Influenza News and Research

Latest Influenza News and Research

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

New model helps explain rules governing the transmission of microbes

Many of the most successful microbes are those that inhabit but do not kill their host. Cheaters lose. Tuberculosis settles into the lungs. Helicobacter pylori, the microbe causing ulcers, burrows into the stomach where it thrives on acids. And Salmonella typhi takes up residence in the gallbladder. All of these organisms can persist in our bodies for decades. What explains their success?

18 Oct 2007

Breakbone fever a growing public health threat

Dengue fever, known as “breakbone fever” because of the excruciating back and joint pain that accompanies this infectious disease, is a growing public health threat for people living in tropical countries, as well as travelers to destinations such as Thailand, Brazil and Puerto Rico, according to research being presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (ASTMH), Nov. 4-7.

17 Oct 2007

Structure of influenza B virus protein gives clues to next pandemic

Determining the structure of a protein called hemagglutinin on the surface of influenza B is giving researchers at Baylor College of Medicine and Rice University in Houston clues as to what kinds of mutations could spark the next flu pandemic.

17 Oct 2007

Scientists map flu's chemical key

Scientists from Baylor College of Medicine (BCM) and Rice University have developed a three-dimensional, molecular map that could yield clues about the genetic mutations that will allow bird flu to spread among humans.

17 Oct 2007

Portable detection system for foot-and-mouth and avian flu

Smiths Detection, part of the global technology business Smiths Group, today announces it is to launch a portable detection system that will enable veterinarians to carry out on-site diagnosis of animal diseases such as foot-and-mouth and avian flu.

15 Oct 2007

Report looks at border control in a flu pandemic

A report to be published in an upcoming issue of the World Health Organisation (WHO) Bulletin will call for urgent attention to the politically sensitive issue of border control, and the need for coherent and robust national plans in the face of a catastrophic flu pandemic.

10 Oct 2007