Influenza News and Research

Latest Influenza News and Research

Study into H1N1 pandemic suggests at least 1 in 5 were infected

At least one in five people in countries for which data are available were infected with influenza during the first year of the 2009 H1N1 pandemic, according to a new study.

25 Jan 2013

Strong link between mortality and reduced innate immune responsiveness in critically ill patients

Investigators from 15 children's medical centers, including Nationwide Children's Hospital, observed and evaluated critically ill children with influenza to evaluate the relationships between levels of systemic inflammation, immune function and likelihood to die from the illness. The study appears in the January issue of Critical Care Medicine.

23 Jan 2013

Single dose of seasonal flu vaccine is safe for egg allergic children

Egg allergic children, including those with a history of anaphylaxis to egg, can safely receive a single dose of the seasonal influenza vaccine, according to a new study from the University of Michigan.

23 Jan 2013

Suppression of immune system function can occur in influenza patients

22 Jan 2013

INPC provides early warning of influenza outbreaks and other communicable diseases

The Centers for Disease Control has reported that influenza activity is high across most of the United States. The Indiana Network for Patient Care's ability to track data from physician offices and medical facilities across Indiana provides public health officials in the Hoosier state with early warning of outbreaks of influenza and other communicable diseases in Indiana.

22 Jan 2013

ECLS system supports flu patients in their recovery from severe respiratory problems

In recent weeks the intensive critical care units at University Health Network's Toronto General Hospital have used Extra Corporeal Lung Support (ECLS) to support five influenza (flu) patients in their recovery from severe respiratory problems.

19 Jan 2013

FDA approves Protein Sciences’ Flublok to prevent seasonal influenza

The US Food and Drug Administration has approved Protein Sciences Corporation's vaccine Flublok for the prevention of seasonal influenza in adults 18 to 49 years of age. Diamyd Medical holds about 8 percent of the shares in Protein Sciences Corporation.

18 Jan 2013

Life Technologies, ASU partner on new project to quickly measure radiation exposure

Arizona State University's Biodesign Institute- has announced a partnership with Life Technologies Corporation as it enters the next phase of a multi-million-dollar, multi-institutional research project to develop a medical device to rapidly assess an individual's exposure to radiation in the event of a nuclear incident.

18 Jan 2013

Viewpoints: Obama 'wise' to add mental health focus to gun initiative; Calif. considers giving localities responsibility for expanded Medicaid

President Obama's sweeping proposals to combat gun violence represent a sound response to the mass shootings that have horrified the country. In his legislative proposals and executive actions announced Wednesday, the president and Vice President Biden showed a willingness to confront a difficult problem head-on -- a problem that is not only about laws but also about culture and mental-health care.

17 Jan 2013

Underestimating cough duration may skew antibiotic perceptions

US researchers suggest that one reason patients request antibiotics for respiratory infections is that they greatly underestimate how long it usually takes for acute cough illness to resolve.

17 Jan 2013

H1N1 flu vaccination during pregnancy does not increase risk of fetal loss

Norwegian pregnant women who received a vaccine against the 2009 H1N1 influenza virus showed no increased risk of pregnancy loss, while pregnant women who experienced influenza during pregnancy had an increased risk of miscarriages and still births, a study has found. The study suggests that influenza infection may increase the risk of fetal loss.

17 Jan 2013

Protein Sciences receives FDA approval for Flublok vaccine

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today announced that it has approved Flublok, the first trivalent influenza vaccine made using an insect virus (baculovirus) expression system and recombinant DNA technology. Flublok is approved for the prevention of seasonal influenza in people 18 through 49 years of age.

16 Jan 2013

Flu: ERs seeing more patients, N.Y. declares state of emergency

Emergency rooms around America are dealing with an influx of those with the flu while the virus forces New York officials to declare a state of emergency.

16 Jan 2013

It's still too early to evaluate whether flu season is worse than normal

New York officials declare a public health emergency as federal officials say the epidemic may have peaked.

16 Jan 2013

Researchers discover molecular blueprint behind the IFIT protein

Researchers at McGill University and the Research Center for Molecular Medicine (CeMM) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences have discovered the molecular blueprint behind the IFIT protein.

15 Jan 2013

Viewpoints: Health law's 'sticker shock;' Changing Medicare eligibility age is not a simple solution

President Obama said a fair bit during the fiscal-cliff negotiations - speaking for 45 minutes in one 50-minute meeting, for example - but today let's zero in on the claim he kept repeating: "We don't have a spending problem. We have a health-care problem." For our money - and yours - those are two of the most remarkable sentences our Orator in Chief has ever strung together.

15 Jan 2013

Viewpoints: The country's deep health problems; Anthem's Rx policy in Calif. may not be legal; Wis. Gov. Medicaid decision looming

It is now shockingly clear that poor health is a much broader and deeper problem than past studies have suggested. An authoritative report issued by the Institute of Medicine this week found that, on average, Americans experience higher rates of disease and injury and die sooner than people in other high-income countries.

15 Jan 2013

Less than 45% of children are vaccinated against flu: Study

This year's flu season is in full swing with 41 states now reporting widespread illness. Unfortunately, not enough children are getting the flu shot even though health officials recommend that all children 6 months and older get the vaccine. According to a new study by researchers at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, less than 45 percent of children were vaccinated against the flu during a five-year study period.

11 Jan 2013

Multidisciplinary team work on proactive approach to flu vaccine design

An internationally recognized expert in viruses, Robert W. Finberg, MD, the Richard M. Haidack Professor of Medicine and chair and professor of medicine at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, is lead investigator on a $12 million project to develop new ways of predicting how the influenza virus changes and evolves in response to anti-viral drugs and the human immune system. This approach has promise for becoming a pivotal tool in creating a more effective vaccine against the virus.

11 Jan 2013

Tips for parents to safely help relieve child's flu symptoms

Doctors' offices are teeming with patients suffering from one of the worst outbreaks of cold and flu season in recent years. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has said that flu is at an elevated level across the nation. Though virus symptoms vary by age, children are especially vulnerable since they are unable to take over-the-counter medications to help alleviate symptoms.

10 Jan 2013