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.

New technique can help predict and combat potential pandemic virus

By developing a new technique for labeling the gene segments of influenza viruses, researchers now know more about how influenza viruses enter the cell and establish cell co-infections - a major contributing factor to potential pandemic development.

5 Jul 2017

Which animal is most likely to spread the latest plague?

There are a large number of infections that are borne and carried by animals and spread to humans. These are called zoonotic diseases wherein the microbe or pathogen jumps from one species of the animals to another. Now a new study has ranked mammals based on the risk they pose to humans in terms of spreading infectious diseases to humans.

22 Jun 2017

Mutations identified that enable human transmission of avian flu

A systematic mutation analysis has shown that changes in just three amino acids of the avian influenza H7N9 virus receptor binding protein confers specificity for human cells.

16 Jun 2017

Obese people twice as likely to develop influenza despite getting flu shots

Although influenza vaccines are currently the best forms of protection to safeguard people against getting the flu, they are not effective in all cases.

6 Jun 2017

New biosensor rapidly detects tiny concentrations of influenza A virus

Researchers have developed a new, rapid biosensor for the early detection of even tiny concentrations of the human influenza A (H1N1) virus.

30 May 2017

Scientists report promising approach to combat influenza and improve survival

The influenza virus turns infected lung cells into factories that churn out thousands of copies of the virus to spread the infection. St. Jude Children's Research Hospital scientists have reported a promising new approach that uses an investigational cancer drug to dial down viral production and dramatically increase survival of flu-infected mice.

23 May 2017

Scientists develop easy-to-use diagnostic test that could rapidly detect flu

The threat of a major flu pandemic is a perennial concern. Now scientists have developed a fast and easy-to-use point-of-care diagnostic test that could one day help doctors and hospitals head off the rapid spread of the flu.

10 May 2017

Researchers use big data to assess impact of infected animal carriers in Ebola virus spread

IBM announced its researchers have used big data analytics to assess the impact of infected animal carriers, or an animal reservoir, in the spread of the Ebola virus in a way not been previously done for earlier disease models.

5 May 2017

Scientists use rooster testes to shed light on how germ cells fight viruses

Our bodies are constantly under siege by foreign invaders; viruses, bacteria and parasites that want to infiltrate our cells.

27 Apr 2017

Bacteriophages may help combat antibiotic-resistant 'superbugs'

Viruses that specifically kill bacteria, called bacteriophages, might one day help solve the growing problem of bacterial infections that are resistant to antibiotic treatment.

18 Apr 2017

Study: People with financial literacy less likely to fret about life in old age

People who possess a greater understanding of finance are less likely to fret about life in their twilight years.

17 Apr 2017

New transgenic mouse could help monitor potential dangers of emerging influenza viruses

Researchers in Germany have developed a transgenic mouse that could help scientists identify new influenza virus strains with the potential to cause a global pandemic.

10 Apr 2017

Microbiologists accurately predict evolution of HIV surface proteins using financial math models

What do particle diffusion in liquids and stock price prediction have to do with building a better HIV vaccine? According to University of Iowa microbiologist Hillel Haim, you can apply concepts from the first two to predict the evolution of HIV surface proteins, information that can then be used to design better vaccines.

7 Apr 2017

Metabolic syndrome is the new 'silent killer', warn researchers

For decades, American waistlines have been expanding and there is increasing cause for alarm. Researchers from the Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine at Florida Atlantic University make the case that metabolic syndrome -- a cluster of three of more risk factors that include abdominal obesity, high triglycerides, high blood pressure, abnormal lipids, and insulin resistance, a precursor of type 2 diabetes -- is the new "silent killer," analogous to hypertension in the 1970s.

6 Apr 2017