.

27 Sep 2011

Asthma patients admitted to hospital with H1N1 are half as likely to die from infection

People with asthma who are admitted to hospital with pandemic influenza H1N1 (swine flu) are half as likely to die or require intensive care than those without asthma, according to new research.

26 Sep 2011

Ibandronate controls pain in prostate cancer patients with bone metastases

Many prostate cancer patients develop bone metastases, and controlling the pain these cause can be difficult. Now the first large randomised Phase III trial of a bisphosphonate drug in these patients has shown that a single dose of the drug is as good for pain relief as single dose radiotherapy, the standard treatment for bone metastases. Results of the trial were presented at the 2011 European Multidisciplinary Cancer Congress.

26 Sep 2011