Pandemic News and Research

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A pandemic is a global disease outbreak. During a pandemic, transmission can be anticipated in the workplace, not only from patient to workers in health care settings, but also among co-workers in general work settings. A pandemic would cause high levels of illness, death, social disruption, and economic loss. Everyday life would be disrupted because so many people in so many places become seriously ill at the same time. Impacts could range from school and business closings to the interruption of basic services such as public transportation and food delivery.

MERS virus that causes harmless cold in camels can be fatal for humans

What causes only a harmless cold in camels can be fatal for humans: an infection with the MERS virus. Since its discovery in 2012, the virus was detected in approximately 2,000 patients and 36 percent of them have not survived the severe lung disease known as MERS.

22 Nov 2018

Scientists say worst year to be alive was 536 AD

Human history has seen its ups and downs and researchers have questioned the worst year for humans to be alive in. It could be the years of the flu pandemic or that of the Black Death or even the years of the Holocaust.

21 Nov 2018

In-hospital mortality higher among patients with drug-resistant infections

In one of the largest studies to measure the burden of antibiotic resistance in a low- or middle-income country, researchers at the Center for Disease Dynamics, Economics & Policy report that in-hospital mortality is significantly higher among patients infected with multi-drug resistant or extensively drug resistant pathogens including Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae and Acinetobacter baumannii.

17 Nov 2018

Study finds why obesity both fuels cancer growth and helps immunotherapy to kill tumors

A groundbreaking new study by UC Davis researchers has uncovered why obesity both fuels cancer growth and allows blockbuster new immunotherapies to work better against those same tumors.

13 Nov 2018

Common bacteria that cause foodborne diseases found to be resistant to antibiotics

Brazil's Ministry of Health received reports of 11,524 outbreaks of foodborne diseases between 2000 and 2015, with 219,909 individuals falling sick and 167 dying from the diseases in question.

9 Nov 2018

House Dems in new seats of power will steer health policy, attack drug prices

For the first time since passing the Affordable Care Act, Democrats will soon control the House of Representatives and its powerful health committees. But Republicans' tightened grip on the Senate means those hoping for another round of dramatic, progressive reforms may be disappointed.

7 Nov 2018

Molecular virologist uses basic science to fight influenza

Molecular virologist Chad Petit, Ph.D., uses basic science to fight influenza -- through experiments at the atomic level.

3 Nov 2018

New study to evaluate human immune system's response to influenza

The key to lasting protection against influenza may be in your bones. The cells that naturally protect you against illness originate and live in your bone marrow - and that is one spot where scientists will be looking to understand the human immune system's response to influenza in a groundbreaking new study led by the Human Vaccines Project.

1 Nov 2018

Influenza virus can evolve resistance to experimental antiviral drug

The influenza virus can evolve resistance to an anti-flu drug currently in development for use in pandemics but only if there are multiple genetic mutations, a study has found.

25 Oct 2018

Emergex completes toxicology testing on gold nanoparticle carrier system for vaccine platform

Emergex Vaccines Holding Limited, a biotechnology company pioneering a new approach to synthetic vaccine development in the field of infectious diseases, today announces the successful completion of preclinical toxicology testing on the gold nanoparticle carrier system that forms the fundamental basis for Emergex's entire infectious disease vaccine platform.

24 Oct 2018

Simple, inexpensive test quickly detects antibiotic-resistant 'superbugs'

When you get sick, you want the right treatment fast. But certain infectious microbes are experts at evading the very anti-bacterial drugs designed to fight them.

16 Oct 2018

NIR spectroscopy could be used to make flu vaccine manufacturing faster and more efficient

Recent research from North Carolina State University outlines how near-infrared spectroscopy could be used to make cell-culture-based flu vaccine manufacturing faster and more efficient.

11 Oct 2018

15 promising technologies that could limit global catastrophic biological risks

Strategic investment in 15 promising technologies could help make the world better prepared and equipped to prevent future infectious disease outbreaks from becoming catastrophic events.

10 Oct 2018

New research projects aim to stop spread of African swine fever and prevent outbreak in the U.S.

African swine fever virus threatens to devastate the swine industry and is positioned to spread throughout Asia. The virus has spread throughout the Caucuses region of Eastern Europe and was reported in China in August. It recently was detected in wild boar in Belgium.

10 Oct 2018

Vaxart to present new data from Phase 2 Challenge Study of H1 influenza oral tablet vaccine

Vaxart, Inc., a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing oral recombinant vaccines that are administered by tablet rather than by injection, announced it will present new data from the Phase 2 Challenge Study of its H1 influenza oral tablet vaccine at IDWeek 2018 in San Francisco on Saturday, October 6, 2018.

4 Oct 2018

HyFly research project aims to break chains of infection and prevent pandemics

Global air travel isn't restricted to people and goods - infectious agents, too, can make their way on board as unwelcome passengers and travel great distances within a matter of hours.

1 Oct 2018

Ethicon demonstrates commitment to improve access to life-changing obesity treatment

Ethicon, part of Johnson & Johnson Medical Devices Companies, demonstrates its commitment to improving access to life-changing obesity treatment and putting the most appropriate surgical tools in surgeons hands at the 23rd World Congress of the International Federation for the Surgery of Obesity and Metabolic Diseases.

29 Sep 2018

October 1918 marks the centenary of Spanish Flu that claimed more lives than World War I

JUST as the cataclysmic conflict of the Great War was in its death throes, a new killer emerged that would, on a global scale, be even more lethal - the Spanish Flu pandemic, which was at its most virulent in October and November 1918.

24 Sep 2018

Old letters provide insight into Spanish flu pandemic horror

An archive of letters written by those who survived the Spanish flu pandemic at the start of the last century shows what it was actually like to live during that time. The Spanish flu pandemic killed over 250,000 people in Britain alone and worldwide it wiped out a population of over 100 million.

23 Sep 2018

Emergex signs MoU with Brazil’s Fiocruz for development of viral vaccines

Emergex Vaccines Holding Limited, a biotechnology company pioneering a new approach to synthetic vaccine development in the field of infectious diseases, today announces that it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Brazil-based Oswaldo Cruz Foundation 'Fiocruz' for the development of viral vaccines.

20 Sep 2018