Cold, Flu & Cough News and Research

Latest Cold, Flu & Cough News and Research

New avian flu facility awards its first grant

The Avian and Human Influenza Facility, a multidonor financing mechanism administered by the World Bank, announced today that the Lao People’s Democratic Republic (PDR) was awarded a grant in the amount of US$2 million for the Avian and Human Influenza Control and Preparedness Project.

15 Aug 2006

Avian influenza update - situations in Indonesia and China

The Ministry of Health in China has confirmed the country's 21st case of human infection with the H5N1 avian influenza virus.

14 Aug 2006

Wild swans in the U.S. found to have strain of H5N1 bird flu

Officials at the Agriculture Department in the United States have found two swans in a Michigan gaming area with possibly another strain of the bird flu virus.

14 Aug 2006

Bird flu doing the rounds in Cambodia again

According to officials in Cambodia a second outbreak of bird flu has occurred there this year in southeast Prey Veng, the same province where the H5N1 virus killed a boy in April, about 20 km from the Cambodia-Vietnam border.

14 Aug 2006

Thailand finds another 46 suspected human bird-flu cases

According to health officials in Thailand another 46 people are under observation after developing symptoms similar to bird flu.

14 Aug 2006

740,000 vaccines urgently needed to control outbreak of Japanese encephalitis

According to official sources Japanese encephalitis has to date claimed 19 lives in the northern Chinese city of Yuncheng in the Shanxi province.

14 Aug 2006

Scientific breakthrough could mean greater protection for asthmatics

Colds are known to be a major trigger of asthma attacks and asthmatics are far more likely to suffer a severe attack during a cold and even end up being hospitalised.

From Asthma + Lung UK 14 Aug 2006

Recently patented technology promotes early warning of pandemics

Rapid analysis and response in the very early stages of a pandemic or bioterrorism event can sharply limit its deadly impact.

10 Aug 2006

Lebanon update from the World Health Organization

Still no fuel for hospitals and health facilities: The lack of fuel remains a grave concern. Earlier this week, WHO warned that many health facilities will not be able to function if fuel isn't delivered this week.

10 Aug 2006

USDA, DOI and state partners begin monitoring wild migratory birds in lower 48 states

Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns and Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne today announced that their departments are expanding wild bird monitoring for highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza.

9 Aug 2006

Allergies may put you more at risk of Parkinson's disease

According to researchers people who suffer from allergic rhinitis may be more at risk for Parkinson's disease later in life.

9 Aug 2006

Indonesia confirms 56th case of human infection with H5N1 avian influenza virus

The Ministry of Health in Indonesia has confirmed the country's 56th case of human infection with the H5N1 avian influenza virus.

9 Aug 2006

China comes clean on bird flu

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), the two latest suspected cases of the human form of the bird flu virus in Indonesia and Thailand have been confirmed as the H5N1 strain of the disease.

9 Aug 2006

GenoMed's West Nile virus trial endorsed by expert

GenoMed has announced the endorsement of its trial for West Nile virus encephalitis by an authority in Emergency Medicine, Dr. Neal Handly.

8 Aug 2006

Effectiveness of Hib vaccine introduction into routine childhood immunization in Kenya

Three years after introduction, routine vaccination of infants in Kenya against H. influenzae Type b (Hib) significantly reduced invasive Hib disease rates by 88%.

8 Aug 2006

China confirms human case of H5N1 infection dating back to November 2003

The Ministry of Health in China has today retrospectively confirmed a human case of H5N1 infection dating back to November 2003. The case occurred in a 24-year-old member of the military service based in Beijing.

8 Aug 2006

Indonesia - 43 dead from bird flu

According to health officials in Indonesia a 16-year-old boy who died on Monday has tested positive for bird flu.

8 Aug 2006

Researchers develop new technique using the abdominal cavity to deliver oxygen to assist ailing lungs

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have helped develop a technique in animal models for using the abdominal cavity to exchange gas, supplementing the function normally performed by the lungs.

8 Aug 2006

Gene amplification links growth controlling pathway from Drosophila to human cancers

Researchers at Harvard Medical School (HMS) and Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) have discovered a new cancer-promoting role for a gene potentially involved in breast, liver, and other kinds of cancers.

8 Aug 2006

Long-term effects of in utero influenza exposure in the post-1940 U.S. population

While much attention has been paid to how inherited traits such as skin tone or height influence economic success, a groundbreaking new study from the Journal of Political Economy argues that it is a malleable characteristic - in utero health - that most strongly indicates how well a child will fare in adulthood.

7 Aug 2006