Influenza News and Research

Latest Influenza News and Research

New nasal vaccine for COVID-19 set to begin clinical trial in the U.S.

A nasal vaccine for COVID-19 – based on technology developed at Washington University in St. Louis – is poised to enter a phase 1 clinical trial in the U.S. after an investigational new drug application from Ocugen, Inc. was approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Ocugen, a U.S.-based biotechnology company, licensed the innovative technology from WashU in 2022.

5 Feb 2025

The link between air pollution and lower respiratory infections in adults

Research reveals that even low levels of air pollution significantly increase the risk of respiratory infections in adults, highlighting urgent health concerns.

5 Feb 2025

Air pollution linked to increased hospital admissions for respiratory infections

Air pollution is a well-known risk factor for respiratory diseases such as asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

3 Feb 2025

Pasteurization destroys influenza viruses in milk, reinforcing dairy safety

Pasteurization at 63°C and 72°C effectively inactivates influenza A viruses in milk, ensuring its safety for human consumption while viral RNA may still be detected.

2 Feb 2025

New method can neutralize coronaviruses with mineral nanoparticles

A new way to neutralize the coronavirus and other membrane-surrounded viruses has been discovered by researchers from the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences and the University of Tartu.

31 Jan 2025

Ventilation and air cleaners may increase aerosol spread in hospitals

Increased use of ventilation and air cleaners, designed to mitigate the spread of viral infections in hospitals, is likely to have unpredictable effects and may cause viral particles to move around more, according to a new study from researchers at UCL and UCLH.

31 Jan 2025

Antibody therapy provides protection against severe H5N1 avian flu in monkeys

A prophylactic antibody-based immune therapy protects monkeys against severe disease caused by H5N1 avian flu, University of Pittsburgh and NIH Vaccine Research Center researchers report today in Science.

30 Jan 2025

New tool detects highly transmissible SARS-CoV-2 variants early

Researchers have developed a powerful tool that can detect variants of SARS-CoV-2 with high transmission potential before they become widespread.

29 Jan 2025

New AI tool promises faster vaccine development by predicting T cell epitopes

An exciting collaboration between the Ragon Institute and the Jameel Clinic at MIT has achieved a significant milestone in leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) to aid the development of T cell vaccine candidates.

29 Jan 2025

New tool launched to track infectious disease spread through wastewater

The European Commission has just launched a new tool that supports the tracking of the spread of infectious diseases by analyzing wastewater: the European Wastewater Surveillance Dashboard. It displays data from across the EU by bringing together existing national and research-based dashboards.

29 Jan 2025

Exposure to diverse news sources increases vaccine uptake

People who get their news from an ideologically diverse array of sources are more likely to get vaccinated, regardless of their political affiliation, new University of Colorado Boulder research shows.

27 Jan 2025

Penn researchers develop optimized framework for COVID-19 vaccination distribution

Engineering and medical researchers at Penn have developed a groundbreaking framework that can determine the best and most computationally optimized distribution strategy for COVID-19 vaccinations in any given community.

22 Jan 2025

SHEA calls for continued U.S. partnership with the World Health Organization

The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA) wants to emphasize the importance of global partnerships in addressing health threats that impact all of us, as Americans and global citizens. We urge President Trump to reconsider the decision to terminate the U.S. relationship with the World Health Organization (WHO).

21 Jan 2025

Cigarette smoke alters immune cell function in the lungs

Cigarette smoking is widespread and deadly, yet our understanding of how cigarette smoke actually causes serious respiratory illnesses is incomplete, which has severely hampered the development of effective treatments.

17 Jan 2025

Study reveals dangerous mutations in H5N1 bird flu

One of the earliest strains of bird flu isolated from a human in Texas shows a unique constellation of mutations that enable it to more easily replicate in human cells and cause more severe disease in mice compared to a strain found in dairy cattle, researchers from Texas Biomedical Research Institute (Texas Biomed) report in Emerging Microbes & Infections.

16 Jan 2025

Unexpected viral reservoir: influenza A thrives in cattle mammary glands

Researchers uncover how influenza A virus infects dairy cattle, revealing the mammary gland's surprising role in viral replication and transmission through milk.

15 Jan 2025

Study reveals how cigarette smoke weakens immune cells in the lungs

15 Jan 2025

UQ and Vaxxas win global prize to accelerate patch-based mRNA vaccine for COVID-19

The University of Queensland's BASE facility – within the Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (AIBN) – and Brisbane-based biotechnology company Vaxxas have been announced as stage winners of a prestigious global prize to accelerate a patch-based mRNA vaccine for COVID-19.

13 Jan 2025

Study finds certain H5N1 strains in cattle linked to milder human illness; other variants remain a concern

Study reveals that contemporary HPAI H5N1 viruses show reduced replication and immune activation in human lung organoids, potentially explaining milder disease in humans compared to historic strains.

13 Jan 2025

$20 million grant to explore the role of viruses in human health

For over a decade, scientists have studied the microbiome, the environment of microorganisms that live on and in the body, and how it affects health and disease.

9 Jan 2025