Cold, Flu & Cough News and Research

Latest Cold, Flu & Cough News and Research

Researchers 'tighten' body's protective coating

A net with large holes won't catch small fish. Likewise, the microscopic fibers in the protective mucus coatings of the eyes, lungs, stomach or reproductive system naturally bundle together and allow the tiniest disease-causing bugs, allergens or pollutants to slip by.

8 Feb 2009

Discovery of important drug target for influenza

Influenza is and remains a disease to reckon with. Seasonal epidemics around the world kill several hundred thousand people every year.

5 Feb 2009

Super-fine oil-and-water emulsion protects against superbugs that kill cystic fibrosis patients

University of Michigan scientists report highly encouraging evidence that a super-fine oil-and-water emulsion, already shown to kill many other microbes, may be able to quell the ravaging, often drug-resistant infections that cause nearly all cystic fibrosis deaths.

5 Feb 2009

More children need medical help for respiratory syncytial virus than previously known

More than 2 million children with Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) are seen in hospitals, emergency rooms and doctors' offices in the United States every year -- many more than doctors know.

5 Feb 2009

Many neglected diseases lacking research funding

The first comprehensive survey of global spending on neglected disease R&D, published in this week's PLoS Medicine , finds that just over $US 2.5 billion was invested into R&D of new products in 2007, with three diseases-HIV/AIDS, TB, and malaria-receiving nearly 80% of the total

5 Feb 2009

Clinical picture of Asperger's in adults

Asperger's syndrome does not only occur in children and adolescents, but is also diagnosed in adults.

5 Feb 2009

Discovery of new cause of ozone wheezing and potential treatments

Researchers at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), part of the National Institutes of Health, and Duke University have discovered a cause of airway irritation and wheezing after exposure to ozone, a common urban air pollutant.

3 Feb 2009

Gene-targeting approach for herpes treatment

A new therapy being developed at the University of Florida could, in time, produce another weapon for the fight against herpes.

3 Feb 2009

High-tech hospitals see fewer complications, lower costs

Texas hospitals using health information technologies had fewer complications, lower mortality rates and lower costs, a UT Southwestern Medical Center researcher has found.

3 Feb 2009

New vaccine developed for preventing human adenovirus type-3d virus

Common colds typically cause a week of sneezing, aches and pains and then fade away leaving only a sore nose and a few used sick days behind.

2 Feb 2009

Simple test determines whether children have oropharyngeal dysphagia swallowing disorder

A simple test to swallow three ounces of water can help determine whether a child has the swallowing disorder oropharyngeal dysphagia, establishing for the first time a way to screen for the ailment in children, according to new research published in the February 2009 issue of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery.

2 Feb 2009

Top hospitals have 27 percent lower mortality: Annual HealthGrades study

Medicare patients treated at top-rated hospitals nationwide across the most common Medicare diagnoses and procedures are 27 percent less likely to die, on average, than those admitted to all other hospitals, according to a study released today by HealthGrades, the leading independent healthcare ratings organization.

29 Jan 2009

Can't help being the life of the party?

Maybe you were just born that way. Researchers from Harvard University and the University of California, San Diego have found that our place in a social network is influenced in part by our genes, according to new findings published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

27 Jan 2009

Early childhood stress has long-term implications

Stressful experiences in early childhood can have long-lasting impacts on kids' health that persist well beyond the resolution of the situation.

27 Jan 2009

Scientists discover new class of small RNAs

Researchers at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) announced today the discovery of a new class of small RNAs. At the same time, they reported that their discovery suggests the presence of a strikingly novel biochemical pathway for RNA processing in which these and possibly other small RNAs are produced.

27 Jan 2009

Obesity may be contagious!

Professor Nikhil Dhurandhar says a common cold virus can interfere with our normal body processes and make us fat - he has reached this rather astonishing conclusion following ten years of research with both animals and humans into the virus, Adenovirus-36.

27 Jan 2009

Fifth bird flu death in China in less than a month

Reports from China's Ministry of Health of a fifth death from bird flu in less than a month shows just how the deadly H5N1 virus remains such a threat.

27 Jan 2009

Inhaled corticosteroids reduces severity of asthma attacks in preschoolers

The largest study of its kind on preschoolers has demonstrated that preventive treatment with high doses of inhaled corticosteroids is effective in reducing the severity and duration of asthma attacks triggered by colds.

23 Jan 2009

WHO receives funds for children's medicines research with UNICEF

WHO has received US$ 9.7 million in grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to work with UNICEF to conduct crucial research in children's medicines, with the aim of increasing the number of child-size medicines designed and formulated specifically for children.

21 Jan 2009

Non-surgical, non-pharmacological treatments for gastroesophageal reflux disease compared

Two non-surgical, non-pharmacological treatments for gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) both appear effective in reducing medication use and improving voice and swallowing symptoms, according to a report in the January issue of Archives of Surgery, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

19 Jan 2009