Cold, Flu & Cough News and Research

Latest Cold, Flu & Cough News and Research

Low vaccination rates across Australia

Vaccination rate figures show that older Australians are well protected against the flu but less so against pneumococcal disease and whooping cough. These figures were revealed by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) and they show three-quarters of Australians aged 65 years and older had a flu shot in 2009. Just over half (55 per cent) were also vaccinated against pneumococcal disease.

3 Mar 2011

Lancet Infectious Diseases examines how resource gaps are creating barriers to reduce child mortality

The Lancet Infectious Diseases' Newsdesk examines how resource gaps in immunizations, health workers and financing are creating barriers to efforts to achieve the U.N. Millennium Development Goal target to reduce child mortality by two-thirds by 2015, as highlighted in a recent Save the Children report.

3 Mar 2011

FDA takes action against companies that manufacture unapproved prescription drugs

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today took action against companies that manufacture, distribute, or market certain unapproved prescription oral cough, cold, and allergy products. The affected products cannot be legally marketed in the United States.

3 Mar 2011

Level 3, ALA sign agreement to provide DIA, voice services to improve lung health awareness

Level 3 Communications, Inc. today announced that it has signed an agreement with the American Lung Association of the Midland States, a non-profit healthcare organization serving Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and Tennessee, to provide dedicated Internet access and voice services in support of its mission to improve lung health awareness.

2 Mar 2011

Four pharmaceutical companies partner to create new single-source industry

Four successful contract packaging and re-packaging companies in the pharmaceutical industry recently joined forces to create a new, single-source industry leader called Aphena Pharma Solutions.

2 Mar 2011

Baxter announces European rMRP approval of PREFLUCEL seasonal influenza vaccine

Baxter International Inc. announced today the approval of a European repeat mutual recognition procedure (rMRP) by the Austrian Agency for Health and Food Safety for Baxter's PREFLUCEL seasonal influenza vaccine. The 13 participating European Union countries, including Germany, Spain, United Kingdom and Nordic countries, will formally implement the license on a national level to make PREFLUCEL available for the 2011-12 influenza season.

From Baxter International Inc. 2 Mar 2011

Existing plans for drug use during flu pandemic can reduce wastewater treatment efficiency

Existing plans for antiviral and antibiotic use during a severe influenza pandemic could reduce wastewater treatment efficiency prior to discharge into receiving rivers, resulting in water quality deterioration at drinking water abstraction points.

2 Mar 2011

VaxInnate receives $196 million BARDA contract to develop novel flu vaccines

VaxInnate Corporation today announced that it has been awarded a contract by the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, worth up to $196 million to fund the development of recombinant seasonal and pandemic flu vaccines.

1 Mar 2011

FDA approves roflumilast to treat COPD

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved roflumilast, a pill taken daily to decrease the frequency of flare-ups or worsening of symptoms from severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

1 Mar 2011

New drug approved for COPD by the FDA

The U.S. FDA has approved a new treatment for people with worsening symptoms of severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). COPD affects smokers and the elderly and leads to severe difficulty in breathing, chronic cough and excessive mucus production. An exacerbation can last up to several weeks and result in a decline in lung function and increased risk of death, and it may be associated with severe anxiety, the FDA says.

1 Mar 2011

Axolotl's two EHR systems receive ONC-ATCB certification

Axolotl Corp. announced that two of its electronic health record systems - Axolotl EHR, version 7 and Elysium EMR Lite - have received Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT Authorized Testing and Certification Body 2011/2012 certifications in accordance with Eligible Provider certification criteria adopted by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

1 Mar 2011

FDA approves Forest Labs' Daliresp to treat COPD

Forest Laboratories, Inc. announced today that Daliresp was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration as a treatment to reduce the risk of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease exacerbations in patients with severe COPD associated with chronic bronchitis and a history of exacerbations.

1 Mar 2011

U.K.'s DFID might reduce funding for FAO in light of 'patchy' performance

The U.K.'s Department for International Development on Saturday said it might reduce its contribution to the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization if the agency does not improve its performance, Reuters reports.

1 Mar 2011

Meda launches Medivir's cold sore treatment Xerese in the U.S.

Medivir AB, the emerging research-based specialty pharmaceutical company focused on infectious diseases, today announces that the Company's commercialization partner, Meda AB, has launched Medivir's unique cold sore treatment Xerese in the United States.

1 Mar 2011

Novavax announces agreement to license VLP vaccine technology to LGLS

Novavax, Inc. announced today an agreement to license its proprietary, recombinant virus-like-particle vaccine technology to LG Life Sciences, Ltd.

1 Mar 2011

Cancer drug may help combat flu

Ever get a flu shot and still get the flu? If so, there's new hope for flu-free winters in the years to come thanks to a new discovery by researchers who found that a drug called DMXAA, originally developed as anti-tumor agent, enhances the ability of flu vaccines to ward off this deadly virus.

1 Mar 2011

Social networking websites can increase risky sexual behaviors in homeless youth: New study

A new UCLA AIDS Institute study suggests that the use of social networking websites by homeless youth can lead to an increase in risky sexual behaviors. But interestingly, homeless kids who used these sites were also more likely to have been tested for sexually transmitted infections and to be better informed about preventing such infections and HIV.

1 Mar 2011

New nasal vaccine holds promise against both Alzheimer's disease and stroke

One in eight Americans will fall prey to Alzheimer's disease at some point in their life, current statistics say. Because Alzheimer's is associated with vascular damage in the brain, many of them will succumb through a painful and potentially fatal stroke.

1 Mar 2011

HHS awards two contracts to accelerate flu vaccine availability

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services awarded two contracts today to help make vaccine available more quickly for seasonal flu outbreaks and pandemics. The contracts for advanced development of new types of vaccine and new ways to make flu vaccine known as next-generation recombinant influenza vaccine total $215 million.

28 Feb 2011

Treat discomfort not fever say the new pediatric guidelines

According to a new report from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), fevers alone are not a cause for intervention in children. Dr. Janice Sullivan, the lead author of the report says, “The focus should be on comfort and not on absolute temperature.” That’s because fever can be help fight illness, by slowing down the reproduction of bacteria and viruses or stimulating the body’s immune response she explains. “That’s a benefit of fever…and may shorten the time that your child remains ill,” she adds.

28 Feb 2011