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New study suggests re-evaluation of long-held method to predict effectiveness of seasonal influenza vaccine

The long-held approach to predicting seasonal influenza vaccine effectiveness may need to be revisited, new research suggests. Currently, seasonal flu vaccines are designed to induce high levels of protective antibodies against hemagglutinin (HA), a protein found on the surface of the influenza virus that enables the virus to enter a human cell and initiate infection.

20 Apr 2016

Genetic modification of common virus gives extra weapon to kill cancer cells

A common flu virus could be used to overcome patients' resistance to certain cancer drugs -- and improve how those drugs kill cancer cells, according to new research from Queen Mary University of London.

16 Apr 2016

Interdisciplinary researchers to explore ethical issues of pregnant women during Zika crisis

The emerging Zika virus epidemic is bringing to light a longstanding ethical challenge in medical research: the inclusion of pregnant women. With new funding from the Wellcome Trust, an interdisciplinary team of scholars will focus on issues of ethics and research in pregnancy and women of reproductive age, beginning with the current Zika context and later expanding to general public health research.

15 Apr 2016

Seasonal trivalent influenza vaccination during pregnancy may guard against stillbirth

Seasonal influenza vaccination may guard against stillbirth, a new study published in Clinical Infectious Diseases and available online suggests. Researchers in Western Australia analyzed data from nearly 60,000 births that occurred during the southern hemisphere's 2012 and 2013 seasonal influenza epidemics, and found that women who received the trivalent influenza vaccine during pregnancy were 51 percent less likely to experience a stillbirth than unvaccinated mothers.

2 Apr 2016

UGA and Sanofi Pasteur researchers develop new H1N1 influenza vaccine

Researchers at the University of Georgia and Sanofi Pasteur, the vaccines division of Sanofi, announced today the development of a vaccine that protects against multiple strains of both seasonal and pandemic H1N1 influenza in mouse models.

30 Mar 2016

Higher rates of breastfeeding, vaccination use cut ear infection in babies

In what would be considered good news for many parents a new study from The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston finds the rates of ear infections during a baby's first year have declined; the investigators suggested that higher rates of breastfeeding, use of vaccinations and lower rates of smoking may be the major contributors. The study was recently published in Pediatrics.

28 Mar 2016

Guardian system can predict risk of dangerous diseases

If an infectious disease outbreak or an attack using an agent such as anthrax were to occur in Chicago, it most likely first will be noticed in emergency rooms throughout the city. Swift identification of the cause of an incoming patients' illness could be crucial to public health and safety personnel being able to intervene in time to save lives.

23 Mar 2016

Computer-assisted methods may help as decision support system to combat Zika virus

Global climate change, international travel, and ineffective vector control programs are aiding the emergence of infectious diseases globally. The currently expanding Zika virus (ZIKV) epidemic is one such problem.

21 Mar 2016

MUSC surgeon awarded $3.8 million grant to evaluate transplant drug

Seldom can one say $3.8 million is just the tip of the iceberg, but a newly awarded grant from Gilead Sciences, Inc. is just that. MUSC transplant surgeon Kenneth Chavin, M.D., Ph.D., says the true value of the multi-center drug trial is closer to $26 million, including $22 million in free drugs provided by the pharmaceutical company.

17 Mar 2016

Study: New SARS-like WIV1-CoV virus poised to infect humans

A SARS-like virus found in Chinese horseshoe bats may be poised to infect humans without the need for adaptation, overcoming an initial barrier that could potentially set the stage for an outbreak according to a study at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

16 Mar 2016

St. Jude scientists develop insights to guide development of powerful novel anti-influenza drugs

By analyzing the molecular details of how artificially created drug-resistant flu strains manage to survive treatment, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital scientists have developed insights to guide development of powerful new anti-influenza drugs. These compounds will target a viral enzyme critical to the virus' proliferation in the body.

15 Mar 2016

NIH-funded investigators develop therapeutic compound effective against malaria

An international team that includes NIH-funded researchers at Stanford University has developed a therapeutic compound that is effective in inhibiting Plasmodium falciparum, one of five species of parasite that infects people with malaria, and the strain which causes the highest number of malaria deaths.

13 Mar 2016

Maternal Immunations app aims to guide, remind pregnant women about vaccines

A new app to guide and remind pregnant women about vaccines recommended during pregnancy has been launched by researchers

11 Mar 2016

Vanderbilt investigators isolate human antibodies against H7 bird flu

Researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center have isolated human antibodies against a type of bird flu that has killed more than 200 people in China since 2012 and which may pose a worldwide pandemic threat.

10 Mar 2016

Rutgers' new drug candidate may help fight malaria

Malaria killed about 440,000 people - mostly young children - last year, but a new drug candidate discovered at Rutgers may help fight the long-dreaded disease.

8 Mar 2016

State laws increase vaccination rates among health care workers

State laws mandating influenza immunization for people who work in health care increase their vaccination rates, according to new research led by the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.

3 Mar 2016

Poll: 59% of parents rate flu vaccine less favorably than other childhood vaccines

Parents who do not get their children flu shots rate the flu vaccine less favorably than other childhood vaccines, a national poll finds.

23 Feb 2016

Research proposes new contract scheme for flu vaccine distribution

Research co-authored by Fuqiang Zhang, professor of operations and manufacturing management at Washington University in St. Louis' Olin Business School, proposes a new contract scheme for the vaccine supply chain that could reduce patient wait time.

19 Feb 2016

Rehabilitation-induced reorganization of damaged brain circuits responsible for functional recovery

Each year millions of people worldwide suffer from stroke, which can occur to anyone at any time. While some may recover completely, the majority of survivors will experience some form of impairment that requires a lengthy process toward partial or full recovery of functioning. Therefore, continuous improvement of rehabilitation methods is needed to ensure more positive long-term outcomes among survivors.