Influenza News and Research

Latest Influenza News and Research

New sugary insights into H5N1 avian flu virus

Scientists have identified a key factor that determines the ability of influenza viruses to infect cells of the human upper respiratory tract - a necessary step for sustaining spread between people.

7 Jan 2008

MIT researchers discover key to bird flu in humans

MIT researchers have uncovered a critical difference between flu viruses that infect birds and humans, a discovery that could help scientists monitor the evolution of avian flu strains and aid in the development of vaccines against a deadly flu pandemic.

7 Jan 2008

New flu vaccine protects against all strains including bird flu

A new flu vaccine which protects against all strains of influenza has had promising results in trials.

6 Jan 2008

FDA clears test for 12 specific respiratory viruses

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has cleared for marketing a test that simultaneously detects and identifies 12 specific respiratory viruses.

4 Jan 2008

Despite past disasters U.S. still not ready to cope biological attacks and flu pandemics

According to a newly released report the U.S. remains unprepared to deal with disasters such as biological attacks and flu pandemics.

27 Dec 2007

Novavax's new bird flu vaccine could bolster the arsenal against a pandemic

The drug company Novavax has announced that it's experimental avian flu vaccine has proved to be both safe and effective in Phase I/IIa trials in humans.

20 Dec 2007

WHO says Pakistan bird flu cluster no cause for alarm as yet

According to an expert at the World Health Organization, the cluster of suspected bird flu cases in Pakistan may be a combination of infections from poultry with limited person-to-person transmission.

19 Dec 2007

Bird flu a worry in Pakistan, Africa and Indonesia

A medical team has been sent to Pakistan by the World Health Organization (WHO) to investigate the latest bird flu outbreak there.

19 Dec 2007

Highly promising Alzheimer's and Parkinson's research

The TI Pharma project is a large-scale study into the brain material of Alzheimer's and Parkinson's patients, who gave permission to the Netherlands Brain Bank for their tissue to be used for scientific research.

17 Dec 2007

U.S. efforts to monitor H5N1 could easily miss entry of the virus into North America

A University of Kansas investigator closely following the spread of the avian influenza known as H5N1 said that U.S. government monitoring efforts easily could miss the entry of the virus into North America.

13 Dec 2007

Australian researchers plan for a pandemic

Sydney researchers have produced useful food and nutrition guidelines for survival rations to be used in the event of a pandemic such as influenza which appear in this week's Medical Journal of Australia.

13 Dec 2007

Lethal human H5N1 influenza virus Replikin gene still upregulated

Replikins Ltd. has announced its latest findings regarding the virus replikin count in human H5N1 influenza virus. The company's software-driven analysis has found that the prevalence of these sequences has remained high in Indonesia; in addition, higher counts now have been found in China.

12 Dec 2007

Nanogen reaches milestone in influenza project

Nanogen, Inc. has announced that it has delivered the second phase milestone requirements, including the point-of-care prototype device to detect influenza viruses rapidly in clinical samples, to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for their evaluation.

10 Dec 2007

Call for an early-warning avian influenza system

The international science community is not doing enough to track the many avian influenza viruses that might cause the next pandemic, a UC Davis researcher says in the journal Nature.

10 Dec 2007

New approach to study flu drug resistance

Researchers have created a new approach for studying resistance to Neuraminidase Inhibitors (NI) in influenza.

10 Dec 2007

Winter flu doubles the risk of heart attacks and stroke

Scientists in Britain say a dose of winter infections such flu can double the risk of heart attacks and strokes.

9 Dec 2007

Why is flu worse in winter?

If you've ever wondered why flu is more common in winter a new study by researchers in the U.S. may have some answers to that question.

6 Dec 2007

Purified bacterial extract sprayed into lungs ramps up innate immune system

A purified extract prepared from a common microbe and delivered to the lungs of laboratory mice in a spray set off a healthy immune response and provided powerful protection against all four major classes of pathogens including those responsible for anthrax and bubonic plague, according to a presentation at the American Society for Cell Biology's 47th Annual Meeting.

4 Dec 2007

Switzerland creates new centre for vaccine research

The Institute will develop an immunology, microbiology and vaccine research laboratory platform to encourage cooperation between scientists working in the field of HIV, malaria, tuberculosis, influenza and cancer vaccine development in Switzerland, from fundamental to clinical researchers.

4 Dec 2007

Inhaled immune system stimulant launches immune response in lungs to wipe out lethal infections

An inhaled immune system stimulant protects mice against lethal pneumococcal pneumonia and other deadly bacterial, viral and fungal infections of the lungs, a research team led by scientists at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center reports at a major scientific meeting.

4 Dec 2007