Cold, Flu & Cough News and Research

Latest Cold, Flu & Cough News and Research

Volunteen Program at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital

Each summer, a select group of teenagers spend five weeks of their summer vacation to help children with cancer and other catastrophic diseases through the Volunteen Program at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. The annual program allows teens to explore career paths and develop leadership and team-building skills while helping patients.

17 Aug 2011

Study finds broadest immune response from LAIV nasal spray vaccines for children

Children younger than 3 years old receive the same protective antibody response from the recommended two doses of licensed seasonal influenza vaccines regardless of whether the two doses are injected by needle, inhaled through a nasal spray or provided through one dose of each in any order, according to researchers funded by the National Institutes of Health.

17 Aug 2011

Scientists define relationship between two prostate tumor suppressor genes

Of the 250,000 American men who will be diagnosed with prostate cancer this year, very few of them-about 1 percent-will develop lethal, metastatic disease. Finding a way to distinguish between this small cohort and the majority of patients who will develop an indolent, non-lethal form of prostate cancer is a key goal in prostate cancer research.

16 Aug 2011

Zinc lozenges might reduce duration of common cold episodes by 40%

Depending on the total dosage of zinc and the composition of lozenges, zinc lozenges may shorten the duration of common cold episodes by up to 40%, says Dr. Harri Hemila from the University of Helsinki.

16 Aug 2011

Tel Aviv University scientists work to determine how H1N1 becomes pandemic

The last century has seen two major pandemics caused by the H1N1 virus - the Spanish Flu in 1918 and 2009's Swine Flu scare, which had thousands travelling with surgical masks and clamoring for vaccination. But scientists did not know what distinguished the Swine Flu from ordinary influenza in pigs or seasonal outbreaks in humans, giving it the power to travel extensively and infect large populations.

16 Aug 2011

AVI BioPharma, MDA to initiate exon-51 Phase 2 trial in Duchenne muscular dystrophy

More than a decade of targeted Muscular Dystrophy Association-funded research, made possible as a result of generous public support of the MDA Labor Day Telethon and thousands of grass-roots special events, has today culminated in MDA providing financial assistance for the start of the first Phase 2 placebo-controlled, multiple dose efficacy, safety, tolerability and pharmacokinetics clinical trial of an exon-51 skipping drug, eteplirsen, as a potential therapy for Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

16 Aug 2011

New ‘cure-all’ antiviral method discovered

In a new development that could transform how viral infections are treated, a team of researchers at MIT’s Lincoln Laboratory has designed a drug that can identify cells that have been infected by any type of virus, then kill those cells to terminate the infection.

15 Aug 2011

Kineta's next generation antiviral program receives $2.8 million NIH SBIR grant

Kineta, Inc. announced today its next generation antiviral program has received a 2.8 million dollar grant from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, a part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Awarded under the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program, the prestigious phase two grant will provide on-going support for Kineta's work on a new class of antiviral drugs targeting an array of global, deadly viruses.

12 Aug 2011

National Center for Toxicological Research celebrates 40th birthday

A federal research center established by President Nixon in the Cold War era is celebrating its 40th birthday and its reputation as one of the world's premier science centers.

12 Aug 2011

Faith influences health behaviors of American Muslim patients

The perceived role of God in illness and recovery is a primary influence upon the health care beliefs and behaviors of American Muslims, a first-of-its-kind study has discovered. Outreach and education efforts by the health care community can help address Muslim concerns and improve health care quality in this rapidly growing population, the report recommends.

12 Aug 2011

Sinovac second quarter sales increase 52.5% to $15.7 million

Sinovac Biotech Ltd., a leading provider of biopharmaceutical products in China, announced today its unaudited second quarter financial results for the period ended June 30, 2011.

12 Aug 2011

WHO declares end to global swine flu pandemic

"The World Health Organization is declaring an end to the global swine flu pandemic," the Associated Press/Seattle Times reports.

12 Aug 2011

Ecological research on disease prevention and human biome

Public awareness about the role and interaction of microbes is essential for promoting human and environmental health, say scientists presenting research at the Ecological Society of America's (ESA) 96th Annual Meeting from August 7-12, 2011.

12 Aug 2011

PBS NewsHour examines use of Twitter to track disease spread

PBS NewsHour's blog "The Rundown" examines "a recent slate of independent studies" that assert "Twitter can accurately track the spread of a virus or disease - and do it much faster than traditional surveillance methods."

12 Aug 2011

Survey identifies health behaviors, challenges shared by Muslim community

12 Aug 2011

FDA assigns PDUFA action date for review of Affymax peginesatide NDA

Affymax, Inc. today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has assigned a Prescription Drug User Fee Act (PDUFA) action date of March 27, 2012 for the review of the investigational agent peginesatide New Drug Application.

12 Aug 2011

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