Pneumonia News and Research

Latest Pneumonia News and Research

Dacogen data presented on trial in seniors with acute myeloid leukemia

Eisai Corporation of North America has announced data from a Phase II trial evaluating a five-day dosing regimen of Dacogen(R) (decitabine for injection) in acute myeloid leukemia (AML), the most common form of leukemia.

10 Dec 2008

Lenalidomide safe for elderly patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia

The oral medication lenalidomide is safe and well-tolerated for elderly patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia, a group without a well-defined frontline therapy for their disease, researchers from The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center reported today at the 50th annual meeting of the American Society of Hematology.

8 Dec 2008

Low-income settings require local guideline development for childhood illness

The next generation of case management guidelines for childhood illness need to be more locally informed, rather than relying on those centrally generated by organizations like the World Health Organization (WHO), argues a new essay published in the open access journal PLoS Medicine.

8 Dec 2008

Clear seasonal variation in bacterial infections

In the same way that winter is commonly known to be the "flu season," a new study suggests that the dog days of summer may well be the "bacterial infection" season.

26 Nov 2008

FDA issues complete response letter for Ceftobiprole for treatment of complicated skin infections

Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical Research & Development, L.L.C. (J&JPRD), today announced that it received a Complete Response letter from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regarding its New Drug Application (NDA) for ceftobiprole for the treatment of complicated skin and skin structure infections, including diabetic foot infections.

26 Nov 2008

Call for greater caution in prescribing inhaled corticosteroids to COPD sufferers

Lung disease experts at Johns Hopkins are calling for physicians to show much greater caution in prescribing inhaled corticosteroid drugs for people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease after finding evidence that the widely used anti-inflammatory medications increase the risk of pneumonia by a full third.

25 Nov 2008

Common cold virus originated in birds

A virus that causes cold-like symptoms in humans originated in birds and may have crossed the species barrier around 200 years ago, according to an article published in the December issue of the Journal of General Virology.

20 Nov 2008

Seniors should have the flu jab this winter, say experts

Despite recent doubts about its effectiveness, the influenza vaccine does give valuable protection against illness, hospital admission and death caused by influenza, and people over 65 should have the flu jab this winter, say experts on bmj.com.

18 Nov 2008

Recent Southern California wildfires caused hospital visits for respiratory illnesses to spike

Raging wildfires that engulfed Southern California earlier this decade not only destroyed neighborhoods laying in their path, they also caused significant health problems for many who lived outside the fires' reach.

18 Nov 2008

Gene chip technology used to rapidly and accurately detect pneumonia in ICU Patients on ventilators

Even seasoned doctors have a difficult time diagnosing pneumonia in hospitalized patients breathing with the assistance of a ventilator.

16 Nov 2008

Swiss approval for Zevtera in treatment of complicated skin and soft tissue infections

Swissmedic, the Swiss agency for therapeutic products, has approved Zevtera (ceftobiprole medocaril) for the treatment of complicated skin and soft tissue infections, including diabetic foot infections which have not spread to the bone.

13 Nov 2008

100,000 saved from dying of tuberculosis

Asma Elsony led the tuberculosis programme in Sudan at the same time as she took her doctoral degree under the supervision of Professor Gunnar Bjune of the Department of General Practice and Community Medicine, University of Oslo in Norway.

13 Nov 2008

Heart failure hospitalization rates rise among nation's seniors

Heart failure is reaching epidemic levels among seniors in the United States, according to research presented at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2008.

10 Nov 2008

A probiotic bacterium reduces hospital infections

A probiotic bacterium, Lactobacillus plantarum 299, has been used to out-compete the dangerous bacteria that cause respiratory illness in ventilated patients.

6 Nov 2008

Minor shift in vaccine schedule has potential to reduce infant illness, death

A new study by researchers at Wake Forest University School of Medicine and Vanderbilt University suggests that protecting infants from a common, highly contagious and even deadly disease may be as easy as administering a routine vaccine two weeks earlier than it is typically given.

4 Nov 2008