Influenza News and Research

Latest Influenza News and Research

Researcher restructures innovative virus-tracking software

A biomedical informatics researcher who tracks dangerous viruses as they spread around the globe has restructured his innovative tracking software to promote even wider use of the program around the world.

23 May 2012

H1N1 flu vaccination during pregnancy provides unanticipated benefits to the baby

Getting a flu shot during pregnancy provides unanticipated benefits to the baby, according to the authors of a large population-based study examining the issue. Specifically, the study showed that H1N1 vaccination during the pandemic was associated with a significantly reduced risk of stillbirth, preterm birth and extremely small babies at birth.

23 May 2012

Research roundup: Electronic health records don't seem to improve diabetes care; Beefing up adult vaccination rates

Federal officials and health policy experts believe that electronic health records (EHRs) will improve patient care. Researchers measured adherence to diabetes care guidelines as well as patient outcomes over three years at 16 practices using EHRs and 26 practices using paper records. Practices with EHRs did not show signs of better care and providers using them "have not made the necessary changes to both work processes and ways of thinking about care that would lead to improvements in chronic illness management."

19 May 2012

Inovio SynCon avian influenza vaccine demonstrates broad coverage

Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced today that its SynCon avian influenza vaccine generated protective HAI titers against six different unmatched strains of H5N1 in a phase I clinical trial - a distinct clinical achievement on Inovio's path to develop universal influenza vaccines.

17 May 2012

Social networks influence beliefs regarding safety of influenza vaccines

College students' social networks influence their beliefs regarding the safety of influenza vaccines and decisions about vaccination, according to a new study in the Journal of Adolescent Health.

16 May 2012

Positive data from Theraclone Sciences’ TCN-032 Phase 1 trial on influenza A infection

Theraclone Sciences, Inc., a therapeutic antibody discovery and development company, today announced positive top-line data from its Phase 1 trial of TCN-032, a broadly protective, fully human monoclonal antibody, being developed for the treatment of influenza A infections.

16 May 2012

Sinovac first quarter sales increase 30.3% to $6.0M

Sinovac Biotech Ltd., a leading provider of biopharmaceutical products in China, announced today its unaudited first quarter financial results for the period ended March 31, 2012.

15 May 2012

Researchers barcode different strains of influenza virus and HRSV

Dr Julian Hiscox and Dr John Barr of the University's Faculty of Biological Sciences are working with the Health Protection Agency Porton (HPA) to build a bank of molecular signatures that will help identify the severity of virus infection from characteristic changes seen in cells. Currently the team is barcoding different strains of influenza virus and human respiratory syncytial virus (HRSV) - a virus associated with the onset of asthma in young children.

14 May 2012

New insights into how body's innate immunity is triggered to create effective immune response

Singapore scientists from Bioprocessing Technology Institute (BTI) under the Agency of Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) have for the first time, identified the molecular 'switch' that directly triggers the body's first line of defence against pathogens, more accurately known as the body's "innate immunity".

11 May 2012

Researchers use clever screening methods to speed vaccine production

Infectious diseases-both old and new-continue to exact a devastating toll, causing some 13 million fatalities per year around the world. Vaccines remain the best line of defense against deadly pathogens and now Kathryn Sykes and Stephen Johnston, researchers at Arizona State University's Biodesign Institute, along with co-author Michael McGuire from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center are using clever functional screening methods to attempt to speed new vaccines into production that are both safer and more potent.

10 May 2012

Inovio first quarter total revenue decreases to $1.7 million

Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today reported financial results for the quarter ended March 31, 2012.

10 May 2012

ArcDia completes € 2.7 million funding round

ArcDia Ltd, the manufacturer of world's only multianalyte point-of-care diagnostic system for respiratory tract infections, completed today € 2.7 million funding round to expand its mariPOC diagnostics system.

9 May 2012

BioDiem announces new vaccine research collaboration with French-based VIVALIS

Australian vaccine development company BioDiem Ltd (ASX: BDM) today announced that it has begun a research collaboration with France-based VIVALIS (Euronext code: VLS), a biopharmaceutical company with expertise in vaccine production technologies.

9 May 2012

Hillenbrand second quarter net income decreases 17% to $27M

Hillenbrand revenue for the second quarter of 2012 grew 13% to $260 million compared to the same quarter last year.

8 May 2012

Researchers discover potential way to develop universal flu vaccines

University of British Columbia researchers have found a potential way to develop universal flu vaccines and eliminate the need for seasonal flu vaccinations.

8 May 2012

NIH responds to criticism over handling of controversial bird flu studies

In a letter dated April 25, Amy Patterson, associate director for science policy in the office of the director of the National Institutes of Health, "has refuted criticism of the way a meeting held to allow a biosecurity advisory group to review controversial bird flu studies was handled," denying "the agenda was crafted to achieve a predetermined outcome," the Canadian Press/Winnipeg Free Press writes.

7 May 2012

BioCryst first quarter revenues increase to $12.2 million

BioCryst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2012.

7 May 2012

Center for the Promotion of Maternal Health and Infant Development opens

On May 3, 2012, Rady Children's Hospital-San Diego and the UC San Diego School of Medicine launched the Center for the Promotion of Maternal Health and Infant Development.

5 May 2012

One of the controversial avian flu studies published in full finally

After endless debates and controversies on whether two studies that demonstrated how bird flu, also known as avian H5N1 influenza, or avian flu, should be published, one of them has appeared in the latest issue of the journal Nature in its entirety. The two studies aimed for publication in journals Nature and Science show how the bird flu virus could become transmissible from mammal-to-mammal; as humans are mammals, the same would apply to humans.

4 May 2012

Clinical trial to investigate statins in patients with acute severe respiratory failure

Queen's University and NUI Galway and are leading a clinical trial to investigate the possibility that statins, a drug commonly used to combat cholesterol, might help patients with acute severe respiratory failure.

4 May 2012