Cold, Flu & Cough News and Research

Latest Cold, Flu & Cough News and Research

Vaccination with irradiated Listeria induced protective T cell immunity

Vaccines made with bacteria killed by gamma irradiation, rather than by standard methods of heat or chemical inactivation, may be more effective, say researchers.

26 Jul 2006

GSK reports significant advance in H5N1 pandemic flu vaccine programme

GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) today announced headline data showing that its H5N1 pandemic flu vaccine achieved a high immune response at a low dose of antigen.

26 Jul 2006

Breakdown of disease caused by UV radiation

Ultraviolet radiation from the sun causes a considerable global disease burden, including specific cancers, a new World Health Organization (WHO) report finds.

25 Jul 2006

Lassa fever reported in Germany

German health authorities have reported to WHO an imported case of Lassa fever, confirmed by laboratory tests at the Bernhard-Nocht-Institute of Tropical Medicine, Hamburg, Germany.

25 Jul 2006

Global early warning system for zoonoses launched

A global early warning system for animal diseases transmissible to humans (zoonoses) was formally launched this week by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) and the World Health Organization (WHO).

24 Jul 2006

Most women at high risk for breast cancer do not increase their life expectancy by taking the drug tamoxifen

Tamoxifen is an extraordinarily expensive cancer-prevention strategy, costing as much as $1.3 million per year of life saved.

24 Jul 2006

Antibiotics should not used to treat a runny nose

Antibiotics should not be given to patients with acute purulent rhinitis (a runny nose with coloured discharge), a familiar feature of the common cold, concludes a study published on the British Medical Journal website.

21 Jul 2006

Research offers new hope in helping elderly fight infections

Thousands of infections could be prevented each year in older people and hospital stays reduced following findings from two studies which show that imbalances in the immune systems of people aged over 65 make them more prone to illnesses like flu or bacterial infections as a result of cuts and falls.

21 Jul 2006

Neuraminidase inhibitors for preventing and treating influenza in healthy adults

A class of drugs commonly used to treat typical influenza symptoms such as fever, headache and cough do not prevent people from becoming infected with the flu virus.

19 Jul 2006

Vaccines for preventing influenza in the elderly

Although national and international health organizations urge anyone over age 65 to get yearly flu shots, the vaccinations are only modestly effective in preventing flu and its complications among older adults, according to a new review of recent studies.

19 Jul 2006

Humidified air inhalation for treating croup

For decades, parents and pediatricians have relied on humid air to relieve the barking cough and noisy breathing of croup, a common childhood condition that sometimes sends worried families to the emergency room.

19 Jul 2006

Highly active antiretroviral therapies associated with reduced infections in HIV-infected children

Since the introduction of highly active antiretroviral therapies, there has been a substantial reduction of opportunistic infections and other infections in HIV-infected children, such as pneumonia and tuberculosis.

19 Jul 2006

The fight against zoonotic pathogens around the world

At the beginning of 2006 bird flu was the main topic in the media.

19 Jul 2006

India develops local bird flu vaccine

Officials in India say they have successfully produced a vaccine against bird flu in poultry.

17 Jul 2006

Secrets of cells revealed

With the advancement of technology we are managing to see ever smaller and smaller pieces of the puzzle that is life.

17 Jul 2006

Indonesia struggles as death toll from bird flu reaches 42

The death of a 44-year-old man four days ago from bird flu has put Indonesia on a par with Vietnam when it comes to confirmed human deaths from the deadly virus.

17 Jul 2006

Suspect chicken smuggled in from China may have been eaten

Health officials in Michigan in the U.S. are working to track down frozen Chinese poultry smuggled into the United States and found in a warehouse in Oakland County.

13 Jul 2006

Defra invites tenders for avian influenza vaccine

Tenders to supply a further 10 million doses of avian influenza vaccine for potential use in poultry and other captive birds have been welcomed by Defra.

13 Jul 2006

NIAID program aims to model immune responses and key infectious diseases

A new program at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) aims to better understand the complex biochemical networks that regulate the interactions between infectious organisms and the human or animal cells they infect.

12 Jul 2006

Being a whistle-blower in China could mean going to jail

According to Chinese media sources a farmer who reported bird flu outbreaks to the central government has been jailed for three-and-a-half years for fraud and blackmail.

12 Jul 2006