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Specific inflammatory pattern found in patients with pneumonia and COPD

Patients with community-acquired pneumonia on a background of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease have a different early inflammatory pattern than patients with CAP only, a prospective study shows.

29 Apr 2013

UK’s health performance: an interview with Prof. Murray, University of Washington

Rates of premature mortality in the UK have been falling steadily, but the pace of decline is not as fast as in many other high-income countries, such as Australia. In that sense, the UK lags behind.

29 Apr 2013

UAB expert offers simple strategies to tackle summer allergy season

Sneezing, wheezing and coughing are just some of the symptoms that seasonal allergies can stir up. One sinus expert at the University of Alabama at Birmingham said despite a late spring, the summer allergy season will be strong.

29 Apr 2013

Cempra demonstrates solithromycin's potential against urogenital infections at ECCMID

Cempra, Inc., a clinical-stage pharmaceutical company focused on developing differentiated antibiotics to meet critical medical needs in the treatment of bacterial infections, today announced that it will present data at the European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases in Berlin, demonstrating solithromycin's potential to treat urogenital infections and combat challenging pathogens such as enterococci and Legionella pneumophila.

29 Apr 2013

New treatment options for influenza

The flu is caused by an infection with the influenza virus, which mainly attacks the upper respiratory tract - the nose, throat and bronchi and rarely also the lungs. According to the World Health Organization, around five to 15 percent of the population are affected by upper respiratory tract infections during seasonal flu outbreaks, and between 250 000-500 000 people die of the illness every year.

29 Apr 2013

Researchers call H7N9 bird flu strain 'one of the most lethal'; first case outside China reported by Taiwan

Chinese scientists have confirmed for the first time that a new strain of bird flu that has killed 23 people in China has been transmitted to humans from chickens.

26 Apr 2013

Nature editorial, opinion piece address H7N9 virus

The journal Nature published an editorial and opinion piece on the emergence of the H7N9 avian influenza strain.

26 Apr 2013

NIAID findings provide structural basis for developing RSV vaccine

An atomic-level snapshot of a respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) protein bound to a human antibody represents a leap toward developing a vaccine for a common-and sometimes very serious-childhood disease.

26 Apr 2013

Beta blockade aids select surgery patients

Research supports the use of perioperative beta blockade in patients with cardiovascular risk factors undergoing nonvascular procedures, finding this treatment to significantly improve short-term survival.

25 Apr 2013

Protective ventilation strategy offers post-op lung benefits

Patients who receive a lung-protective ventilation strategy during abdominal surgery benefit from better respiratory function and fewer signs of infection afterward, a study finds.

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

Chinese bird flu continues to spread

The H7N9 avian influenza outbreak in China is continuing to spread, although authorities believe that the large majority of those affected did not become infected via human-to-human contact.

25 Apr 2013

ORAEs increase costs of care, hospital stays and risks of readmission and mortality, research finds

Pacira Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced the publication of findings from a retrospective analysis of more than 37,000 patients who underwent common inpatient surgeries at a large, 26-hospital healthcare system and received opioids for postsurgical pain management.

25 Apr 2013

Study: Melatonin delays symptom onset, reduces mortality in mouse model of ALS

Melatonin injections delayed symptom onset and reduced mortality in a mouse model of the neurodegenerative condition amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig's disease, according to a new study by researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.

25 Apr 2013

FDA grants orphan-drug designation to XEN402 for treatment of pain associated with EM

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. and Xenon Pharmaceuticals Inc. announced today that the US Food and Drug Administration has granted orphan-drug designation to the investigational drug XEN402 being developed for the treatment of pain associated with erythromelalgia.

24 Apr 2013

BD receives FDA approval for second prefilled injectable drug

BD Rx Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of leading global medical technology company BD, announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved the second drug to be offered in the recently launched BD Simplist line of ready-to-administer prefilled generic injectables.

From BD (Becton, Dickinson and Company) 24 Apr 2013

McGraw-Hill publishes preeminent textbook for pulmonary physiology in Lange Physiology Series

The 8th Edition of PULMONARY PHYSIOLOGY by Dr. Michael G. Levitzky, Professor of Physiology, Anesthesiology, and Cardiopulmonary Science at LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans, was published this month by McGraw-Hill in its Lange Physiology Series.

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

Health experts are turning to HIA to predict the effects of gas drilling on local communities

As natural gas development expands nationwide, policymakers, communities and public health experts are increasingly turning to health impact assessments (HIA) as a means of predicting the effects of drilling on local communities, according to a new study from the Colorado School of Public Health.

23 Apr 2013

GeneCapture developing new device with one-hour pathogen testing capabilities

A company hatched as a partnership between The University of Alabama in Huntsville and chemical engineering professor Dr. Krishnan Chittur is in the design phase for a device that can provide physicians one-hour pathogen testing capabilities.

23 Apr 2013