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.

Clinton expected to urge U.S., other countries to intensify HIV/AIDS prevention efforts in speech on Tuesday

In a speech to be delivered at the NIH, "Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is expected to call Tuesday for a new push by the U.S. and other countries to harness recent science to stem the HIV/AIDS pandemic," the Wall Street Journal reports.

9 Nov 2011

Encouraging results from SEEK's FLU-v Phase II study

SEEK, a leading UK privately-owned drug-discovery group, today announced encouraging results following the successful completion of its Universal Flu Vaccine Phase II challenge study.

7 Nov 2011

MRSA co-infection increases risk of flu-related mortality among children

During the 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic, many previously healthy children became critically ill, developing severe pneumonia and respiratory failure, sometimes fatal. The largest nationwide investigation to date of influenza in critically ill children, led by Children's Hospital Boston, found one key risk factor: Simultaneous infection with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) increased the risk for flu-related mortality 8-fold among previously healthy children.

7 Nov 2011

Researchers identify compound that inhibits viral replication

Broad-spectrum antibiotics, which are active against a whole range of bacterial pathogens, have been on the market for a long time. Comparably versatile drugs to treat viral diseases, on the other hand, have remained elusive. Using a new approach, research teams led by Dr. Albrecht von Brunn of LMU Munich and Professor Christian Drosten from the University of Bonn have identified a compound that inhibits the replication of several different viruses, including the highly aggressive SARS virus that is responsible for severe acute respiratory syndrome.

29 Oct 2011

Scientists identify nicotinamidase enzyme as new drug target for Leishmaniasis

IRD scientist and their research partners recently identified the key role of nicotinamidase, an enzyme in the parasite Leishmania, essential for its survival but which does not exist in humans. The pathogen is incapable of developing in mammals In the absence of this enzyme. Specific targeting of this enzyme could lead to more effective ways of controlling this neglected tropical disease.

29 Oct 2011

New MRSA strains are not directly descended from old ones: Study

Check into a hospital and you run the risk of infection with a methicillin-resistant strain of the bacterium Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA. But present day MRSA might have been worse if it had descended directly from a 1950s version of the bug, according to a study co-authored by Barry N. Kreiswirth, PhD, a professor at the Public Health Research Institute of UMDNJ-New Jersey Medical School, and published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

27 Oct 2011

Effectiveness of present flu vaccines may not be satisfactory: Study

According to a report published online October 25 in The Lancet Infectious Diseases there are gaps in the evidence for the effectiveness of licensed influenza vaccines in the United States. Individuals who are at risk for medical complications or people who are aged 65 years or older are especially affected by the gaps, the researchers write.

26 Oct 2011

Rep. Lee asks Obama to take leadership role in fight against HIV/AIDS

According to the Center for Global Health Policy's "Science Speaks" blog, Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) on Thursday sent a letter to President Barack Obama asking for "his leadership in launching a renewed global effort to end the AIDS pandemic on World AIDS Day, December 1."

18 Oct 2011

UofL associate professor to create an emergency countermeasure staffing plan

Building on the success of Louisville's response to the 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic, Ruth Carrico, PhD, plans to use a $250,000 one-year cooperative agreement from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to create an emergency countermeasure staffing plan that utilizes nursing, pharmacy and public health students.

13 Oct 2011

CEL-SCI closes previously announced registered direct offering

CEL-SCI Corporation announced today that it has closed its previously announced registered direct offering for the sale of (i) 13,333,334 shares of its common stock at a price per share of $0.30 and (ii) warrants to purchase up to 12,000,000 shares of CEL-SCI Corporation's common stock at a purchase price of $0.40. The warrants may be exercised at any time prior to October 6, 2014.

7 Oct 2011

DNA primer vaccine enhances immune response to H5N1 avian influenza vaccine

The immune response to an H5N1 avian influenza vaccine was greatly enhanced in healthy adults if they were first primed with a DNA vaccine expressing a gene for a key H5N1 protein, researchers say.

4 Oct 2011

Lung immune cells orchestrate the body's repair response following flu infection

There's more than one way to mop up after a flu infection. Now, researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania report in Nature Immunology that a previously unrecognized population of lung immune cells orchestrate the body's repair response following flu infection.

4 Oct 2011

Microbiologist offers advice to guard against coming down with the flu

October marks the beginning of flu season, and once again, health care professionals are exhorting people to get a flu shot. Microbiologist John Tudor, Ph.D., professor of biology at Saint Joseph's University in Philadelphia, agrees that it's time to roll up our sleeves and offer up our arms for the vaccination.

28 Sep 2011

Lead compound activates infection-fighting REDD1 protein and kills flu strain

A compound tested by UT Southwestern Medical Center investigators destroys several viruses, including the deadly Spanish flu that killed an estimated 30 million people in the worldwide pandemic of 1918.

27 Sep 2011

Immediate action needed to curb spread of TB, especially among children

In this post in the Huffington Posts "Impact" blog, Kolleen Bouchane, director of ACTION, an international partnership of advocates working to mobilize resources to treat and prevent the spread of tuberculosis (TB), examines the need for improved TB vaccines and diagnostics in order to curb the spread of multidrug-resistant TB, especially among children, and highlights ACTION's new report.

27 Sep 2011

Asthma patients admitted to hospital with H1N1 are half as likely to die from infection

People with asthma who are admitted to hospital with pandemic influenza H1N1 (swine flu) are half as likely to die or require intensive care than those without asthma, according to new research.

26 Sep 2011

Fight against HIV losing momentum; Robust analysis needed to develop long-term strategy

"After a decade of unprecedented increases in donor funding and a corresponding 17 percent decline worldwide in the number of new infections, the fight against HIV is losing momentum," Bjorn Lomborg, director of the Copenhagen Consensus Center and an adjunct professor at Copenhagen Business School, and Peter Piot, director of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and former executive director of UNAIDS, write in this Wall Street Journal opinion piece.

23 Sep 2011

Synthetic lectins inhibit HIV from entering cells

University of Utah researchers have discovered a new class of compounds that stick to the sugary coating of the AIDS virus and inhibit it from infecting cells - an early step toward a new treatment to prevent sexual transmission of the virus.

23 Sep 2011

New microbicide may block AIDS virus from infecting cells

23 Sep 2011

Theraclone initiates TCN-032 Phase 1 trial in influenza A

Theraclone Sciences, Inc., a therapeutic antibody discovery and development company, announced today first dosing of subjects in a Phase 1 clinical trial of TCN-032, a broadly protective, fully human monoclonal antibody for the treatment of influenza A virus.

22 Sep 2011