Influenza News and Research

Latest Influenza News and Research

TSRI announces five-year agreement with Janssen to research on influenza virus

The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) today announced a five-year agreement with Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Janssen) to collaborate on focused research projects in the infectious disease area, with the initial project targeting the influenza virus.

7 May 2013

Biocryst reports financial results for first quarter 2013

BioCryst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2013.

7 May 2013

Scientists warn of H7N9 risks as number of cases, deaths continue to rise

"A new strain of bird flu that is causing a deadly outbreak among people in China is a threat to world health and should be taken seriously, scientists said on Wednesday," Reuters reports (Kelland, 5/1).

3 May 2013

Scientists generate map of H7N9 risk

A map of avian influenza (H7N9) risk is presented in Biomed Central's open access journal Infectious Diseases of Poverty today. The map is comprised of bird migration patterns, and adding in estimations of poultry production and consumption, which are used to infer future risk and to advise on ways to prevent infection.

3 May 2013

New approach could democratize viral surveillance, says UCSF scientist

The tick-borne Lone Star virus has been conclusively identified as part of a family of other tick-borne viruses called bunyaviruses, which often cause fever, respiratory problems and bleeding, according to new research led by scientists at UC San Francisco.

3 May 2013

Scientists pursue new therapies as H7N9 flu spreads in China

An experimental drug has shown promise in treating influenza, preventing lung injury and death from the virus in preclinical studies, according to University of Maryland School of Medicine researchers publishing in the journal Nature on May 1.

2 May 2013

H7N9 bird flu virus continues to spread throughout China

"China on Saturday reported its first case of H7N9 bird flu in the southern province of Hunan, the latest sign the virus that has killed 23 people in the country is continuing to spread," Reuters reports (Ruwitch, 4/29).

30 Apr 2013

Collaborative research network to understand spread of infectious diseases

The Models of Infectious Disease Agent Study is a collaborative research network funded by the National Institutes of Health that uses computational, statistical and mathematical models to understand the spread of infectious diseases such as influenza, pertussis, West Nile disease, dengue fever and cholera.

30 Apr 2013

CHMP recommends approval of NUEDEXTA for treatment of pseudobulbar affect

Avanir Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced that the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use of the European Medicines Agency has adopted a positive opinion for NUEDEXTA (dextromethorphan hydrobromide and quinidine sulfate), recommending NUEDEXTA be approved for the treatment of pseudobulbar affect, irrespective of neurologic cause.

29 Apr 2013

New treatment options for influenza

The flu is caused by an infection with the influenza virus, which mainly attacks the upper respiratory tract - the nose, throat and bronchi and rarely also the lungs. According to the World Health Organization, around five to 15 percent of the population are affected by upper respiratory tract infections during seasonal flu outbreaks, and between 250 000-500 000 people die of the illness every year.

29 Apr 2013

Nature editorial, opinion piece address H7N9 virus

The journal Nature published an editorial and opinion piece on the emergence of the H7N9 avian influenza strain.

26 Apr 2013

New strain of bird flu poses pandemic threat

The World Health Organization (WHO) is calling the new strain of H7H9 influenza virus "lethal" and The University of Kansas Hospital is preparing now for any potential cases.

26 Apr 2013

New information on mitigating spread of infection from flu viruses

Pandemic flu continues to threaten public health, especially in the wake of the recent emergence of an H7N9 low pathogenic avian influenza strain in humans.

25 Apr 2013

Childhood bacterial meningitis influences educational, financial achievement

Research suggests that children who become infected with bacterial meningitis have a lower educational achievement and are less likely to be economically self-sufficient in adulthood than those who do not.

25 Apr 2013

H7N9 flu virus found to transmit from birds to humans but not person-to-person

Scientists in China have confirmed for the first time that the influenza A H7N9 virus has transmitted from birds—specifically, chicken at a wet poultry market—to humans, according to an Article published Online First in The Lancet.

25 Apr 2013

Chinese bird flu continues to spread

The H7N9 avian influenza outbreak in China is continuing to spread, although authorities believe that the large majority of those affected did not become infected via human-to-human contact.

25 Apr 2013

To avoid difficulties experienced during SARS epidemic, China must remain transparent in H7N9 efforts

"On this 10th anniversary of China's April 2003 admission that the SARS virus had spread across that country ... Beijing finds itself once again in a terrible position via-a-vis the microbial and geopolitical worlds," Laurie Garrett, a senior fellow for global health at the Council on Foreign Relations, writes in a Foreign Policy opinion piece, noting the emergence of a new strain of bird flu, H7N9, in the country.

25 Apr 2013

Janssen announces safety results from two Phase 3 studies of simeprevir in hepatitis C patients

Janssen R&D Ireland today announced primary efficacy and safety results from two global Phase 3 studies demonstrating that use of the investigational protease inhibitor simeprevir (TMC435) led to sustained virologic response 12 weeks after the end of treatment (SVR12) in 80 and 81 percent, respectively, of treatment-naive genotype 1 chronic hepatitis C adult patients with compensated liver disease, including all stages of liver fibrosis, when administered once daily with pegylated interferon and ribavirin.

24 Apr 2013

Clinical data on simeprevir for treatment of hepatitis C patients to be presented at EASL meeting

Medivir AB today announces that data will be presented on the investigational protease inhibitor simeprevir (TMC435) for the treatment of genotype 1 hepatitis C patients.

23 Apr 2013

World must be better prepared for potential pandemics

"In China an influenza virus never before seen in people had, as The Economist went to press, infected at least 82 and killed 17. Meanwhile a new type of coronavirus, the family that brought severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), is festering in the Middle East," an editorial in the magazine states.

23 Apr 2013