Influenza News and Research

Latest Influenza News and Research

Sanofi pasteur ships doses of Fluzone influenza vaccine for the 2007-2008 season

Sanofi pasteur, the vaccines division of the sanofi-aventis Group, has begun shipment of influenza vaccine (Fluzone, Influenza Virus Vaccine) in the United States for the 2007-2008 season.

13 Aug 2007

Scientists prepare for future pandemic strains of H5N1

Preparing vaccines and therapeutics that target a future mutant strain of H5N1 influenza virus sounds like science fiction, but it may be possible, according to a team of scientists at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), a component of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and a collaborator at Emory University School of Medicine.

11 Aug 2007

Second bird flu death in Vietnam in a week

Vietnamese authorities have confirmed another new bird-flu death, this time the victim is a 15-year-old boy.

8 Aug 2007

Five ways to save 100,000 American lives

A new report says more than 100,000 American lives would be saved each year if people increased the use of five preventive services.

8 Aug 2007

Non-pharmaceutical interventions may be helpful in severe influenza outbreaks

An analysis of non-pharmaceutical interventions used in the U.S. during the 1918-1919 influenza pandemic, such as closing schools and banning public gatherings, found an association between these interventions and reduced death rates, suggesting that non-pharmaceutical interventions may play a role in planning for future influenza pandemics, according to a study in the August 8 issue of JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association.

8 Aug 2007

Study supports value of social restrictions during influenza pandemics

Although physicians have imposed quarantine orders since at least 1374, when the Port of Venice officially isolated foreigners and shippers for 40 days to keep out infectious scourges, there has been no definitive evidence that public health measures like quarantining the sick and isolating people after exposure to ill people would save lives during an influenza pandemic.

8 Aug 2007

Indonesia reluctant when it comes to sharing bird flu samples

Indonesia, the country with the highest number of human deaths from the bird flu, remains reluctant to share samples of live bird flu virus for research.

7 Aug 2007

GlaxoSmithKline receives bulk H5N1 antigen order for the US national stockpile

GlaxoSmithKline has announced that HHS has placed another order to purchase bulk H5N1 antigen for the US national stockpile of pre-pandemic vaccines.

6 Aug 2007

Bird flu put 51 in quarantine in Manipur

India's health ministry says 51 people in Manipur have been quarantined following an outbreak of the H5N1 strain of influenza in chickens last month in the northeastern Indian state.

6 Aug 2007

Vaccines approved by the FDA are at least a million times safer than the viruses that they prevent

For more than 200 years, vaccines have played an important role in the prevention of infectious diseases.

2 Aug 2007

Novavax begins human clinical testing of novel pandemic flu vaccine

Novavax has announced that it has begun vaccinating healthy volunteers in the first human clinical trial of its virus-like particle ("VLP") based pandemic influenza vaccine.

1 Aug 2007

Biota increases damages claim against GlaxoSmithKline

Australian company Biota has filed its updated Particulars of Loss and Damage in its suit against GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) for failing to support the influenza drug, Relenza, discovered by Biota and licensed to GSK in 1990.

31 Jul 2007

Mummies provide clues to combat hepatitis B

Mummies that have recently been unearthed in South Korea may provide clues on how to combat hepatitis B, according to Prof. Mark Spigelman of the Kuvin Center for the Study of Infectious and Tropical Diseases at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

26 Jul 2007

New findings on gene-transcription machinery

For some time, scientists have been tracking down the sequence of biochemical steps required to attract and assemble at the head end of a gene the molecular machinery needed to transcribe that gene to put to work the information it encodes.

26 Jul 2007

Detecting transmissibility of avian influenza virus in human households

Recent outbreaks of emerging diseases such as SARS and H5N1 avian influenza have underlined the fact that animal pathogens may acquire the ability to spread efficiently in humans but as yet have not.

26 Jul 2007

New studies emphasize need for influenza and measles vaccinations in HIV-infected patients

Two new studies emphasize the importance of delivering measles and influenza vaccines to HIV-infected individuals.

24 Jul 2007

Is the U.S. ready for bird flu? No

A new report from the White House has revealed that the United States remains unprepared for a possible bird flu pandemic.

19 Jul 2007

Progress in infectious disease surveillance but gaps remain

The key to control any pandemic is early identification and rapid response.

18 Jul 2007

Test of universal influenza vaccine

A universal influenza vaccine that has been pioneered by researchers from VIB and Ghent University is being tested for the first time on humans by the British-American biotech company Acambis.

18 Jul 2007

$900 million for public health emergency response

HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt today announced that the department has provided another $896.7 million to the states, territories, and four metropolitan areas to improve and sustain their ability to respond to public health emergencies.

18 Jul 2007