Influenza News and Research

Latest Influenza News and Research

Lessons learned from Turkey's 2006 bird flu outbreak

Rapid responses by Turkey's health authorities and key health personnel were critical in bringing the 2006 bird flu outbreak under control, according to research published in the online open access journal, BMC Public Health.

16 Nov 2007

Deadly bird flu hits Britain

Officials in Britain have confirmed that the bird flu strain detected in turkeys on a farm in Norfolk is the deadly H5N1 strain of the virus

13 Nov 2007

Nanoviricide drug candidate effectiveness confirmed against rabies and influenzas

NanoViricides, Inc. has said that in a confirmatory study, their nanoviricide drug candidates exhibited a consistent 20% to 30% survival in the test animals.

13 Nov 2007

H5 avian influenza found on Suffolk poultry farm

The Department for the Environment Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has confirmed avian influenza in turkeys on premises near Diss on the Norfolk/Suffolk border. Preliminary tests were positive for the H5 strain.

13 Nov 2007

Antivirals reduce deaths from flu in hospitalized patients

Adults with influenza infections serious enough to require hospitalization are much less likely to die from the disease if they are given antiviral medications, according to a new study published in the December 15 issue of Clinical Infectious Diseases, currently available online.

13 Nov 2007

Dengue fever vaccine looks very promising

The vaccine Tetravalent is manufactured by drug company Sanofi who say it will be ready to be submitted for approval by the year 2012.

7 Nov 2007

Researchers neutralise the HIV virus

With the latest advances in treatment, doctors have discovered that they can successfully neutralise the HIV virus.

6 Nov 2007

Barack Obama pledges to increase spending on global HIV/AIDS to $50 billion

Barack Obama today stepped ahead of all other candidates for President in one of the most critical areas of foreign policy, the effort to eradicate extreme poverty.

1 Nov 2007

New Zealand's influenza pandemic preparedness report released

The New Zealand Ministry of Health has released the key findings of Exercise Cruickshank, one of the biggest exercises ever staged by government.

29 Oct 2007

Cancer patients not getting live-saving flu and pneumonia shots

Although flu and pneumonia can be lethal for cancer patients, more than one quarter of patients undergoing radiation therapy are not complying with national guidelines to be vaccinated against these potentially life-threatening yet preventable illnesses, according to a study presented October 28, 2007, at the American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology's 49th Annual Meeting in Los Angeles.

28 Oct 2007

Nasal flu vaccine given the green light for toddlers

A federal advisory panel in the U.S. has given the recommendation that a nasal influenza vaccine can be use in healthy children as young as two.

28 Oct 2007

Specialists in infectious disease and global health convene at Philadelphia meeting

Nearly 2,500 physicians and scientists from institutions around the world such as the World Health Organization, the Centers for Disease Control and the National Institutes of Health will meet at the 56th American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene's Annual Meeting on Nov. 4-8, in Philadelphia to discuss the latest research on infectious diseases and bioterrorist and global health threats.

24 Oct 2007

Children may be particularly susceptible to avian influenza

New findings, reported in in the online open access journal Respiratory Research, about how the virus binds to the respiratory tract and lung suggest children may be particularly susceptible to avian influenza.

24 Oct 2007

Influenza vaccine production capacity on the rise

Recent scientific advances and increased vaccine manufacturing capacity have prompted experts to increase their projections of how many pandemic influenza vaccine courses can be made available in the coming years.

24 Oct 2007

In the event of a bird flu pandemic more vaccine will be ready

The World Health Organization (WHO) has revised it's estimate of how much bird flu vaccine could be available were a pandemic scenario to unfold.

24 Oct 2007

New flu pandemic plans for U.S.

In the event of a flu pandemic in the United States new government plans detail who will be the first to get vaccinated.

24 Oct 2007

Stanford seeks volunteers for flu vaccine study

Researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine and Lucile Packard Children's Hospital are looking for adults and children to participate in three studies that will help them better understand how the flu vaccine works in people of different ages.

22 Oct 2007

Microbix Biosystems granted U.S. patent for its influenza vaccine

Microbix Biosystems Inc. has been granted a patent by the U.S. Patent Office for its technology - VIRUSMAX - which enables vaccine manufacturers to double the amount of influenza vaccine they produce each year.

22 Oct 2007

GenVec receives extra funding for adenovector-based HIV vaccines program

GenVec, Inc. has announced that the Vaccine Research Center (VRC) of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), has executed its sixth option period (year seven) under its multi-year collaboration with GenVec to develop and manufacture novel adenovector-based HIV vaccines.

22 Oct 2007

Study supports the theory of the seasonal flu

Low temperatures and relative humidities have been linked to the rapid spread of influenza in a new study by researchers, led by Dr. Peter Palese, from the Mount Sinai School of Medicine.

19 Oct 2007