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Maths-based tool can quantify the spread and infectiousness of viruses

Mathematicians have developed a powerful tool to quantify the spread and infectiousness of viruses like the pandemic H1N1 flu strain, which can be used together with modern laboratory techniques to help the healthcare system plan its response to disease outbreaks.

9 Oct 2012

Incidence of needlestick injuries appears to be lower among employees at retail pharmacy chain

Vaccinations for flu, tetanus and other common vaccines are increasingly taking place in non-medical settings such as supermarkets and drug stores. This added responsibility for pharmacists increases the risk of needlestick injuries (NSIs), puncture wounds often suffered while preparing or after use of a needle. NSIs can transmit bloodborne pathogens, including hepatitis C and HIV, from an infected patient to the person administering the vaccine.

8 Oct 2012

FMCNA urges dialysis patients to get flu shots

With flu season just around the corner, Fresenius Medical Care North America (FMCNA), the nation's leading network of dialysis facilities, is urging dialysis patients to get flu shots to protect themselves against this common infectious disease. In October, FMCNA will begin offering at no cost to all of its dialysis patients and staff, flu vaccinations, which protect against both seasonal flu and H1N1 swine flu.

6 Oct 2012

Britons least likely to adopt protective behaviours against flu

A new international survey published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases has revealed that during the H1N1 influenza pandemic in 2009, people in Britain lagged far behind other countries in adopting protective behaviours, such as increasing their practice of covering their mouth with a tissue when sneezing or coughing.

5 Oct 2012

Roundup: Individual mandate back on Fla. ballot; More Mass. doctors embrace new payment methods; Ga. hospital tax fight rages on

In a bid to remake Florida's judiciary, Republicans are asking voters to oust three state Supreme Court justices and give the Legislature greater power over Supreme Court appointments. ... In Florida, the issue is not same-sex marriage but another politically divisive matter: President Obama's health care law. In a 2010 ruling, the Florida Supreme Court removed from the ballot a nonbinding amendment allowing Floridians to refuse to buy mandatory health insurance.

4 Oct 2012

Inhibiting DUSP6 protein can restore immune cells’ responsiveness to a more youthful state

The older we get, the weaker our immune systems tend to become, leaving us vulnerable to infectious diseases and cancer and eroding our ability to benefit from vaccination. Now Stanford University School of Medicine scientists have found that blocking the action of a single protein whose levels in our immune cells creep steadily upward with age can restore those cells' response to a vaccine.

1 Oct 2012

Viewpoints: Obamacare a 'big plus'?; What happened to GOP anger over health law?

How did that happen? Partly it's because this has become such an ideological election -; much more so than 2008. … And let me add a speculation: I suspect that in the end Obamacare is turning out to be a big plus, even though it has always had ambivalent polling.

29 Sep 2012

Easy steps to protect against spread of influenza

Flu season is here and Concentra is sharing some easy steps to protect against the spread of influenza, including seasonal flu vaccines available at all Concentra locations across the country. Concentra is a subsidiary of Humana Inc., one of the nation's leading health and well-being companies

27 Sep 2012

Viewpoints: The 'real story' of Ryan at AARP; 'Get thee to an emergency room'

The headlines this weekend were all about the boos Paul Ryan elicited on Friday when he addressed the AARP, the self-styled seniors' lobby. The herd of independent media minds missed the real story, which is that the Republican Vice Presidential nominee went into the heart of the entitlement culture, told some hard truths, and even won applause for doing so.

26 Sep 2012

UC Medicine nurses to administer free flu shots to licensed taxicab drivers at O'Hare Midway

As part of an initiative to vaccinate some of Chicago's most vulnerable populations, University of Chicago Medicine nurses will administer free flu shots to licensed taxicab drivers at O'Hare International Airport on Tuesday, Sept. 25, and at Midway International Airport the following Tuesday, Oct. 2. Up to 1,000 cabbies could be vaccinated over the two days.

25 Sep 2012

Chronic respiratory disease treatments: an interview with Dr Sven Jan-Anders Karlsson, CEO of Verona Pharma

There are many different chronic respiratory diseases. Verona Pharma is mainly focused on two diseases: asthma and COPD. Asthma is a very common disease and unfortunately it has been increasing in prevalence in developed countries. This is the same with COPD; however, there may be different reasons for this.

25 Sep 2012

NanoViricides’ oral FluCide dramatically improves survival in animals with H3N2 influenza A

NanoViricides, Inc. reported today that its oral FluCide drug candidates demonstrated dramatically improved survival in animals administered a lethal dose of the H3N2 influenza A virus.

24 Sep 2012

Global trade pressures may heighten disease incidence

The pressures of global trade may heighten disease incidence by dictating changes in land use. A boom in disease-carrying ticks and chiggers has followed the abandonment of rice cultivation in Taiwanese paddies, say ecologist Chi-Chien Kuo and colleagues, demonstrating the potential for global commodities pricing to drive the spread of infections.

24 Sep 2012

Compelling data from two ITS Flunisyn Phase I clinical trials against multiple strains of influenza A

Immune Targeting Systems Limited, an emerging leader in the development of vaccines that promote T-cell responses against viruses and cancers, today announces compelling data from two Phase I clinical trials of FlunisynTM, the Company's lead vaccine programme which elicits potent immune responses against multiple strains of influenza-A virus.

18 Sep 2012

Scientists solve co-crystal structure of human antibody that can neutralize influenza viruses

Scientists from The Scripps Research Institute and Sea Lane Biotechnologies have solved the co-crystal structure of a human antibody that can neutralize influenza viruses in a unique way.

17 Sep 2012

Jennerex Phase 2 JX-594 clinical data for hepatocellular carcinoma presented at ILCA meeting

Jennerex, Inc., a private, clinical-stage biotherapeutics company focused on the development and commercialization of first-in-class targeted oncolytic immunotherapies, presented Phase 2 clinical data of JX-594 delivered first intravenously and subsequently through intra-tumoral route demonstrating safety as well as disease control and tumor responses in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (liver cancer, HCC).

17 Sep 2012

Pam2Cys nasal spray may be useful agent against pandemics and emerging viral strains

In an advance toward development of a nasal spray that protects against infection with influenza and spread of the disease, scientists are reporting identification of a substance that activates the first-line defense system against infection inside the nose. They describe effects of a synthetic form of a natural substance found in bacterial cell walls in ACS' journal Molecular Pharmaceutics.

13 Sep 2012