Influenza News and Research

Latest Influenza News and Research

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

Biota and MedImmune announce clinical trial for respiratory syncytial virus antiviral drug

Biota Holdings Limited and MedImmune Inc. today announced the start of a Phase Ia clinical trial for their respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) antiviral drug, BTA9881, with the goal of providing a treatment for RSV-infected infants and adults.

17 Jul 2007

Bird flu suspected in turkey flock in the U.S.

The discovery of what is suspected to be avian flu antibodies in a flock of turkeys on a farm in the United States has experts alarmed.

11 Jul 2007

Novavax licenses virus-like particle from Wyeth

Novavax, Inc. has announced that is has signed a non-exclusive, worldwide license agreement with Wyeth, to obtain rights to a patent application covering virus-like particle (VLP) technology for use in human vaccines in certain fields of use.

10 Jul 2007

Tamiflu for children

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the United States has given approval for Tamiflu to be used for children but at a lower dose than the adult version.

4 Jul 2007

Prevention and control of zoonoses

Over 180 international scientific experts will meet for the next three days near Lucca, Italy, to discuss state-of-the-art advances in infectious diseases transmitted from animals to man, known as zoonoses.

29 Jun 2007

UN warns bird flu will be around for quite a while

A warning has been issued by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) with regard to the deadly H5N1 bird flu virus.

27 Jun 2007

Canada enhances capacity to fight infectious disease

Today representatives of all three levels of government and the Canada Foundation for Innovation turned the sod to launch construction of the International Vaccine Centre (InterVac) at the University of Saskatchewan, a $110.4-million project that will significantly enhance Canada's capacity to fight infectious disease in both animals and humans.

26 Jun 2007