Cold, Flu & Cough News and Research

Latest Cold, Flu & Cough News and Research

Centene takes proactive approach to prevent influenza virus through its Fluvention program

Centene Corporation takes a proactive approach with education around how to prevent the influenza virus each year through its FluventionTM program.

29 Oct 2009

Aetna operating earnings decrease by 38% in third-quarter 2009

Aetna today announced third-quarter 2009 operating earnings of $308.2 million, or $.69 per share, a 38 percent decrease from the prior-year quarter. Operating earnings exclude net realized capital gains (losses) and other items. The decrease in operating earnings per share from the prior-year quarter reflects a lower Commercial underwriting margin and a previously announced increase in pension expense partially offset by the impact of a lower number of shares outstanding year-over-year.

29 Oct 2009

Simcere Pharmaceutical Group to control a 50.77% stake in Jiangsu Yanshen

Simcere Pharmaceutical Group, a leading pharmaceutical company specializing in the development, manufacturing, and marketing of branded generic and proprietary pharmaceuticals in China, today announced that it has entered into an agreement to acquire a 74.49% stake in ChinaVax, a Cayman Islands company that, as its sole business, holds a 13.27% stake in Jiangsu Yanshen Biological Technology Stock Co., Ltd. ("Jiangsu Yanshen").

29 Oct 2009

World Journal of Gastroenterology reports a case of metallic foreign body in lower mid-abdomen

Foreign body ingestion is a frequent gastrointestinal emergency. However, long spoon swallowing is a rare event. Most swallowed spoons have been found in the stomach. Previously, there has been no reported case of a long spoon reaching the jejunum.

29 Oct 2009

AAHP updates about the sale of homeopathic medicines to prevent the flu

Recent news articles regarding the scarcity of the "flu shot" (or influenza inoculations) have been widespread. The shortage of the material, due to manufacturing and regulatory issues, has led to increased interest in homeopathic Influenzinum.

29 Oct 2009

Cempra Pharmaceuticals stages a presentation on CEM-101

Cempra Pharmaceuticals today announced a presentation on its novel fluoroketolide antibiotic, CEM-101, at the Infectious Diseases Society of America, 47th Annual Meeting, October 29 to November 1, 2009, in Philadelphia.

29 Oct 2009

Poison control centers to take calls for H1N1

The same reassuring voice on the telephone line when you fear you've had a poison emergency may be the same person answering your questions about the H1N1 flu pandemic.

29 Oct 2009

Comprehensive H1N1 influenza health information centre launched in Canada

Canadians are seeking credible information concerning the H1N1 (human swine flu) virus. As a leading Canadian source of ealth information, www.medbroadcast.com has launched a one-stop comprehensive national H1N1 (human swine flu) Influenza Health information centre (www.medbroadcast.com/H1N1). This information centre will help meet the needs of Canadians in search of useful, credible, and accurate H1N1 information.

29 Oct 2009

Impact of wellness programs on pharmaceutical, diagnostic and device markets

MarketResearch.com has announced the addition of Kalorama Information's new report, "The Market for Wellness Programs and Their Impact on Pharmaceutical, Diagnostic and Device Product Markets," to their collection of Healthcare market reports.

29 Oct 2009

AAHP confirms homeopathic medicines for prophylaxis of infectious diseases

Recent news articles regarding Swine Flu H1N1 have been widespread. The virulence of the strain among humans and its implications for pandemic disease in humans may lead to increased interest in homeopathic treatments for Swine Flu H1N1.

29 Oct 2009

NIH awards contract to LRRI for anthrax research

Lovelace Respiratory Research Institute (LRRI) was recently awarded a contract to continue research due to the potential for bioterrorist attacks involving Bacillus anthracis, the causative agent of anthrax, by the National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Disease (NIAID), a division of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

29 Oct 2009

Pregnant women with symptoms of depression have a stronger biological reaction to the seasonal flu vaccine

Pregnant women with significant symptoms of depression tend to have a stronger biological reaction to the seasonal flu vaccine than do women with lower depression levels, according to a new study.

29 Oct 2009

GE Healthcare to provide surveillance data for H1N1 and seasonal influenza activity throughout the U.S.

GE Healthcare, one of the leading providers of healthcare information technology, today announced its selection by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to provide extensive surveillance data for H1N1 and seasonal influenza activity throughout the United States.

29 Oct 2009

Insurer stocks rise after Reid's 'opt-out' announcement

A day after Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid proposed an 'opt-out' public option plan, health-care insurers' stocks climbed Tuesday," Dow Jones Newswires/The Wall Street Journal reports.

28 Oct 2009

Gates Foundation praises U.S. global health investments, calls for 15-year goal of cutting child deaths worldwide by nearly half

As part of a "major push to convince the United States to maintain government spending on worldwide health initiatives, despite the financial crisis and a soaring U.S. budget deficit," the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is urging U.S. policymakers to commit to cutting "the number of child deaths each year, from 9 million to 5 million" by 2025, CNN reports (Evans, 10/28).

28 Oct 2009

CDC says U.S. H1N1 vaccine supplies on the rise; Senators question government's handling of H1N1 vaccination program

Supplies of the H1N1 (swine flu) vaccine are steadily increasing in the U.S. and should soon be more widely accessible in the next two weeks, the CDC said on Tuesday, CQ HealthBeat reports. During a press briefing, CDC Director Thomas Frieden said that 22.4 million vaccine doses are now available for states to order (Norman, 10/27). "We're beginning to get to significant increases in the availability," Frieden said.

28 Oct 2009

CDC: H1N1 vaccine supplies on the rise

"More than 22 million doses of swine flu vaccine are available now, and most Americans should soon find it easier to get their dose, U.S. health officials said Tuesday, " according to The Associated Press/The Washington Post.

28 Oct 2009

Customers in all 353 of Florida Winn-Dixie and Save-Rite locations to receive Health Cards

Winn-Dixie Stores, Inc. (WINN) today announced that it has partnered with Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida (BCBSF) to offer its customers Health Cards in all 353 of its Florida Winn-Dixie and Save-Rite locations.

28 Oct 2009

Micronics inks license agreement with Biosearch Technologies

Micronics, Inc., a leading developer of point-of-care molecular diagnostic products, announced today that it has entered into a license agreement with Biosearch Technologies, Inc. (Biosearch) for the right to make, have made, use and sell Micronics’ products that incorporate Biosearch’s proprietary fluorophores and quencher dyes for nucleic acid assays. Under the terms of the worldwide license, Biosearch has granted Micronics a royalty-free use of certain of its chemistries for inclusion in Micronics’ infectious disease tests for sale in underdeveloped countries.

28 Oct 2009

73% increase in antiviral prescriptions in the past two weeks: SDI

According to SDI’s Vector One®: National, antiviral prescriptions rose dramatically last week to over 648,000, an increase of more than 73% in the past two weeks. Antiviral prescriptions have climbed each week since the week ending Aug. 21, but the increases in the past two weeks have been significant.

28 Oct 2009