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.

Rutgers School of Nursing takes lead in $6 million nationwide effort to prevent new HIV infections

Rutgers School of Nursing is taking the lead in a $6 million nationwide effort to greatly reduce new HIV infections - a battle complicated by both the aging of career HIV health care professionals and a failure to engage all people living with HIV into treatment.

19 Oct 2015

New national report on use of antiviral drugs to treat, prevent influenza

A major new national report into the use of antiviral drugs (neuraminidase inhibitors) to treat and prevent influenza has drawn heavily on two pieces of research undertaken at The University of Nottingham.

9 Oct 2015

UIC selected as one of six research centers to help control infectious diseases in health facilities

The University of Illinois at Chicago has been selected as one of six research centers in the U.S. to help develop a comprehensive new strategy to control Ebola and other emerging infectious diseases in health facilities.

6 Oct 2015

Missouri schools underprepared for pandemics, natural disasters and bioterrorism attacks

Missouri schools are no more prepared to respond to pandemics, natural disasters, and bioterrorism attacks than they were in 2011, according to a study published in the October issue of the American Journal of Infection Control, the official publication of the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology.

6 Oct 2015

BiondVax to begin Phase IIb clinical trial of universal influenza vaccine in Europe

BiondVax Pharmaceuticals Ltd. announced today that it received regulatory clearance from the Hungarian Regulatory Authority (National Institute of Pharmacology and Nutrition, OGYEI) and the Central Ethics Committee in Budapest to initiate a Phase IIb clinical trial. The initiation meeting was scheduled for today, September 30, 2015, together with the partners from the UNISEC European Consortium.

30 Sep 2015

Soft palate study reveals how flu viruses acquire the ability to move between people

National Institutes of Health scientists and their colleagues identified a previously unappreciated role for the soft palate during research to better understand how influenza (flu) viruses acquire the ability to move efficiently between people.

26 Sep 2015

H7N9 influenza vaccine failure may be due to immune camouflage, study reveals

The avian influenza A (H7N9) virus has been a major concern since the first outbreak in China in 2013. Due to its high rate of lethality and pandemic potential, H7N9 vaccine development has become a priority for public health officials. However, candidate vaccines have failed to elicit the strong immune responses necessary to protect from infection.

25 Sep 2015

Soft palate plays key role in viruses' ability to spread

Flu viruses come in many strains, and some are better equipped than others to spread from person to person. Scientists have now discovered that the soft palate -- the soft tissue at the back of the roof of the mouth -- plays a key role in viruses' ability to travel through the air from one person to another.

24 Sep 2015

Novel mechanism may help explain the virulence of 1918 'Spanish' flu

While yearly outbreaks of flu kill about 250,000 to 500,000 people worldwide, the 1918 "Spanish" flu infected one-third of the world's population and killed 50 million to 100 million. Chad Petit, Ph.D., assistant professor in the University of Alabama at Birmingham Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, has discovered a novel mechanism for one 1918 flu virus protein that may help explain the virulence of that unusually deadly pandemic.

23 Sep 2015

New technology may allow mass production of flu vaccines

Vaccines to protect against an avian influenza pandemic as well as seasonal flu may be mass produced more quickly and efficiently using technology described today (Sept. 2) by researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in the journal Nature Communications.

3 Sep 2015

Volatile anesthetics may combat viral and bacterial infections in the lung

In use for more than a century, inhaled anesthetics like nitrous oxide and halothane have made modern surgery possible. Now, in experiments in mice, researchers at Johns Hopkins and elsewhere have added to evidence that certain so-called "volatile" anesthetics -- commonly used during surgeries -- may also possess powerful effects on the immune system that can combat viral and bacterial infections in the lung, including influenza and pneumonia.

2 Sep 2015

Researchers discover new hepatitis A-like virus in seals

Scientists in the Center for Infection and Immunity at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health have discovered a new virus in seals that is the closest known relative of the human hepatitis A virus. The finding provides new clues on the emergence of hepatitis A.

26 Aug 2015

Social and environmental processes linked to 2009 H1N1 pandemic outbreaks in Mexico

Scientists studying the 2009 A/H1N1 influenza pandemic have found that the inconsistent regional timing of pandemic waves in Mexico was the result of interactions between school breaks and regional variations in humidity.

21 Aug 2015

NIAID exercises option to advance development of Soligenix's heat stabilized ricin toxin vaccine

Soligenix, Inc., a late-stage biopharmaceutical company developing products that address unmet medical needs in the areas of inflammation, oncology and biodefense, announced today that the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases has exercised its option to advance the development of Soligenix's heat stabilized ricin toxin vaccine, RiVax.

19 Aug 2015

Researchers discover way to prevent flu infection without any help from the virus

Researchers have discovered a way to trigger a preventive response to a flu infection without any help from the usual players - the virus itself or interferon, a powerful infection fighter.

12 Aug 2015

Sinovac Biotech releases results of 2015 Annual General Meeting of Shareholders held in Beijing, PRC

Sinovac Biotech Ltd., a leading provider of biopharmaceutical products in China, today announced the results of the Company's 2015 Annual General Meeting of Shareholders held on Tuesday, August 11, 2015 in Beijing, PRC.

11 Aug 2015

Simple web-based programme to encourage handwashing reduces risk of respiratory tract infections

A web-based programme to encourage more frequent handwashing reduces the risk of catching and passing on respiratory tract infections to other household members, a randomised trial of more than 16,000 UK households published in The Lancet has found.

10 Aug 2015

BD reports adjusted revenues of $3.133 billion for third fiscal quarter 2015

BD (Becton, Dickinson and Company), a leading global medical technology company, today reported quarterly adjusted revenues of $3.133 billion for the third fiscal quarter ended June 30, 2015, an increase of 45.2 percent over the prior-year period as reported, or 55.6 percent on a currency-neutral basis. On a comparable, currency-neutral basis, adjusted revenues grew 2.4 percent. As reported, revenues were $3.120 billion.

From BD (Becton, Dickinson and Company) 6 Aug 2015

Northwestern gets $17.5 million NIH grant to invent, develop implantable drug delivery system for HIV prevention

Northwestern Medicine scientists have received a five-year, $17.5 million grant from the National Institutes of Health for an interdisciplinary project that aims to invent, develop and test an implantable drug delivery system to protect high-risk individuals from HIV infection for up to a year at a time.

4 Aug 2015

Commission on Global Health Risk Framework for the Future holds first public meeting

Over the past 15 years, outbreaks of Ebola, Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS), severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), and H1N1 have demonstrated the lack of an adequate local and global health system infrastructure to prevent or mitigate the systemic burdens that result from infectious disease incidents of international significance.

29 Jul 2015