Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome News and Research

Latest Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome News and Research

Stopping SARS viruses from reproducing

In times of the "bird flu" SARS seems to be no threat anymore. This notion is deceptive.

29 Jun 2006

Where bird flu began is a Chinese puzzle

A surprising revelation by a group of Chinese researchers has led to a formal request from the World Health Organization (WHO) for a meeting with officials of the Chinese Ministry of Health.

26 Jun 2006

China and bird flu - the plot thickens

The plot has thickened when it comes to China and bird flu.

26 Jun 2006

Scientists unlock more secrets of HIV and SARS

UK scientists have cracked one of the key biological processes used by viruses such as HIV and SARS when they replicate according to a paper published in the journal Nature tomorrow (11 May). Viruses are able to interfere with the host cell processes that our bodies use to replicate cells, and protein synthesis is often one of their targets.

10 May 2006

Restricting air travel as good as useless when it comes to stopping bird flu

According to British researchers attempts to halt a flu pandemic by restricting air travel will have little effect and even in the best case scenario the speediest action will serve to delay it by only a few months.

3 May 2006

South East Asia could be the epicentre of the next human influenza pandemic

The Asia-Pacific region faces a number of challenges in preparing for an influenza pandemic, yet gaps and inconsistencies in plans across the continent could hinder an effective response to a pandemic, according to a new report presented at the Lancet Asia Medical Forum 2006, Singapore.

3 May 2006

Researchers unravel structure of important new drug target that could potentially treat SARS-infected patients

Mesecar said that the knowledge gained from this new atomic structure - the first-ever reported on this class of proteases - has the potential to go beyond the treatment of patients infected with the coronavirus that causes SARS.

11 Apr 2006

Multinationals preparing for Avian flu across the globe

Multinational companies are taking steps in many parts of the world to plan for the possibility of an avian flu outbreak, a new survey by Watson Wyatt Worldwide, a global human capital firm, has found.

21 Mar 2006

West Nile virus epidemics in North America are driven by shifts in mosquito feeding behavior

Since its introduction to the United States in 1999, West Nile virus has become the major vector-borne disease in the U.S., with 770 reported deaths, 20,000 reported illnesses, and perhaps around a million people infected.

1 Mar 2006

Australian researchers design portable diagnostic system to identify bird flu in a human sample within 2 hours

Avian Influenza (commonly known as bird flu) poses a serious threat to global health with experts predicting it could seriously affect millions of people worldwide.

24 Feb 2006

Animals diseases jumping to humans faster than ever before

According to scientists in the U.S. and Scotland, 75% of the 38 species of harmful organisms and viruses identified in the past 25 years are believed to have "jumped" from animals to humans.

21 Feb 2006

WHO says Asian states too slow in reporting bird flu

The regional director for the World Health Organisation (WHO) in the Western Pacific has complained that Asian countries take too long to report some human cases of bird flu and this could hamper any efforts to contain a possible pandemic.

24 Jan 2006

New web resource provides easy access to global health data

GlobalHealthFacts.org - a new and freely available website with the latest country and region-specific data on HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria and other key health indicators - was launched today by the Kaiser Family Foundation, a non-profit, private operating foundation focused on health care issues.

10 Jan 2006

Largest post-mortem study of SARS deaths teaches scientists about the disease

Led by John Nicholls of Hong Kong University, researchers from Hong Kong and from Toronto (two of the cities worst affected by the 2003 SARS outbreak) joined forces for a large and detailed study of the bodies of 32 patients who had died from SARS.

6 Jan 2006

Molecular finding will help better understand measles and mumps

A team of Northwestern University researchers has solved the structure of a molecule that controls the ability of viruses of the paramyxovirus family, including the viruses that cause measles, mumps, and many human respiratory diseases, to fuse with and infect human cells.

5 Jan 2006

Chinese New Year could mean more bird flu outbreaks

China has warned that bird flu could be more prevalent over the Lunar New Year holidays as the transport of live poultry increases.

19 Dec 2005

Scientists working to protect us against avian and pandemic flu

The expression 'prevention is better than a cure' is a truism when it comes to vaccine research. European scientists in various EU-funded projects are hard at work developing new vaccines, treatments and diagnostic tools against some of the deadliest and most virulent viruses, including strains of avian flu.

15 Dec 2005