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Chinese man dies of bird flu

A 39 year old Chinese bus driver tested positive for the H5N1 bird flu virus and died Saturday in a city bordering Hong Kong. According to health officials this is the country’s first reported case of the disease in humans in 18 months.

2 Jan 2012

Gloomy on Twitter?

A team of mathematicians from the University of Vermont analyzed 4.6 billion Twitter messages worldwide over 33 months. They assigned happiness grades to more than 10,000 of the most common words, crunched all the numbers and plotted them on a graph that shows a gradual downward slope of happiness during the past year and a half or so, through mid-September.

27 Dec 2011

Survey finds main reasons for resistance to new airport security scanners

Roughly one-quarter of Americans say they would refuse a full body scan using new airport body scanners and 14.9 percent said new airport security measures have them concerned for their health, according to the Thomson Reuters-NPR Health Poll.

26 Dec 2011

TheraBiogen launches Social Media campaign

TheraBiogen, Inc., a manufacturer and distributor of homeopathic nasal sprays for aiding in the relief of allergies, cold and flu symptoms and migraine headaches, announced today the launch of its Social Media campaign as part of its ongoing product marketing program.

26 Dec 2011

Federal officials seek to keep details on bird flu study secret

A federal board has asked two scientific journals to restrict access to details of a genetic study of the bird flu in which researchers altered the virus to be more easily transmittable between humans.

23 Dec 2011

BBC News Magazine examines antiviral drug research

BBC News Magazine examines an antiviral drug called Draco, developed by Todd Rider, a research scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, "which has proven successful against all 15 viruses to which it has been applied in lab trials with human tissue and mice," including "the common cold, H1N1 or swine flu, a polio virus, dengue fever, and the notorious and fatal Ebola virus."

23 Dec 2011

Walgreen expecting sharp drop in prescription business

A contract dispute with pharmacy benefit manager Express Scripts is likely to cut the number of drugs Walgreen will sell.

23 Dec 2011

Longer looks: Manufacturing killer flu; The ironies of the individual mandate; When the elderly refuse help

In experiments conducted at the University of Wisconsin in Madison and Erasmus University in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, researchers engineered a strain of H5N1. … The next logical step would be for the researchers to publish studies in major scientific journals, describing the newly created flu, including its genetic makeup.

23 Dec 2011

First Edition: December 22, 2011

Today's early morning highlights from the major news organizations, including articles on the Capitol Hill stalemate that threatens to cut Medicare payments to doctors and government efforts to keep details of a research experiment on bird flu secret.

22 Dec 2011

U.S. Science Advisory Board asks Science, Nature to omit data from bird flu studies amid security concerns

The U.S. National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity on "Tuesday asked two scientific journals to leave out data from research studies on a lab-made version of bird flu that could spread more easily to humans, fearing it could be used as a potential weapon," Reuters reports.

22 Dec 2011

Tips to keep your heart happy and healthy during holiday season

'Tis the season to be jolly and heart healthy. "It is common for us to see an increase in heart-related issues, particularly around Christmas and New Year's," said Brandon Stacey, M.D., a cardiologist at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center. "It is important to know that if you experience any chest pain or discomfort, seek immediate medical attention or call 911."

22 Dec 2011

Virus with potential for bioterrorism created – Experts worried

Two major scientific journals are debating on whether to publish details of a man-made mutant flu virus that could kill billions, after a US government's science advisory committee advised them to withhold key details.

21 Dec 2011

Top-line results from Genzyme's teriflunomide and Rebif Phase III comparison trial on RMS

Genzyme, a Sanofi company, today reported top-line results from TENERE, a Phase III clinical trial comparing the effectiveness, safety and tolerability of once-daily oral teriflunomide to interferon beta-1a, an approved injectable therapy, in people with relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis.

20 Dec 2011

Statins linked with reduced risk of death among hospitalized flu patients

The two main ways to prevent and control influenza today are annual immunization and antiviral drugs. A team of investigators has found that statins, cholesterol-lowering drugs, may offer an additional treatment to complement these approaches and reduce mortality among patients hospitalized with influenza.

14 Dec 2011

Mandatory vaccination policy increases healthcare worker flu vaccination rates

A California hospital raised its employee influenza vaccination rate above 90 percent by shifting from a voluntary vaccination program to one mandating all healthcare workers either get vaccinated or wear a mask at work for the entire flu season (December through March).

13 Dec 2011

Book on hot health topics

The intersection of health care, politics and policy is a controversial one. A new book of lively essays takes on all of today's hot health topics: alternative medicine, swine flu, health care reform, screening mammograms, taxes to decrease soda consumption, gun control and many more.

13 Dec 2011

Study describes new method that synthesizes novel anti-HIV protein

The most abundant and important molecules in all living organisms are proteins; after all they manage to participate in every single one of life's essential reactions. So it is easy to see why scientists have been making such a fuss trying to learn how to synthesise them in laboratory as this would provide them with a tool of extraordinary potential. Unfortunately, this has not proved easy.

13 Dec 2011

Parents blame swine flu vaccine for son’s narcolepsy

A six year old boy’s parents have claimed that he developed narcolepsy after a swine flu vaccination. Caroline Hadfield said son Josh lost muscle control and started sleeping up to 19 hours a day three weeks after being given Pandemrix nearly two years ago.

12 Dec 2011

New findings from Micromet's blinatumomab phase 1 trial on DLBCL

New findings from a phase 1 trial presented yesterday at the 53rd Annual American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting demonstrate Micromet's blinatumomab induces durable responses in patients with extensively pre-treated diffuse large B cell lymphoma.

12 Dec 2011

Experimental sublingual vaccine shows promise against influenza infection

Scientists from the International Vaccine Institute (IVI) have discovered that an antigen common to most influenza viruses, and commonly referred to as matrix protein 2 (M2), when administered under the tongue could protect mice against experimental infection caused by various influenza viruses, including the highly pathogenic avian H5 virus and the pandemic H1 ("swine flu") virus.

9 Dec 2011