Flu News and Research

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KHN’S ‘What the health?’: How’s that open enrollment going?

Open enrollment for 2020 health coverage under the Affordable Care Act is halfway over. So far, sign-ups appear to be lagging behind last year’s, but not dramatically.

3 Dec 2019

Health organizations urge people to get vaccinated against the flu

Health organizations are urging people to get their flu shot soon to protect themselves during the upcoming influenza season.

28 Nov 2019

Research could help design better flu vaccines

Each year millions of Americans become sick with the flu, hundreds of thousands are hospitalized and tens of thousands die. Getting the flu shot can reduce the chances of infection. But, at best, the vaccine is only effective 40% to 60% of the time, according to the CDC.

26 Nov 2019

Research shows how gut microbes affect stomach flu

A new study shows that gut microbes can modulate the severity of norovirus infection (the stomach flu, or the winter vomiting bug), based on the gut location first affected. Published in the journal Nature Microbiology on November 25, 2019, the study indicates new possibilities to treat norovirus infection.

26 Nov 2019

KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: How’s that open enrollment going?

Open enrollment for 2020 health coverage under the Affordable Care Act is halfway over. So far, sign-ups appear to be lagging behind last year’s, but not dramatically.

26 Nov 2019

Gut microbes can tamp down or boost the severity of norovirus infection

The highly contagious norovirus causes diarrhea and vomiting and is notorious for spreading rapidly through densely populated spaces, such as cruise ships, nursing homes, schools and day care centers. Each year, it is responsible for some 200,000 deaths, mostly in the developing world.

25 Nov 2019

New antiviral drug drives treatment resistance in influenza viruses

On January 31, 2019, an 11-year old boy in Japan went to a medical clinic with a fever. The providers there diagnosed him with influenza, a strain called H3N2, and sent him home with a new medication called baloxavir.

25 Nov 2019

New flu drug makes influenza viruses develop resistance

Researchers have discovered a mutation in strains of influenza treated with a drug that makes the virus resistant to treatment.

25 Nov 2019

Decreasing inappropriate antibiotic use is key strategy to control drug resistance

Antibiotic resistance is a larger public health threat than most people realize. And, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports about half of all antibiotics in outpatient settings are incorrectly prescribed.

22 Nov 2019

Efforts to move the needle on flu shot rates get stuck

It's free and available everywhere. Yet most Americans skip the annual flu shot - with the number of dispensed vaccines barely changed in the past decade, despite government removal of cost and access obstacles.

21 Nov 2019

Influenza vaccine found to be safe for people with autoimmune neuromuscular disorders

A recent study published in Muscle & Nerve appears to show that the influenza vaccination is safe to use for those with autoimmune neuromuscular disorders.

20 Nov 2019

Ketogenic diet wards off flu, study finds

The ketogenic diet has gained immense popularity over the past years because it helps lose weight speedily, with a wide range of health benefits. Similar to the Atkins diet, the ketogenic diet may not only help people shed off extra pounds but also boosting the immune system and warding off flu.

19 Nov 2019

The startlingly high cost of the ‘free’ flu shot

In the Byzantine world of health care pricing, most people wouldn't expect that the ubiquitous flu shot could be a prime example of how the system's lack of transparency can lead to disparate costs.

19 Nov 2019

The Black Death still lurks all over the world

Beijing, the capital of the economic giant, China, is in the news currently for a far different reason – two patients have developed pneumonic plague. The patients, who hail from Inner Mongolia’s northwestern corner, are being treated at a high-level hospital there, amidst 21 million other people. The health authorities say they have put in place adequate protection and control measures to keep the plague from spreading.

17 Nov 2019