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.

Emerging H7N9 virus has potential to cause a pandemic

A new study has found that a novel avian-origin H7N9 influenza A virus, which has recently emerged in humans, attaches moderately or abundantly to the epithelium of both the upper and lower respiratory tracts.

10 Sep 2013

PaxVax commences phase 3 clinical trial for single-dose oral cholera vaccine candidate

PaxVax Inc, which develops and commercializes innovative vaccines against infectious diseases in a socially responsible manner, today announced that it has commenced its Phase 3 clinical trial program for its single-dose oral cholera vaccine candidate, PXVX0200 (also known as CVD 103-HgR). Approximately 3,000 participants will be enrolled in this pivotal program, which is comprised of cholera challenge, safety, and immunogenicity studies.

7 Sep 2013

Scientists estimate minimum of 320,000 viruses in mammals

Scientists estimate that there is a minimum of 320,000 viruses in mammals awaiting discovery. Collecting evidence of these viruses, or even a majority of them, they say, could provide information critical to early detection and mitigation of disease outbreaks in humans.

3 Sep 2013

Scientists determine new strategy to estimate total viral diversity in mammals

EcoHealth Alliance, a nonprofit organization that focuses on local conservation and global health issues, and the Center for Infection and Immunity (CII) at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health announced a new strategy to identify the total number of wildlife viruses that could potentially cause emerging disease outbreaks that threaten both public and wildlife health.

3 Sep 2013

New mothers and obese people have higher risk of severe outcomes from influenza

Although up to 500,000 people world-wide die of severe influenza each year, there has been no clear evidence about who is susceptible for influenza complications and it may not be who people think, says a study from McMaster University.

28 Aug 2013

BiondVax: Priming with universal flu vaccine makes conventional bird flu vaccine effective against pandemic strains

BiondVax announced today that priming with universal flu vaccine before boosting with a conventional bird flu H5N1 vaccine (containing a single strain from Clade 1) resulted in mice exhibiting a significantly higher level of immunity to the strain contained in the conventional bird flu vaccine and in addition, broadened immunity to other H5N1 flu strains (from Clade 2).

27 Aug 2013

Best way to protect infants from influenza is to vaccinate rest of the family

A University of Sydney study has found the best way to protect children under six months of age from influenza, the most vulnerable of the population to the condition, is to vaccinate the rest of the family.

23 Aug 2013

Novartis starts shipment of 2013-2014 seasonal influenza vaccines to US customers

Novartis announced today that it has begun shipment of its seasonal influenza vaccines to customers in the US market for the 2013-2014 season. Novartis plans to ship a minimum of 30 million doses of its influenza vaccines to the US market, including Fluvirin (Influenza Virus Vaccine), approved for use in people 4 years of age and older, and Flucelvax (Influenza Virus Vaccine), approved for use in adults 18 years of age and older.

22 Aug 2013

Scientists reveal why TB is a successful pathogen

By any measure, tuberculosis is a wildly successful pathogen. It infects as many as two billion people in every corner of the world, with a new infection of a human host estimated to occur every second.

22 Aug 2013

Organizations are ill prepared for e-health implementation to respond to pandemic influenza

National and international organizations are ill-prepared to exploit e-health systems in the event of the emergence of a major pandemic disease, according to a research paper to be published in the International Journal of Biomedical Engineering and Technology.

17 Aug 2013

Study: Strain of bacteria infections in humans originally come from cattle

A strain of bacteria that causes skin and soft tissue infections in humans originally came from cattle, according to a study to be published in mBio-, the online open-access journal of the American Society for Microbiology.

13 Aug 2013

Strategy that dismantles flu viral genome in human lung cells ensures safe research

A new strategy that dismantles a viral genome in human lung cells will ensure safe research on deadly strains of influenza, say researchers from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.

13 Aug 2013

GE, UW scientists to develop new medical device for detecting infectious disease

You've heard of on-demand TV, now imagine on-demand medical diagnosis - anytime, anywhere in the world. Scientists at GE Global Research, the technology development arm of the General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE), are working with a team based at the University of Washington to develop a new medical device, the size of a pack of playing cards, that can detect infectious disease by way of a simple nasal swab, in less than an hour.

9 Aug 2013

NanoViricides, LRRI sign NDA for IND-enabling efficacy studies on FluCide drug candidates

NanoViricides, Inc. said it has signed a non-disclosure agreement with the Lovelace Respiratory Research Institute. The Company intends to enter into a Master Services Agreement with LRRI for the IND-enabling efficacy studies of both its broad-spectrum injectable and oral FluCide drug candidates.

5 Aug 2013

NCDP joins Earth Institute

The National Center for Disaster Preparedness, a research, policy and education institution that has worked for the past decade across the United States to strengthen responses to extreme weather, terrorism and other threats, has joined Columbia University's Earth Institute.

2 Aug 2013

BD reports quarterly revenues of $2.053 billion for third fiscal quarter

BD (Becton, Dickinson and Company), a leading global medical technology company, today reported quarterly revenues of $2.053 billion for the third fiscal quarter ended June 30, 2013, representing an increase of 3.6 percent from the prior-year period, or 5.1 percent on a foreign currency-neutral basis.

From BD (Becton, Dickinson and Company) 1 Aug 2013

First lots of 2013-2014 seasonal influenza vaccine released for U.S. distribution

Sanofi Pasteur, the vaccines division of Sanofi, announced today that the first lots of Fluzone (Influenza Virus Vaccine) for the 2013-2014 season have been released by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for U.S. distribution and were shipped July 24.

25 Jul 2013

WHO urges governments to act against five hepatitis viruses that cause severe liver infections

On World Hepatitis Day (28 July), the World Health Organization (WHO) is urging governments to act against the five hepatitis viruses that can cause severe liver infections and lead to 1.4 million deaths every year. Some of these hepatitis viruses, most notably types B and C, can also lead to chronic and debilitating illnesses such as liver cancer and cirrhosis, in addition to loss of income and high medical expenses for hundreds of millions of people worldwide.

24 Jul 2013

Plague detection through anti-carbohydrate antibodies could lead to rapid diagnosis

Even today, the lives of humans and animals are claimed by plague. A new antibody-based detection method can be used to reliably and sensitively identify plague in patient serum and other biological samples.

18 Jul 2013

UC Riverside study finds that married men are less likely to die of HIV/AIDS

At the height of the AIDS epidemic in the 1980s men who were married were significantly less likely to die of HIV/AIDS than their divorced or otherwise single counterparts, according to a University of California, Riverside analysis of new mortality data for that era.

15 Jul 2013