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 strain of bird flu poses pandemic threat

The World Health Organization (WHO) is calling the new strain of H7H9 influenza virus "lethal" and The University of Kansas Hospital is preparing now for any potential cases.

26 Apr 2013

New information on mitigating spread of infection from flu viruses

Pandemic flu continues to threaten public health, especially in the wake of the recent emergence of an H7N9 low pathogenic avian influenza strain in humans.

25 Apr 2013

H7N9 flu virus found to transmit from birds to humans but not person-to-person

Scientists in China have confirmed for the first time that the influenza A H7N9 virus has transmitted from birds—specifically, chicken at a wet poultry market—to humans, according to an Article published Online First in The Lancet.

25 Apr 2013

Editorial, opinion piece respond to Supreme Court case challenging anti-prostitution pledge

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday heard a case -- AOSI v. USAID -- challenging a 2003 federal statute that requires non-profit organizations to adopt an "anti-prostitution policy" in order to receive federal funding for HIV/AIDS programs abroad, on the grounds that it violates the First Amendment.

24 Apr 2013

World must be better prepared for potential pandemics

"In China an influenza virus never before seen in people had, as The Economist went to press, infected at least 82 and killed 17. Meanwhile a new type of coronavirus, the family that brought severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), is festering in the Middle East," an editorial in the magazine states.

23 Apr 2013

DNAzymes, gold nanoparticles and disease detection: an interview with Dr Chan and Kyryl Zagorovsky, University of Toronto

Gold nanoparticles are tiny spherical particles made out of gold atoms with sizes on nanometre scale. This is around 1,000 times smaller than the thickness of human hair.

23 Apr 2013

SynCon universal H1N1 influenza vaccine generates protective antibody levels in phase 1 study

Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced today that its SynCon universal H1N1 influenza vaccine generated protective antibody levels comparable to a current FDA-approved seasonal influenza vaccine against a currently circulating influenza strain.

19 Apr 2013

Romark Laboratories starts NT-300 Phase 3 trial for treatment of acute uncomplicated influenza

Romark Laboratories announced that it has begun enrolling patients in a global Phase 3 clinical trial of NT-300 (nitazoxanide) for treatment of acute uncomplicated influenza.

19 Apr 2013

Clinical data of EV71 vaccine for prevention of HFMD presented at World Vaccine Congress & Expo

Sinovac Biotech Ltd., a leading provider of vaccines in China, announced today that Fengcai Zhu, Deputy Director of the Jiangsu Provincial Center for Disease Prevention and Control, presented data regarding Sinovac's proprietary enterovirus 71 ("EV71") vaccine against hand, foot and mouth disease at the 13th Annual World Vaccine Congress & Expo, taking place from April 16-18, 2013, in Washington D.C.

19 Apr 2013

New assays are effective in managing patients with influenza virus infection

Over 40,000 people die each year in the United States from influenza-related diseases. In patients whose immune systems are compromised, antiviral therapy may be life-saving, but it needs to be initiated quickly. It is therefore crucial to diagnose and type the influenza rapidly.

18 Apr 2013

New issue of GHD-NET's Health & Foreign Policy Bulletin available online

The March 2013 issue (.pdf) of the Global Health Diplomacy Network's (GHD-NET) Health & Foreign Policy Bulletin is now available online.

18 Apr 2013

IDRI, Medicago announce positive Phase I clinical trial results for avian flu pandemic vaccine

IDRI, a Seattle-based non-profit research organization that is a leading developer of adjuvants used in vaccines combating infectious disease, and Medicago Inc., a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing highly effective and competitive vaccines based on proprietary manufacturing technologies and Virus-Like Particles, today reported positive interim results from a Phase I clinical trial for an H5N1 Avian Influenza VLP vaccine candidate.

18 Apr 2013

Study: Half of Tamiflu prescriptions during 2009-10 influenza pandemic went unused in England

A new study concludes that approximately half of the prescriptions of Tamiflu during the 2009-10 influenza pandemic went unused in England.

18 Apr 2013

Flunisyn Phase 2a trial data shows positive results in elderly population

Following the widely publicised US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report in February that the current season's flu vaccine is only 9% effective in the over-65 population, Immune Targeting Systems Limited, today announces positive data from a Phase 2a trial with the Company's lead pan-strain influenza A T-cell vaccine, Flunisyn, in the elderly population.

17 Apr 2013

Reports of H7N9 cases, deaths continue from across China

"Two more people have died in China from a new strain of bird flu, raising the death toll from the virus to 13, state media reported Sunday," the Associated Press reports.

16 Apr 2013

Published report describes 3 cases of H7N9; Researchers developing quick test, vaccine

A new report by a team of Chinese researchers describing the cases of three people who died of the H7N9 avian flu strain in China "was published Thursday in the New England Journal of Medicine along with a commentary from American health officials, who said the disease 'raises many urgent questions and global public health concerns,'" the New York Times reports.

15 Apr 2013

Genetic analysis of H7N9 portrays that virus evolves to adapt to human cells

A genetic analysis of the avian flu virus responsible for at least nine human deaths in China portrays a virus evolving to adapt to human cells, raising concern about its potential to spark a new global flu pandemic.

15 Apr 2013

New tool to identify air travelers with infectious disease developed

Researchers have developed a simple new tool to help governments worldwide decide whether to screen airplane passengers leaving or arriving from areas of infectious disease outbreaks.

11 Apr 2013

Study reveals high blood pressure and obesity are no longer confined to wealthy countries

High blood pressure and obesity are no longer confined to wealthy countries, a new study has found. These health risks have traditionally been associated with affluence, and in 1980, they were more prevalent in countries with a higher income.

10 Apr 2013

More research needed to measure impact of co-infections on hospital admission

A study at Rhode Island Hospital has found that despite complications, patients co-infected with the pandemic 2009-2010 influenza A H1N1 (pH1N1) and a second respiratory virus were not associated with worse outcomes or admission to the hospital's intensive care unit.

10 Apr 2013

Pandemic News and Research

Further Reading

New strain of bird flu poses pandemic threat

New information on mitigating spread of infection from flu viruses

H7N9 flu virus found to transmit from birds to humans but not person-to-person

Editorial, opinion piece respond to Supreme Court case challenging anti-prostitution pledge

World must be better prepared for potential pandemics

DNAzymes, gold nanoparticles and disease detection: an interview with Dr Chan and Kyryl Zagorovsky, University of Toronto

SynCon universal H1N1 influenza vaccine generates protective antibody levels in phase 1 study

Romark Laboratories starts NT-300 Phase 3 trial for treatment of acute uncomplicated influenza

Clinical data of EV71 vaccine for prevention of HFMD presented at World Vaccine Congress & Expo

New assays are effective in managing patients with influenza virus infection

New issue of GHD-NET's Health & Foreign Policy Bulletin available online

IDRI, Medicago announce positive Phase I clinical trial results for avian flu pandemic vaccine

Study: Half of Tamiflu prescriptions during 2009-10 influenza pandemic went unused in England

Flunisyn Phase 2a trial data shows positive results in elderly population

Reports of H7N9 cases, deaths continue from across China

Published report describes 3 cases of H7N9; Researchers developing quick test, vaccine

Genetic analysis of H7N9 portrays that virus evolves to adapt to human cells

New tool to identify air travelers with infectious disease developed

Study reveals high blood pressure and obesity are no longer confined to wealthy countries

More research needed to measure impact of co-infections on hospital admission

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