Cold, Flu & Cough News and Research

Latest Cold, Flu & Cough News and Research

Study finds increase in amount of brown fat among lean children

Researchers at Joslin Diabetes Center and Children's Hospital Boston have shown that a type of "good" fat known as brown fat occurs in varying amounts in children - increasing until puberty and then declining -- and is most active in leaner children.

12 Aug 2011

Researchers identify unknown link between migration of WBCs to infected tissues, immune memory

Researchers from Dr. Woodland's lab at the Trudeau Institute have now identified a previously unknown link between the migration of white blood cells to infected tissues and the ability of these cells to survive and become long-lived memory cells after the infection has been cleared.

11 Aug 2011

Twitter, Facebook emerging as disease-fighting tools

From Iowa to Brazil, researchers are discovering there is a distinct association between complaints, worries and random rants on the social media site and the spread of medical issues as wide-ranging as the flu, dengue fever and pollen-induced allergies.

11 Aug 2011

Coalition announces 2011 Small Grants Program for World Pneumonia Day

The Global Coalition against Child Pneumonia recently announced the World Pneumonia Day 2011 Small Grants Program, aimed at funding innovative events and activities on or around World Pneumonia Day that address gaps in prevention and control of the disease, according to a press release.

10 Aug 2011

Current Medical Research & Opinion publishes new data on EVISTA for postmenopausal osteoporosis

Eli Lilly and Company today announced that data on EVISTA® (raloxifene HCl tablets) therapy for more than three years was published online in Current Medical Research & Opinion.

10 Aug 2011

Erythromycin can prevent and treat aseptic loosening of total joint replacement

Total joint replacement surgeries can help relieve joint pain common in people with conditions like osteoarthritis. But sometimes, the debris from prosthetic joints leads to aseptic loosening, or disintegration of surrounding bones.

10 Aug 2011

Study finds very low rates of pertussis in children with cough

Contrary to some recent studies, only a low percentage of children treated for respiratory illness with cough have unsuspected pertussis, reports a study in the August issue of The Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal. The journal is published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a part of Wolters Kluwer Health.

10 Aug 2011

Vitamin D, UVB may help prevent dental caries

Large geographical variations in dental health and tooth loss among U.S. adolescents and young adults have been reported since the mid-1800s. The first study finding a north-south gradient in dental caries was a report of men rejected from the draft for the Civil War for lost teeth, from 8 per 1000 men in Kentucky to 25 in New England.

10 Aug 2011

New report: U.S. antiseptics and disinfectants market to reach $2.9B by 2016

In 2009, the disinfectant and antiseptic market was worth around $3.4 billion, but by 2010 had grown over 12%, to reach a value of $3.8 billion, according to a new report available from companiesandmarkets.com.

9 Aug 2011

MAVS prion-like proteins are involved in innate immunity: Discovery

A person's ability to battle viruses at the cellular level remarkably resembles the way deadly infectious agents called prions misfold and cluster native proteins to cause disease, UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers report.

9 Aug 2011

At home in August, health law still a hot topic at town hall meetings

The sweeping overhaul measure is still on voters' minds. Some Republican House members are trading on the existing opposition to the law as cover for their positions on the debt-ceiling vote.

9 Aug 2011

Study helps clarify definition of gastroesophageal reflux disease

Modifying stomach acid levels may not be enough to treat symptoms in neonates suspected of having gastroesophageal reflux disease. According to a study from Nationwide Children's Hospital, this is the first study to classify reflux and its associated symptoms in neonates based on how and what is refluxed.

9 Aug 2011

NIH awards Jefferson $4.8M grant to study vaccine to clear rabies virus from central nervous system

Thomas Jefferson University received a National Institutes of Health (NIH) $4.8 million grant to test a new rabies vaccine with the potential to cure the virus infection, even after it has made its way into a person's central nervous system (CNS). Today, if an unvaccinated person is infected with rabies and it spreads to the brain, there is little chance for survival.

8 Aug 2011

CMS unveils updated website to help consumers compare quality data

Officials from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said Friday that site includes updated data to help consumers compare hospitals, physicians, nursing homes, home care or dialysis providers.

8 Aug 2011

NanoLogix BNP and BNF Quick Test kits detect, identify Group B Strep in four to six hours

NanoLogix, a biotechnology innovator in the rapid detection and identification of live-cell bacteria and microorganisms, announced today that the American Journal of Perinatology has published a peer-reviewed paper from the University of Texas Health Science Center - Houston confirming NanoLogix BioNanoPore (BNP) and BioNanoFilter (BNF) Quick Test technology detect and identify Group B Strep in four to six hours.

8 Aug 2011

Turning from debt debate, some GOP House members renew health law attack

Healthcare reform still loomed large in voters' minds last week as members of Congress began their traditional series of recess town hall meetings. The issue had drifted down the political agenda after the 2010 midterm elections.

8 Aug 2011

Patient perceptions don't match Medicare hospital data

More than 120 hospitals given top marks by patients for providing excellent care also have a darker distinction: high death rates for heart attack, heart failure or pneumonia, a USA Today analysis of new Medicare data has found (Sternberg and Schnaars, 8/5).

6 Aug 2011

St. Jude hosts Sibling Star Day event for brothers and sisters of cancer patients

When a child is battling cancer or other serious illness, the entire family is affected, including siblings. Recognizing the important role brothers and sisters play in the healing process, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital recently hosted Sibling Star Day, an event dedicated to celebrating the brothers and sisters of St. Jude patients.

6 Aug 2011

AHRQ: Arizona and Maryland see great drop in hospital deaths from pneumonia

Deaths of Americans age 18 and over hospitalized for pneumonia plummeted by 45 percent between 2000 and 2007 regardless of who paid for their care, according to the latest News and Numbers from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

6 Aug 2011

Idera second quarter net loss increases to $6.3 million

Idera Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today reported financial results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2011. Idera is a biotechnology company engaged in the discovery and development of DNA- and RNA-based drug candidates targeted to Toll-Like receptors (TLRs).

5 Aug 2011