Pneumonia News and Research

Latest Pneumonia News and Research

RSV medication from specialty pharmacies increases likelihood of children receiving recommended doses

Children given an injectable medication to help prevent severe respiratory illness had a 17.6 percent higher likelihood of receiving the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommended doses when they were administered through a specialty pharmacy rather than a traditional pharmacy, according to a new study released today by pharmacy benefit manager Prime Therapeutics (Prime).

21 Oct 2011

Gastroenterologist cautions against over-prescription of acid-suppressing drugs in infants

Frequent spitting up, irritability, and unexplained crying in infants can be very distressing to parents. Pediatricians often prescribe acid-suppressing drugs for these symptoms in an effort to treat infants for gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD); however, GERD is an uncommon cause of these symptoms in otherwise thriving infants.

21 Oct 2011

Forest Laboratories second quarter net sales increase 9.0% to $1,130.3 million

Forest Laboratories, Inc., an international pharmaceutical manufacturer and marketer, announced that reported earnings per share equaled $0.91 in the second quarter of fiscal 2012. Reported earnings per share in the second quarter of fiscal 2011 were $1.00.

18 Oct 2011

VEGF protein appears to prevent progression of spinocerebellar ataxia type 1

A protein that promotes the growth of neurons and blood vessels appears to stop the progression of a genetic disease that causes degeneration of the cerebellum, according to new preclinical Northwestern Medicine research published in Nature Medicine.

18 Oct 2011

Indoor cooking stoves kill 2 million annually, NIH study says

Pollution from indoor cooking stoves, typically open fires that that burn solid fuels such as wood, charcoal or dung, kills two million globally each year, scientists at NIH said in a study published in the journal Science on Thursday, Agence France-Presse reports.

15 Oct 2011

RWJF grant to study relationship between people's neighborhoods, hospital locations and care outcomes

Matthew D. McHugh, PhD, CRNP, MPH, JD, an assistant professor at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing, has won a competitive grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) to study the relationships among where people live, where they receive hospital care, and the outcomes of that care.

14 Oct 2011

Million Hearts initiative strikes at leading killer of Americans

The number of Americans who report they have coronary heart disease – which includes heart attack and angina (chest pain) – continues to decline but rates vary widely from state to state and by race and ethnicity, according to a new report published today in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

14 Oct 2011

Four companies receive NIAID contracts to develop broad-spectrum therapeutics

Four companies are to develop broad-spectrum therapeutics-antibiotics, antivirals and an antitoxin-to prevent or treat diseases caused by multiple types of bacteria or viruses, under contracts awarded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health.

14 Oct 2011

One in six mobile phones in the UK is contaminated with fecal bacteria

One in six mobile phones in Britain is contaminated with faecal matter, according to new research released ahead of Global Handwashing Day.

14 Oct 2011

Furiex announces publications and presentations about antibacterial drug JNJ-Q2

Furiex Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced recent and upcoming publications and presentations about the novel investigational antibacterial drug JNJ-Q2.

12 Oct 2011

WHO facing shortage of funds as it works to scale up humanitarian response to Pakistan flooding

WHO representative Guido Sabatinelli has assured Pakistan health officials that the organization "will be scaling up its humanitarian response in all the flood-affected areas of Sindh to resolve health issues faced by the displaced people," News International reports.

11 Oct 2011

NIH awards LSUHSC $9 million grant to develop pneumonia vaccine

Dr. Judd Shellito, Chief of the Section of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine at LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans, has been awarded approximately $9 million in grant funding to develop a vaccine against Pneumocystis, an important cause of pneumonia in people with HIV infection. This potentially fatal illness is the most common serious opportunistic infection in people with HIV.

7 Oct 2011

'Bad' hospitals may treat larger proportion of poor patients, study finds

The nation's worst hospitals treat twice the proportion of elderly black patients and poor patients than the best hospitals, and their patients are more likely to die of heart attacks and pneumonia, new research shows. Now, these hospitals, mostly in the South, may be at higher risk of financial failure, too. That's because the nation's new health care law punishes bad care by withholding some money, says the lead author of the study published Wednesday in the journal Health Affairs.

7 Oct 2011

Phagenesis closes Series B funding

Phagenesis Ltd, the global leader in the treatment of dysphagia (inability to swallow safely) today announced that it has closed a €7 million Series B funding round designed to accelerate the company's development plans.

4 Oct 2011

Dialysis patients with kidney failure more likely to develop serious complications from flu

For most people, the flu is a temporary setback that makes them feel under the weather for a week or two. For dialysis patients with kidney failure, however, the flu is a serious health threat that can lead to pneumonia and other life-threatening complications.

1 Oct 2011

Hospital readmission rates reflect problem in addressing hospital failures

If you're a Medicare patient admitted to the hospital, the odds are about one in six that you'll end up back in the hospital within a month. And there was very little progress made in reducing that rate between 2004-09.

30 Sep 2011

Study highlights importance of prior planning before introduction of new vaccines

Proper planning before the introduction of new vaccines into a developing country's active immunization program could prevent storage problems and transportation bottlenecks that decrease the availability of existing vaccines by as much as two-thirds, according to a University of Pittsburgh study.

30 Sep 2011

Cubist plans to move CB-183,315 into Phase 3 trial for treatment of CDAD

Cubist Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced it plans to move CB-183,315, being studied for the treatment of a severe and sometimes life-threatening diarrhea caused by Clostridium difficile known as C. difficile-associated diarrhea, or CDAD, into late-stage trials.

29 Sep 2011

Anthrax defenses need to be strengthened: Experts

It has been a decade since the anthrax attacks brought home the reality of bioterrorism and the nation now has a stockpile of some basic tools to fight back against a few of the threats that worry defense experts the most.

28 Sep 2011

GAVI to purchase $1 billion in childhood vaccines for distribution in 37 of the poorest nations

The Geneva-based GAVI Alliance, a fund backed by governments, the World Bank, the WHO and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, said in an e-mailed statement on Tuesday that it will purchase more than $1 billion in vaccines against rotavirus, pneumococcal and other diseases through deals made with GlaxoSmithKline, Pfizer Inc. and Merck & Co. to immunize children in 37 of the poorest nations, Bloomberg reports.

28 Sep 2011