Cold, Flu & Cough News and Research

Latest Cold, Flu & Cough News and Research

BARDA awards Vaxin $21.7M contract to accelerate development of novel anthrax vaccine

Vaxin Inc., a clinical stage vaccine development company, today announced that it has been awarded a contract valued at up to $21.7 million by the Office of Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) for pre-clinical assessment, final manufacturing process development and the supply of clinical materials to support an IND filing and first-in-man dose ranging study of the company's proprietary anthrax vaccine, AdVAV.

17 Sep 2011

Georgia reminds adults to get vaccinated

Vaccines aren't just for kids, adults need protection too! September 18 kick starts National Adult Immunization Awareness Week and the Georgia Department of Public Health reminds Georgians that you never outgrow the need for vaccines.

16 Sep 2011

HHS' BARDA contract advances development of novel anthrax vaccine, antitoxin

The advanced development of a novel next-generation anthrax vaccine and a new type of anthrax antitoxin have received support through new contracts funded the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority.

16 Sep 2011

New report finds improvements in hospital performance

Meanwhile, Reuters reports on the quality of weekend care at stroke centers and nursing homes are trying to reduce their use of powerful antipsychotic drugs for patients with dementia.

16 Sep 2011

Animals burn protein during long, cold hibernation

When Arctic ground squirrels are getting ready to hibernate they don't just get fat - they pack on muscle at a rate that would make a bodybuilder jealous. And they do it without suffering the harmful effects that high levels of testosterone and other anabolic steroids usually cause. University of Toronto Scarborough (UTSC) researchers have started to untangle how the squirrels manage it, and their results could someday have implications for human health.

16 Sep 2011

Teva to invest in CDI for development of novel antiviral drugs

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. announced today that it has signed a collaboration option to license and share purchase agreements to invest in Cocrystal Discovery Inc. (CDI), a biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of novel antiviral therapeutics for the treatment of serious and chronic viral diseases.

16 Sep 2011

Burundi becomes 10th African country to protect children from pneumonia through immunisation

The Republic of Burundi will next week accelerate its fight against pneumonia, the world’s biggest killer of children under five, when it becomes the tenth African country to introduce new pneumococcal vaccines.

16 Sep 2011

Probiotics appear to protect against upper respiratory tract infections

Taking probiotics seems to provide both children and adults with a mild degree of protection against many upper respiratory tract infections (URTI) including the common cold, according to a new systematic review. People who consume probiotics are also less likely to end up taking antibiotics for an upper respiratory infection, the review found.

16 Sep 2011

Something like 'Contagion' could happen for influenza

In the new movie "Contagion," fictional health experts scramble to get ahead of a flu-like pandemic as a drug-resistant virus quickly spreads, killing millions of people within days after they contract the illness.

15 Sep 2011

First Edition: September 15, 2011

In today's news, reports about what might be included in President Obama's detailed plan to tame the federal federal budget. Here's a hint: Social Security changes are unlikely, but what about Medicare?

15 Sep 2011

Cempra's solithromycin demonstrates efficacy comparable to levofloxacin for CABP treatment

Cempra Pharmaceuticals today announced results from its Phase II clinical trial investigating the efficacy, safety and tolerability of oral administration of our fourth generation macrolide, solithromycin (CEM-101), a fluoroketolide antibiotic, in comparison with oral levofloxacin for the treatment of community-acquired bacterial pneumonia (CABP).

15 Sep 2011

Without action to curb antibiotic resistance, some diseases may once again become untreatable

In this Atlantic Magazine opinion piece, Megan McArdle, senior editor at the Atlantic, echoes a warning by the FDA issued in 2001 which stated, "Unless antibiotic resistance problems are detected as they emerge, and actions are taken to contain them, the world could be faced with previously treatable diseases that have again become untreatable, as in the days before antibiotics were developed."

15 Sep 2011

Roundup: Major Mass. health system, insurer near reimbursement deal; HHS funds Planned Parenthood in N.H.; 10 Iowa towns to get healthy

Partners HealthCare System Inc. is close to reaching an agreement with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts that could provide relief to tens of thousands of insurance customers by slowing the rate of their premium increases, potentially by nearly a quarter of a billion dollars.

15 Sep 2011

ASM to honor LA BioMed investigator for A. baumannii infection study

Ashraf Ibrahim, Ph.D., principal investigator at LA BioMed who specializes in infectious diseases, was recently honored by the American Society for Microbiology (ASM) and the ICAAC Program Committee in the area of Therapy and Prevention of Microbial Disease.

14 Sep 2011

Inovio achieves best-in-class immune responses in PENNVAX-B HIV vaccine Phase I study

Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a leader in the development of synthetic immunogens against cancers and infectious diseases, announced today that it has achieved best-in-class immune responses in a Phase I clinical study of PENNVAX-B, its product for the prevention of the HIV sub-type prevalent in the US and Europe.

14 Sep 2011

“Contagion” movie entirely plausible

Hollywood's latest thriller “Contagion” seems to have captured the public’s interest with strong sales at the box office. In the movie tens of millions of people are wiped out by the rapid spread of a killer airborne disease. It's a scenario real-life experts say is entirely plausible.

14 Sep 2011

Walgreens, MDA team up to offer free seasonal flu shots

Nobody likes to get stuck with a needle. But influenza - the flu - is particularly hazardous for those with neuromuscular disease, which is why the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA) and Walgreens have teamed up once again to offer free seasonal flu shots now underway for people who have muscular dystrophy and related diseases.

14 Sep 2011

Viewpoints: Medicare bigger problem than social security; N.Y.'s long term care 'bad grade'

Sometimes they challenged Perry from the left (on Social Security and Medicare) and sometimes from the right (on immigration, taxes and mandatory vaccines), but it all came back to the same thing: The frontrunner was befuddled – seemingly stunned that his rivals would question his right to the Republican presidential nomination.

14 Sep 2011

Real-life health risks of outbreak portrayed in the movie 'Contagion'

Two opinion pieces published Monday examine the real-life health risks of an outbreak portrayed in "Contagion," a movie that opened this weekend in which a mysterious airborne virus kills thousands of people.

14 Sep 2011

Data on veterans affairs hospitals shows high rates of readmissions

The Veterans Health Administration, the largest integrated health care system in the country, has long employed many of the approaches Medicare is pushing on all hospitals to reduce unnecessary readmissions. But new data show VA hospital patients are just as likely to end up back in a hospital bed as are patients at private hospitals.

13 Sep 2011