Influenza News and Research

Latest Influenza News and Research

Long-term monitoring and education needed to protect lungs of young patients

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital investigators have identified childhood cancer survivors who are at increased risk for deteriorating lung health, in part due to the lifesaving bone marrow transplants they underwent years earlier.

16 Apr 2010

Idaho Technology receives USASMDC contract to develop flu tests for military personnel

Idaho Technology, Inc. has been awarded a contract by the U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command (USASMDC) to develop tests for multiple flu strains on the Joint Biological Agent Identification and Diagnostic System (JBAIDS).

16 Apr 2010

SJHS-HC tracks potential influenza cases using SafetySurveillor solution

St. Joseph Health System - Humboldt County, a member of St. Joseph Health System based in Orange, Calif., was able to track potential influenza cases minutes after California health officials released new requirements regarding influenza reporting. The SJHS-HC hospitals achieved this using SafetySurveillor, a safety surveillance solution offered by the Premier healthcare alliance.

15 Apr 2010

Study finds variation in H1N1 infection risks and antibody levels: JAMA

An analysis of blood samples taken before, during and after an epidemic wave of influenza A(H1N1) in Singapore in 2009 finds variation in infection risks and antibody levels, with younger age groups and military personnel having higher infection rates than other groups, according to a study in the April 14 issue of JAMA.

15 Apr 2010

WHO official says agency struggled to find 'right tempo' for release of H1N1 information

The rapid spread of information via the Internet "had a disruptive impact on the handling of the flu pandemic by fanning speculation and rumours," WHO officials said Tuesday on day two of a three-day meeting of external experts tasked with evaluating the WHO's handling of H1N1 (swine flu), Agence France-Presse reports.

15 Apr 2010

GBS cases reduce following 2009 H1N1 vaccination: Research study

A new study finds that reports of a neurologic disease called Guillain-Barré syndrome have been low after 2009 H1N1 vaccination, according to a research study that will be presented as part of the late-breaking science program at the American Academy of Neurology's 62nd Annual Meeting in Toronto, April 10 - 17, 2010.

15 Apr 2010

WHO discusses shortcomings of its H1N1 response

Keiji Fukuda, the WHO's top influenza expert, on Monday said the organization did not effectively communicate the uncertainties of the H1N1 (swine flu) virus, which led to confusion worldwide, Reuters reports.

15 Apr 2010

Swine flu shots important before peak season, say experts

According to reports only 13% of the adult population in Singapore has a natural immunity to H1N1 influenza or influenza A. Communicable Disease Centre (CDC) clinical director Leo Yee Sin led this research and emphasized on the importance of vaccinations with the new three in one vaccines in case of a return of the disease.

15 Apr 2010

Opinions divided on swine flu fear

According to health experts the swine flu pandemic is far from over and remains a threat to the population, especially the young. John Mackenzie, the Australian who heads the World Health Organization’s independent but secretive Emergency Committee said in a statement on Wednesday, “This is just as severe as we saw in 1957 and 1968, with one major difference. We are not seeing deaths in the elderly but we are seeing them in a more important group of the population, healthy young adults… It is much more severe than people tend to talk about.”

15 Apr 2010

New Supramap web-based application to track and stop disease outbreaks

Pathogens can now be easily tracked in time and space as they evolve, an advance that could revolutionize both public health and inform national security in the fight against infectious diseases. Developed by researchers that include scientists at the American Museum of Natural History, Supramap is a new, powerful, web-based application that maps genetic mutations like those among the different strains of avian influenza onto the globe.

13 Apr 2010

Drug boosting production of immune system protein worsens TB

An experimental drug that boosts production of the immune system protein interferon worsens tuberculosis (TB) in mice, according to scientists from the National Institutes of Health. The drug acts indirectly by drawing certain immune cells, in which Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M.tb) bacteria thrive, to the lungs. The findings may have potential implications for the care of people infected with TB, the authors note. The research is reported in the May 3 issue of Journal of Clinical Investigation, now available online.

13 Apr 2010

Experts begin probe of WHO's response to H1N1

Health experts on Monday began a probe of how the WHO responded to the H1N1 (swine flu) pandemic "nearly a year after global alarm was raised over the new swine flu strain," Agence France-Presse reports (Capella, 4/12).

13 Apr 2010

Clinical and preclinical malaria vaccine data presented at Keystone Symposium

GenVec, Inc. announced that encouraging clinical and preclinical malaria vaccine data were presented at the Keystone Symposium -- Malaria: New Approaches to Understanding Host-Parasite Interactions taking place April 11-16, 2010 in Copper Mountain, Colorado.

12 Apr 2010

Gene playing crucial role in immune system balance identified

A team led by St. Jude researchers identified a gene pivotal for immune system balance. Ultimately, the discovery may aid efforts to tame allergies and asthma.

12 Apr 2010

Asthma-like symptoms in infants and toddlers is often RAD

Your child is wheezing. Your child must have asthma, right? Not always, says Julie Koehler, professor and chair of the Department of Pharmacy Practice in Butler University's College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences and clinical pharmacy specialist in family medicine at Clarian Health.

12 Apr 2010

Cempra to make poster presentations on CEM-101 and CEM-102 at ECCMID 2010

Cempra Pharmaceuticals today announced poster presentations on its novel antibiotic CEM-101, a next-generation macrolide, and CEM-102, the company's proprietary front-loading oral dosing regimen of sodium fusidate, at the 20th European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Disease, April 10 to 13, 2010, in Vienna Austria.

12 Apr 2010

Replikin Counts of H5N1 and H1N1 strains on the rise

The most recent BioRadar analysis of the virus genomes of both H5N1, known for high lethality, and H1N1, known for high infectivity, indicates that the Replikin Counts of both strains are rising. Such Count increases in a specific strain have been invariably associated with clinical outbreaks of that strain.

12 Apr 2010

Inovio Biomedical receives $2.8M grant to develop DNA vaccine for HCV

Inovio Biomedical Corporation, a leader in DNA vaccine design, development and delivery, announced today that the company and its collaborators from Drexel University, Cheyney University, and the University of Pennsylvania have received a $2.8 million grant to develop a DNA vaccine to treat hepatitis C virus.

9 Apr 2010

Obese patients may receive higher rate of recommended care than normal-weight patients, but not lower

Despite a concern that obese or overweight patients may receive lower quality of health care, an analysis of eight common outpatient quality measures from a sample of nearly 70,000 patients finds no evidence that obese or overweight patients receive inferior care when compared with normal-weight patients, and in fact may receive a higher rate of recommended care on several measures, according to a study in the April 7 issue of JAMA.

8 Apr 2010

Enrollment completes for Inovio Biomedical's dose escalation phase I trial of cervical cancer vaccine

Inovio Biomedical Corporation, a leader in DNA vaccine design, development and delivery, announced today that the company has completed enrollment of all subjects for its therapeutic cervical cancer vaccine (VGX-3100) phase I trial. VGX-3100 is a DNA vaccine targeting the E6 and E7 proteins of human papillomavirus (HPV) types 16 and 18, and is delivered via in vivo electroporation.

8 Apr 2010