Cold, Flu & Cough News and Research

Latest Cold, Flu & Cough News and Research

Need for better flu vaccines for seniors

Each year, seasonal flu kills approximately 36,000 people in the United States, most over age 70.

25 Sep 2007

New topical lotion safely treats nail fungus without side effects

A new topical lotion that penetrates the skin deeply enough to target and eliminate serious skin infections, but without being systemically absorbed, has shown a high degree of safety and tolerability in patients with onychomycosis, or toenail fungus, a new study has shown.

25 Sep 2007

Care by a hospital-based general physician strongly associated with shorter length of hospital stay in patients

Patients at an academic medical center who are cared for by a hospital-based general physician may have a shorter length of hospital stay than those who are not, especially if the patients require close monitoring or complex discharge planning, according to a report in the September 24 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine.

25 Sep 2007

Social cheating in bacterial communication

Baseball had its steroids and Black Sox. Politics lived through Watergate. Wall Street has been riddled with insider trading scandals. And before we cast the first stone, who among us has never tried to get through an intersection on a yellow light?

25 Sep 2007

International teams fighting deadly Ebola virus in DR Congo

Another four more cases of the Ebola virus have been confirmed in the Democratic Republic of Congo, bringing the total in the country to nine to date.

24 Sep 2007

Nano device provides quick test for bird flu

A team of scientists from Singapore's Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology have come up with a new test which can quickly detect the deadly H5N1 bird flu virus.

24 Sep 2007

Trials of a new HIV vaccine come to an abrupt halt

Trials of a new HIV vaccine have come to an abrupt halt after it did not prevent volunteers from becoming infected.

24 Sep 2007

Soap and warm water best for battling Clostridium difficile

Hospitals world-wide battle nosocomial infections on a daily basis.

21 Sep 2007

Flu virus migrates globally all year round

The influenza A virus does not lie dormant during summer but migrates globally and mixes with other viral strains before returning to the Northern Hemisphere as a genetically different virus, according to biologists who say the finding settles a key debate on what the virus does during the summer off season when it is not infecting people.

21 Sep 2007

Cancer patients, spouses report similar emotional distress

A cancer diagnosis affects more than just the patient. A new study from researchers at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center finds spouses report similar physical and emotional quality of life as the patient.

21 Sep 2007

FDA expands use of influenza vaccine FluMist

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved expanding the population for use of the nasal influenza vaccine FluMist to include children between the ages of 2 and 5.

20 Sep 2007

Cases of invasive pneumococcal disease in children reduced

The number of cases of invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD) in children has fallen since the introduction of a new vaccine a year ago. Enhanced surveillance by the UK's Health Protection Agency has shown that cases of IPD caused by the seven major types of the pneumococcus bacteria which the new pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV) protects against have gone down by almost 50%.

20 Sep 2007

Discovery of cause of Job's syndrome

The rare immunodeficiency disorder known as Job's syndrome is caused by a specific genetic mutation that both overstimulates and understimulates the human immune system, leading to harmful bacterial and fungal infections and the physical features characteristic of the syndrome, according to two independent groups of scientists, one from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the other from the Tokyo Medical and Dental University.

20 Sep 2007

Pregnancy may slow AIDS progression

A new study may help put to rest fears that pregnancy accelerates progression to full-blown AIDS in women with HIV receiving antiretroviral therapy.

20 Sep 2007

Gates Foundation digs down deep for TB

The fight against the global tuberculosis (TB) epidemic has received a huge boost in the form of a $280 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

20 Sep 2007

Chinese authorities say bird flu under control

According to Chinese authorities the bird flu outbreak in southern China has now been brought under control following the culling of all poultry and other birds in the affected area.

20 Sep 2007

Sanofi Pasteur's new H5N1 vaccine shows promise

Sanofi pasteur, the vaccines division of sanofi-aventis Group, has announced data showing that its new investigational H5N1 pandemic influenza vaccine containing a proprietary adjuvant achieved a high immune response at the lowest dose of H5N1 antigen reported to date.

18 Sep 2007

Coblation VS Co2 laser for tonsil ablation in adults

New surgical procedures are being developed that could help to speed healing time and reduce pain for adult patients suffering from chronic tonsillitis.

18 Sep 2007

Moxifloxacin drug combo speeds up treatment of tuberculosis

A team of tuberculosis (TB) experts at Johns Hopkins and in Brazil have evidence that substituting the antibiotic moxifloxacin in the regimen of drugs used to treat the highly contagious form of lung disease could dramatically shorten the time needed to cure the illness from six months to four.

18 Sep 2007