Cold, Flu & Cough News and Research

Latest Cold, Flu & Cough News and Research

CSL Biotherapies comments on influenza vaccine paediatric adverse events

CSL Biotherapies is aware of reports of a number of adverse events following influenza vaccination of children. CSL is one of several suppliers of influenza vaccine in Australia.

23 Apr 2010

BUSM professor receives Individual Biomedical Research Award

Richard Goldstein, PhD, a professor of pediatrics, division of pediatric infectious diseases, at Boston University School of Medicine, has been awarded an Individual Biomedical Research Award by The Hartwell Foundation and will receive $300,000 over three years as a Hartwell Investigator for his project titled, "A Vaccine Against Streptococcus Pneumoniae Based on Bacterial Surface Proteins Phylogenically Certified as Highly Conserved."

23 Apr 2010

NeoStem signs Collaborative Research Agreement with ImmuneRegen BioSciences

NeoStem, Inc., an international biopharmaceutical company with operations in the U.S. and China and ImmuneRegen BioSciences, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of IR BioSciences Holdings, Inc., announced today that they have entered into a Collaborative Research Agreement, focused on the development of an advanced, adult human stem cell product.

23 Apr 2010

Seasonal flu vaccine causing serious side effects in under-fives: Ban on flu vaccination program

The seasonal flu vaccine has caused serious side effects in dozens of children in Western Australia (WA) and following this the Health Department has suspended further free flu vaccinations for under-fives. There has been as rise in admissions to Princess Margaret Hospital. The side effects to the flu vaccine include fever, vomiting and often seizures related to high fever, also known as febrile convulsions. One of the children is seriously ill at present.

22 Apr 2010

Mystic Pharmaceuticals granted U.S. patent covering VRx2 drug delivery platform technology

Mystic Pharmaceuticals today announced it has been granted U.S. Patent 7,669,597, a key technology of its VRx2™ drug delivery platform. The VRx2™ Delivery Platform provides preservative free, precision dose delivery for ophthalmic and intranasal drugs and biologics.

22 Apr 2010

KSERA research project focuses on COPD patients

To enable elderly people to live at home as long as possible, a group of European researchers, coordinated from Eindhoven University of Technology, will link robots and 'smart homes'. The robot, a 'sensible family friend', will ensure that home is a nice place to stay. And that patients do the right things.

22 Apr 2010

International Day for Fighting Infection focuses on hospital infection control

Hospital acquired infections are the focus for the 3rd International Day for Fighting Infection, being marked on St. George’s Day, as experts meet to look at the evolution of infection control in hospitals.

22 Apr 2010

Swine flu vaccine blues

Exactly a year after the swine flu outbreak vigilance, newer vaccine techniques and other measures are being emphasized by researchers and key decision makers. Dr. Harvey Fineberg, chairman of the World Health Organization's pandemic review committee and President of the U.S. Institute of Medicine says, we need to look at the past to learn from it.

22 Apr 2010

H1N1 flu epidemic has lessons to offer health care providers: Anesthesia Progress

The H1N1 flu epidemic has lessons to offer health care providers. The limited amount of vaccine available initially left pregnant women, small children with medical conditions, and other high-risk populations waiting in long lines. The problems encountered in reaching certain segments of the population apply to the provision of dental care as well as other disciplines.

22 Apr 2010

Ozone and primary pollutants from traffic increase asthma-related emergency department visits in children

Both ozone and primary pollutants from traffic substantially increase asthma-related emergency department visits in children, especially during the warm season, according to researchers from the Department of Environmental Health at the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University in Atlanta.

22 Apr 2010

Bacterial infections often missed in febrile children in the ER

In a new study researchers reveal that up to one third of children with fever due to bacterial infections do not receive antibiotics in the emergency department and 20% of kids receive antibiotics unnecessarily.

22 Apr 2010

AFP reflects on WHO's response to H1N1

Agence France-Presse examines the WHO's response to H1N1 (swine flu) one year since the virus was first reported in Mexico and the U.S. "A year on, questions linger as to whether a decision by the World Health Organization to declare swine flu a pandemic, thereby unleashing the slew of health measures, was over-dramatic or even tainted by commercial interests," the news service writes.

22 Apr 2010

Women and men experience different outcomes at U.S. hospitals: HealthGrades

Women and men experience different outcomes at U.S. hospitals for the same procedures and treatments, according to a new study released today by HealthGrades, the leading independent healthcare ratings organization.

22 Apr 2010

No more needles for vaccines – a two minute Nanopatch may suffice, say researchers

Vaccines have been associated with painful injections for a very long time. In a new and important discovery researchers have developed special ‘nano patches’ that can deliver vaccines without needles in just two minutes using 100 times less dose than used conventionally.

22 Apr 2010

Berwick may face difficult confirmation in Senate

News outlets continue to report on Donald Berwick, who was nominated by President Barack Obama to be administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

22 Apr 2010

Merck to market and distribute MBL's Td vaccine in the U.S.

MassBiologics of the University of Massachusetts Medical School and Merck & Co., Inc. announced today that they have entered into an agreement that provides Merck with exclusive rights to market and distribute MBL's tetanus and diphtheria toxoids adsorbed (Td) vaccine in the United States, with the exception of Massachusetts, where MBL will continue distributing the vaccine.

21 Apr 2010

Sonic Innovations wins Best in Show award at AudiologyNOW! conference

Sonic Innovations, Inc. received a Best in Show award based on attendees' votes at the AudiologyNOW! conference for its tradeshow booth. The conference was held April 14 through 17 in San Diego, California and was attended by nearly 7,000 hearing care professionals.

21 Apr 2010

Inovio Biomedical wins Vaccine Industry Excellence Award in “Best Early Stage Biotech” category

Inovio Biomedical Corporation, a leader in DNA vaccine design, development and delivery, announced today that the company was awarded a Vaccine Industry Excellence Award in the category of "Best Early Stage Biotech" by a panel of judges composed of a broad selection of biotech industry stakeholders. The award was presented at the World Vaccine Congress being held April 19 - 22, 2010, in Washington, D.C.

21 Apr 2010

Early tracheotomy does not reduce risk of VAP in mechanically ventilated adult ICU patients

Adult ICU patients who received tracheotomy 6 to 8 days vs. 13 to 15 days after mechanical ventilation did not have a significant reduction in the risk of ventilator-associated pneumonia, according to a study in the April 21 issue of JAMA.

21 Apr 2010