Cold, Flu & Cough News and Research

Latest Cold, Flu & Cough News and Research

Rising mammal infections signal alarm for potential H5N1 pandemic

Comprehensive review highlights the increasing trend of mammal-to-mammal transmissions of H5N1 avian influenza, emphasizing the need for vigilant surveillance to prevent a potential pandemic.

14 Feb 2024

Fluid-filled lung sac found to be the hub for virus-eating cells

Scientists have long thought of the fluid-filled sac around our lungs merely as a cushion from external damage. Turns out, it also houses potent virus-eating cells that rush into the lungs during flu infections.

14 Feb 2024

New breakthrough in pancreatic cancer research could help slow the disease's deadly spread

Scientists at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) and the University of California, Davis have reached a new breakthrough in pancreatic cancer research-;eight years in the making. It could help slow the disease's deadly spread.

14 Feb 2024

Using 3D ice printing to create structures that resemble blood vessels

Over 100,000 individuals in the United States are currently in need of organ transplants. The demand for organs, such as hearts, kidneys, and livers, far exceeds the available supply and people sometimes wait years to receive a donated organ.

12 Feb 2024

GoFundMe has become a health care utility

GoFundMe started as a crowdfunding site for underwriting "ideas and dreams," and, as GoFundMe's co-founders, Andrew Ballester and Brad Damphousse, once put it, "for life's important moments."

12 Feb 2024

Long COVID in children: A closer look reveals lasting impacts

A comprehensive review in Pediatrics highlights the significant impact of post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 (PASC) in children, revealing a wide range of long-term symptoms and the need for further research on its prevalence, risk factors, and mechanisms.

11 Feb 2024

New study finds 4’-fluorouridine effective against avian influenza in vitro and in vivo

A PLOS Pathogens study reveals 4’-fluorouridine effectively combats avian influenza in vitro and in animal models, showing promise as a treatment that overcomes resistance and reduces disease severity without significant adverse effects.

11 Feb 2024

Blood biomarkers in TGF-β pathway identify hidden liver cancer risk

A new research paper was published in Genes & Cancer on February 5, 2023, entitled, "Mechanistically based blood proteomic markers in the TGF-β pathway stratify risk of hepatocellular cancer in patients with cirrhosis."

9 Feb 2024

Amputees regain temperature sensation with new prosthetic technology

Sensory feedback is important for amputees to be able to explore and interact with their environment. Now, researchers have developed a device that allows amputees to sense and respond to temperature by delivering thermal information from the prosthesis' fingertip to the amputee's residual limb.

9 Feb 2024

CARB-X awards $1.8 million to Visby Medical to develop a portable rapid PCR test for gonorrhea

Combating Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria Biopharmaceutical Accelerator (CARB-X) will award up to US$1.8 million to biotechnology company, Visby Medical, to develop a portable rapid polymerase chain reaction (PCR) diagnostic to detect the presence of the pathogen that causes gonorrhea, Neisseria gonorrhoeae (NG), and its susceptibility to ciprofloxacin, a former frontline oral antibiotic that can no longer treat resistant NG.

9 Feb 2024

Do we simply not care about old people?

The covid-19 pandemic would be a wake-up call for America, advocates for the elderly predicted: incontrovertible proof that the nation wasn't doing enough to care for vulnerable older adults.

9 Feb 2024

Vaccines safe for pregnant women with HIV but show reduced immune response

A meta-analysis in eClinicalMedicine finds vaccines are safe for pregnant women living with HIV, showing reduced immunogenicity compared to those without HIV but no increase in adverse events, highlighting the need for their inclusion in vaccine trials.

9 Feb 2024

COVID-19 linked to higher dementia risk in older adults, study finds

Research indicates a potential link between COVID-19 and an increased risk of new-onset dementia in adults over 60, with the risk being similar to that from other respiratory infections.

9 Feb 2024

Higher dietary niacin intake linked to lower COPD risk, study finds

Recent research in Scientific Reports reveals a dose-response relationship between dietary niacin intake and reduced prevalence of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), suggesting niacin's potential role in mitigating oxidative stress and inflammation in COPD patients.

8 Feb 2024

Immune cells in overdrive: Study finds unbalanced response worsens lung infections

CD4+ T cells have been highlighted in the scientific literature for the important role they play in the immune response to lung infections.

8 Feb 2024

Study tracks long COVID's shifting course in general population

Long COVID trajectories in a general population cohort show variable recovery patterns, with a portion of patients experiencing improvement, deterioration, or stable symptoms over time.

7 Feb 2024

Study reveals high insomnia rates in non-hospitalized COVID-19 survivors

Researchers investigated insomnia prevalence and its association with anxiety and depression in the non-hospitalized COVID-19-recovered community.

7 Feb 2024

Researchers uncover how deadly MRSA pneumonia inhibits body's antimicrobial activity

Researchers examined how heparan sulfate (HS) shedding impacts cathelicidin efficacy in Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) pneumonia.

7 Feb 2024

Study pinpoints a protein linked to metastatic pancreatic cancer

Pancreatic cancer is the No. 3 cause of cancer-related deaths in the United States, and only 12% of patients survive five years after being diagnosed.

7 Feb 2024

Media stories on parental vaccine hesitancy drive a false narrative, distort reality

Media stories focusing on vaccine hesitancy can distort reality and drive a false narrative that a large percentage of parents are refusing to get their children vaccinated, according to an editorial in the New England Journal of Medicine by two pediatricians from the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus.

6 Feb 2024