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.

Myths about drive-thru influenza immunization clinics

Critics have pointed to fainting risks and subsequent auto accidents as reasons for concern when using drive-thru influenza immunization clinics, according to Ruth Carrico, PhD, RN, FSHEA, CIC, associate professor, division of infectious diseases, University of Louisville School of Medicine.

6 Jul 2012

Longer looks: The man behind the 'Personhood' crusade; Atul Gawande on SCOTUS; 'No One Dies Alone' program

In the four years since Mason launched the pro-life group Personhood USA, he has been crisscrossing the country to convince voters that the best way to overturn Roe v. Wade, the ruling that legalized abortion, is to define human embryos as people from the moment of fertilization. ... Mason, the man at the heart of the maelstrom, is part preacher, part hipster.

6 Jul 2012

First Edition: July 5, 2012

Early morning highlights from the major news organizations, including articles on Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney's statement that the health law individual mandate is a tax.

5 Jul 2012

WSU researcher looks for clues on link between H1N1 flu and obesity

The recent H1N1 flu pandemic was found to be particularly dangerous to obese people, and a Wayne State University researcher is looking for clues as to why.

3 Jul 2012

Research highlights three factors that could determine outbreak of pandemic flu

A major collaboration between US research centers has highlighted three factors that could ultimately determine whether an outbreak of influenza becomes a serious epidemic that threatens national health. The research suggests that the numbers in current response plans could be out by a factor of two or more depending on the characteristics of the particular pandemic influenza.

3 Jul 2012

FHIT announces strategic partnership with LecturePad

Foundation for Health Improvement and Technology (FHIT), has announced a strategic partnership with LecturePad.org, an education web portal for continuous professional development.

2 Jul 2012

Scientists discover new gene in the influenza virus

Scientists have discovered a new gene in the influenza virus that helps the virus control the body's response to infection.

29 Jun 2012

Swine-flu deaths far greater than reported

The true number of deaths from the 2009 H1N1 “swine flu” pandemic may be 15 times higher than the number confirmed by laboratory testing and previously reported to the World Health Organization, study findings indicate.

28 Jun 2012

Efforts to fight illegal drugs contributing to spread of HIV, report says

The Global Commission on Drug Policy (GCDP) on Tuesday published a report titled "The War on Drugs and HIV/AIDS: How the Criminalization of Drug Use Fuels the Global Pandemic," which "condemns the drug war as a failure and recommends immediate, major reforms of the global drug prohibition regime to halt the spread of HIV infection and other drug war harms," according to the report summary.

28 Jun 2012

Miriam Hospital receives NIH renewal grant to support growth of Lifespan/Tufts/Brown CFAR

The Miriam Hospital has received an $8.5 million, five-year renewal grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to support the continued growth of the Lifespan/Tufts/Brown Center for AIDS Research (CFAR).

28 Jun 2012

U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator discusses lessons learned from U.S. response to HIV/AIDS worldwide

U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator Ambassador Eric Goosby "discussed lessons learned from the U.S. response to the global HIV/AIDS epidemic over the past decade at an event hosted by the Brookings Institute Monday morning," the Center for Global Health Policy's "Science Speaks" blog reports.

27 Jun 2012

Number of fatalities from 2009 swine flu pandemic might have been 15 times higher than reported deaths, study says

In a study published on Monday in the Lancet Infectious Diseases, researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said the 2009 H1N1 swine flu pandemic likely killed about 284,500 people worldwide between August 2009 and August 2010, a number 15 times higher than the 18,500 deaths reported to the WHO, Bloomberg News reports.

27 Jun 2012

Swine flu vaccination programme a success in Scotland

The H1N1 (“Swine flu”) vaccination programme introduced in Scotland in October 2009 had a positive effect in reducing the number of hospital admissions and deaths as a result of H1N1 infection, according to an Article published Online First in The Lancet Infectious Diseases. The study was funded by the National Institute for Health Research Health Technology Assessment (NIHR HTA) programme.

26 Jun 2012

“Swine flu” deaths may be fifteen times higher than previously reported

The number of deaths from the 2009 H1N1 (“swine flu”) pandemic may be fifteen times higher than the number of laboratory-confirmed deaths previously reported by countries to the World Health Organization (WHO), according to an Article published Online First in The Lancet Infectious Diseases. While estimates of 2009 H1N1-associated deaths have been derived for some countries such as the United States, these are the first estimates of the worldwide number of deaths caused by the pandemic.

26 Jun 2012

Sinovac provides update on EV71 vaccine Phase III trial on HFMD

Sinovac Biotech Ltd., a leading provider of biopharmaceutical products in China, today provided an update on its Phase III clinical trial progress and commercialization preparation for its proprietary inactivated Enterovirus 71 (EV71) vaccine against hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD).

26 Jun 2012

Zimbabwean lawmakers take public HIV tests in campaign to fight stigma

"Zimbabwean lawmakers started taking public HIV tests on Wednesday in a campaign seeking to raise awareness and fight the stigma associated with AIDS," VOA News reports.

23 Jun 2012

U.S. journal Science publishes controversial H5N1 research

The U.S. journal Science on Thursday published the results of a controversial study in which researchers at the Erasmus Medical Center in the Netherlands "identified five mutations apparently necessary to make the [H5N1] bird flu virus spread easily among ferrets, which catch the same flus that humans do," the New York Times reports (McNeil, 6/21).

22 Jun 2012

iBio expands iBioModulator portfolio with allowance of patent for anthrax vaccines

iBio, Inc. today announced that the US Patent Office has allowed patent application 11/706,576 entitled "Bacillus anthracis Antigens, Vaccine Compositions, and Related Methods."

19 Jun 2012

VaxInnate commences VAX161 Phase I trial in pandemic avian influenza

VaxInnate Corporation today announced that enrollment has commenced in a Phase I clinical trial to evaluate VAX161, its novel H5 vaccine candidate in development for the prevention of pandemic avian influenza or bird flu. VaxInnate is a biotechnology firm pioneering breakthrough technology for developing novel vaccines.

13 Jun 2012

Biomedical engineers develop SMART detector for flu diagnosis

In April 2009, the world took notice as reports surfaced of a virus in Mexico that had mutated from pigs and was being passed from human to human. The H1N1 "swine flu," as the virus was named, circulated worldwide, killing more than 18,000 people, according to the World Health Organization. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the United States said it was the first global pandemic in more than four decades.

11 Jun 2012