Influenza News and Research

Latest Influenza News and Research

Indian government responds to new avian flu outbreak

"Authorities in eastern India will start culling chickens and destroying eggs to contain a new outbreak of H5 bird flu, the government said in a statement on Tuesday, as a mutant strain of the virus is spreading elsewhere in Asia," Reuters reports.

22 Sep 2011

Theraclone initiates TCN-032 Phase 1 trial in influenza A

Theraclone Sciences, Inc., a therapeutic antibody discovery and development company, announced today first dosing of subjects in a Phase 1 clinical trial of TCN-032, a broadly protective, fully human monoclonal antibody for the treatment of influenza A virus.

22 Sep 2011

People should be concerned about flu every year

As temperatures begin to cool, coughing and sneezing inevitably follow. So begins flu season in the United States — and preventable deaths, says David Kimberlin, M.D., University of Alabama at Birmingham professor of pediatrics and president-elect of the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society.

21 Sep 2011

Bird flu strikes Eastern India yet again as culling operations begin

On Tuesday, the federal government in India announced that it had ordered poultry farms in the eastern part of the country to cull chickens and destroy eggs to rein in an new outbreak of bird flu.

21 Sep 2011

MDC researchers determine molecular structure of dynamin

Dr. Katja F-lber and Professor Oliver Daumke, structural biologists at the Max Delbr-ck Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC) Berlin-Buch, together with researchers from Freie Universit-t (FU) Berlin, have determined the molecular structure of dynamin, a 'wire-puller' that mediates nutrient uptake into the cell.

21 Sep 2011

Autopsy study reveals earliest 1918 pandemic influenza cases

Examination of lung tissue and other autopsy material from 68 American soldiers who died of respiratory infections in 1918 has revealed that the influenza virus that eventually killed 50 million people worldwide was circulating in the United States at least four months before the 1918 influenza reached pandemic levels that fall.

20 Sep 2011

NanoViricides acquires light industrial building for laboratory facilities and cGMP production

NanoViricides, Inc. announced that Inno-Haven LLC has completed acquisition of a light industrial building. The Company anticipates that it will be leasing a portion of this space, in the near future, for laboratory facilities and cGMP production of its nanoviricides® drug candidates against various viral diseases.

19 Sep 2011

BARDA awards Vaxin $21.7M contract to accelerate development of novel anthrax vaccine

Vaxin Inc., a clinical stage vaccine development company, today announced that it has been awarded a contract valued at up to $21.7 million by the Office of Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) for pre-clinical assessment, final manufacturing process development and the supply of clinical materials to support an IND filing and first-in-man dose ranging study of the company's proprietary anthrax vaccine, AdVAV.

17 Sep 2011

Georgia reminds adults to get vaccinated

Vaccines aren't just for kids, adults need protection too! September 18 kick starts National Adult Immunization Awareness Week and the Georgia Department of Public Health reminds Georgians that you never outgrow the need for vaccines.

16 Sep 2011

HHS' BARDA contract advances development of novel anthrax vaccine, antitoxin

The advanced development of a novel next-generation anthrax vaccine and a new type of anthrax antitoxin have received support through new contracts funded the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority.

16 Sep 2011

Teva to invest in CDI for development of novel antiviral drugs

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. announced today that it has signed a collaboration option to license and share purchase agreements to invest in Cocrystal Discovery Inc. (CDI), a biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of novel antiviral therapeutics for the treatment of serious and chronic viral diseases.

16 Sep 2011

Something like 'Contagion' could happen for influenza

In the new movie "Contagion," fictional health experts scramble to get ahead of a flu-like pandemic as a drug-resistant virus quickly spreads, killing millions of people within days after they contract the illness.

15 Sep 2011

Inovio achieves best-in-class immune responses in PENNVAX-B HIV vaccine Phase I study

Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a leader in the development of synthetic immunogens against cancers and infectious diseases, announced today that it has achieved best-in-class immune responses in a Phase I clinical study of PENNVAX-B, its product for the prevention of the HIV sub-type prevalent in the US and Europe.

14 Sep 2011

“Contagion” movie entirely plausible

Hollywood's latest thriller “Contagion” seems to have captured the public’s interest with strong sales at the box office. In the movie tens of millions of people are wiped out by the rapid spread of a killer airborne disease. It's a scenario real-life experts say is entirely plausible.

14 Sep 2011

Walgreens, MDA team up to offer free seasonal flu shots

Nobody likes to get stuck with a needle. But influenza - the flu - is particularly hazardous for those with neuromuscular disease, which is why the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA) and Walgreens have teamed up once again to offer free seasonal flu shots now underway for people who have muscular dystrophy and related diseases.

14 Sep 2011

Viewpoints: Burgess, Clancy and others on hospital infections; state health exchanges causing controversy

Hospital CEOs can do more than just prevent an outbreak of influenza in their facility this flu season: They can and must take action against antibiotic resistance, an urgent public health problem that affects us all. What does the flu have to do with antibiotic resistance and what can a hospital CEO do about it? Plenty, as it turns out.

13 Sep 2011

Higher flu vaccination rates for health care personnel can reduce threat of outbreak

Higher flu vaccination rates for health care personnel can dramatically reduce the threat of flu outbreak among nursing home residents, according to a study published in the October issue of Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology, the journal of the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America.

13 Sep 2011

Non-communicable disease epidemic a global problem

Later this month the United Nations will convene a high-level meeting on non-communicable diseases. The world's global health news has been so dominated by infectious culprits - HIV/AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis, influenza - that it's easy to forget just how big a toll conditions like diabetes, cancer and heart and lung disease take say experts.

9 Sep 2011

BARDA awards GlaxoSmithKline contract for development of dual-purpose broad spectrum antibiotic

The federal government today issued a contract for advanced research and development of a dual-purpose broad spectrum antibiotic with potential to treat illnesses caused by bioterrorism threats such as plague and tularemia, as well as more certain life-threatening infections, known as Gram-negative infections, associated with prolonged hospitalization.

7 Sep 2011

Impact of colds and flu on school absenteeism, workplace and economy

Queen's University medical researchers today released some key findings from the first study of its kind done in Canada on the impact of colds and flu on school absenteeism, the workplace, and the economy.

7 Sep 2011