Influenza News and Research

Latest Influenza News and Research

Parents need immunizations too!

Texas schoolchildren must be current on their immunizations before going back to class this fall, but it may have been decades since some of their parents have had a vaccination. August is National Immunization Awareness Month, and UnitedHealthcare wants to remind adults that immunizations are not just for children.

10 Aug 2009

H5N1 avian influenza leaves people at increased risk for Parkinson's disease

At least one strain of the H5N1 avian influenza virus leaves survivors at significantly increased risk for Parkinson's disease and possibly other neurological problems later in life, according to new research from St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.

10 Aug 2009

Nanoviricides anti-herpes drug candidate reduces viral load by 99.99%

NanoViricides, Inc. (OTC BB: NNVC.OB) (the "Company"), has announced that the herpes simplex viral load was reduced by 99.99% or 10,000 fold in in-vitro studies by nanoviricides™ drug candidates.

10 Aug 2009

Human swine flu conference in Washington DC, August 19-20

Tribal, local, state, federal and other leaders in the field will share best practices and current research with more than 700 delegates already registered, including participants from 32 countries at the International Swine Flu Conference. Priority will be placed on identifying the responsibilities of various stakeholders in order to improve global communication coordination and collaboration

10 Aug 2009

Hard To Treat Diseases (HTDS) Chile flu vaccine tender

Hard to Treat Diseases, Inc. subsidiary, Shenzhen Mellow Hope Pharm Industrial Co., Ltd. (Mellow Hope) announced today that the general manager of Mellow Hope paid a visit to Chile, in regards to a significant new business development opportunity related to Mellow Hope's MedVac flu vaccine products. The company intends to participate in a formal tender process to supply a couple separate orders to a couple separate and unrelated entities in Chile.

9 Aug 2009

Sanofi Pasteur submits supplemental application for influenza A(H1N1) 2009 monovalent vaccine to FDA

Sanofi Pasteur announced today the company has submitted to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) a supplemental application for licensure of its influenza A(H1N1) 2009 monovalent vaccine.

7 Aug 2009

Updated Federal Guidelines for 2009 H1N1 influenza in schools

Updated federal guidelines offer state and local public health and school officials a range of options for responding to 2009 H1N1 influenza in schools, depending on how severe the flu may be in their communities.

7 Aug 2009

HIV genome decoded

"Researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have decoded the entire HIV genome, opening the door to understanding how viruses infect humans – knowledge that could lead to new antiviral drugs," the Triangle Business Journal reports. The building block of HIV is a single stranded RNA, not a double stranded DNA (Gallagher, 8/6).

6 Aug 2009

Discovery of 'tell-tale' viral signature in blood that identifies underlying viral infection

Scientists have identified a genomic "signature" in circulating blood that reveals exposure to common upper respiratory viruses, like the cold or flu, even before symptoms appear.

6 Aug 2009

Pattern of gene expression in blood provides clues to etiology of respiratory infections

Scientists have shown that they can identify and characterize an individual's response to a respiratory viral infection by examining the pattern of gene expression in their blood.

6 Aug 2009

Automated network could predict disease outbreaks that originate in animals

The AP/San Francisco Chronicle examines Los Alamos National Laboratory researchers' efforts to create an automated network to monitor animals in an effort to predict disease outbreaks because two out of every three human diseases "originated in animals."

6 Aug 2009

Fast-tracked H1N1 vaccines will not compromise safety, WHO says

Efforts to fast-track the approval of H1N1 (swine) flu vaccines will not compromise the safety or quality controls of vaccine production, the WHO said in a written statement Thursday, the Mail & Guardian reports.

6 Aug 2009

Ichor Medical Systems awarded $3.3 million to develop Alzheimer’s vaccine

Ichor Medical Systems of San Diego has announced that it has been selected to receive a $3.3 million grant award from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) for development of a vaccine for Alzheimer’s disease.

6 Aug 2009

2 billion worldwide could het H1N1, says WHO

The WHO on Tuesday maintained that roughly two billion people could become infected with the H1N1 (swine flu) virus, Reuters reports.

6 Aug 2009

Baxter completes production of batches of CELVAPAN A/H1N1 pandemic vaccine

Baxter International Inc. (NYSE: BAX) today announced that it completed production of its first commercial batches of CELVAPAN A/H1N1 pandemic vaccine in late July and is discussing plans for distribution with national health authorities, subject to obtaining appropriate authorizations. CELVAPAN, the brand name for the company’s A/H1N1 pandemic influenza vaccine, is made using Baxter’s proprietary Vero cell culture technology.

From Baxter International Inc. 5 Aug 2009

Structure of an entire HIV genome decoded

The structure of an entire HIV genome has been decoded for the first time by researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The results have widespread implications for understanding the strategies that viruses, like the one that causes AIDS, use to infect humans.

5 Aug 2009

Iowa funds swine vaccine research

A grant from a state economic development fund will help Iowa State University researchers develop and evaluate a vaccine designed to protect swine from novel H1N1 and other strains of influenza.

5 Aug 2009

Mathematical modelling to tackle influenza

Researchers from The University of Texas at Austin will participate in a $3 million, five-year grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to fight influenza and other diseases by creating models that simulate the complex interplay between human behavior and the spread of disease.

4 Aug 2009

AFP examines debate over H1N1 spending, resource allocation

There is concern that as developed countries store away antivirals, face masks and vaccines to protect against the H1N1 (swine) flu virus, poor countries are being left empty handed. "Some critics say the spending is so imbalanced that it amounts to health apartheid, protecting rich countries against H1N1 but leaving poor nations to fend for themselves," the news service writes, adding, "Others argue gargantuan sums are being spent on a disease that is no more lethal than seasonal flu, which is grotesquely disproportionate when thousands die each day of less media-friendly diseases."

3 Aug 2009

Ethical ramifications of H1N1 vaccine priority groups

Pregnant women are among the groups that should receive H1N1 (swine) flu vaccinations this fall, according to the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices panel whose recommendations are generally accepted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

31 Jul 2009