Influenza News and Research

Latest Influenza News and Research

Protecting Americans against a smallpox outbreak

In the event of a smallpox outbreak in the United States, how long would it take for a vaccine to start protecting Americans by stimulating an immune response? A new national study led by Saint Louis University School of Medicine will attempt to answer this question.

1 May 2007

Google maps used to track avian flu spread

An interactive "supermap" that portrays the mutations and spread of the avian flu around the globe over time should help researchers and policy makers better understand the virus and anticipate further outbreaks, according to a new study involving University of Colorado at Boulder and Ohio State University researchers.

1 May 2007

Feasible to create a stockpile of H5N1 vaccine

Countries and vaccine manufacturers agreed on Wednesday in a meeting at WHO that it may be feasible to create a stockpile of H5N1 vaccine, and to separately develop a mechanism to ensure broader access to pandemic influenza vaccine for developing countries in the advent of a pandemic.

30 Apr 2007

Sandia decon formulation, best known as an anthrax killer, takes on household mold

A product based on a technology originally developed at Sandia National Laboratories is now available on the shelves of hardware stores across the country.

27 Apr 2007

When it comes to bird flu - will Indonesia play the game?

Despite the fact that bird flu does not appear to have the news value it had a year ago, the deadly virus continues to circle the globe causing mayhem by killing humans and decimating bird populations.

26 Apr 2007

New searchable influenza gene database

A Medical College of Wisconsin and Children's Research Institute team in Milwaukee has created a free, searchable genetic database that will significantly improve diagnostic testing and genetic tracking of human and animal influenza viruses.

26 Apr 2007

WHO facilitates influenza vaccine technology transfer to developing countries

As part of a concerted effort to ensure more equitable access to a potential pandemic influenza vaccine, six developing countries are being awarded grants to establish in-country manufacturing capacity for influenza vaccine. The countries are Brazil, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Thailand and Viet Nam.

25 Apr 2007

Flu can actually trigger heart attacks

Doctors need to take concerted action to ensure that people who are at risk of heart disease receive the influenza vaccine every autumn, according to the authors of a new report published in the European Heart Journal.

19 Apr 2007

New risk maps identify geographic areas predicting spread of avian flu

The 2003 epidemic of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) in the Netherlands is the only recent epidemic of HPAI in the developed world.

19 Apr 2007

Vaccination week in the Americas

The countries of the Americas are preparing a huge promotional effort for the fifth year of Vaccination Week in the Americas, which this year aims to immunize some 55 million persons.

18 Apr 2007

FDA approves new bird flu vaccine from sanofi pasteur

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has announced the first approval in the United States of a vaccine for humans against the H5N1 influenza virus, commonly known as avian or bird flu.

18 Apr 2007

H5N1 western genomes sequenced

In a paper in the May issue of Emerging Infectious Diseases , an international team of researchers report the first ever large-scale sequencing of western genomes of the deadly avian influenza virus, H5N1.

17 Apr 2007

U.S. ready for bird flu

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the United States has approved for the first time a vaccine to prevent bird flu in humans.

17 Apr 2007

Should stocks of smallpox virus be destroyed?

Smallpox was eradicated in 1980, but the virus still exists in WHO controlled depositories. In this week's BMJ , two experts go head to head over whether these stocks should be destroyed.

15 Apr 2007

Understanding of primate evolution advanced

The completed DNA sequence of the rhesus macaque ,an Old World monkey, has advanced understanding of primate evolution and will enhance medical research in neuroscience, behavioral biology, reproductive physiology, endocrinology, heart and blood vessel disease and immunodeficiency, said scientists at the Baylor College of Medicine (BCM) Human Genome Sequencing Center who led the effort.

15 Apr 2007

BioForce Nanosciences pursues support for ViriChip platform

BioForce Nanosciences continues their effort to fund development of the ViriChip platform, a patented system designed to rapidly and nondestructively detect and identify whole viruses.

12 Apr 2007

Experimental flu vaccine produced using insect cells shows promise

An influenza vaccine produced with the use of insect cells appeared safe and produced an immunogenic response in healthy adults, suggesting promise as an alternative to using embryonated eggs for the development of influenza vaccine, according to a preliminary study in the April 11 issue of JAMA.

11 Apr 2007

Study shows beneficial effects of pneumococcal conjugate vaccines in children

Routine infant immunisation with pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV7) has caused a 39% fall in all-cause pneumonia hospital admission rates for American children aged under two years, according to an Article published in this week's edition of The Lancet.

8 Apr 2007

Weak immune response critical to disease that causes most infant hospitalizations

The most common cause of infant hospitalization in the United States, respiratory syncytial virus, infects virtually all children by age two.

7 Apr 2007

Cylindrical nanoparticles deliver drugs to tumors

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine & School of Engineering and Applied Science have discovered a better way to deliver drugs to tumors.

7 Apr 2007