Pneumonia News and Research

Latest Pneumonia News and Research

Secondhand smoke and pets

It has been in the news for years about how secondhand smoke is a health threat to nonsmokers. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention indicates that secondhand smoke is attributed with killing thousands of adult nonsmokers annually.

3 Sep 2007

New targets for antibiotics

University of Illinois at Chicago researchers have identified new sites on the bacterial cell's protein-making machinery where antibiotics can be delivered to treat infections.

30 Aug 2007

New understanding of what makes a major global bacterial infection deadly

Researchers believe they have discovered why a bacterial lung infection is so lethal in the early stages, and it's not what medical authorities had thought, according to research published in the journal Immunity.

28 Aug 2007

Roche and WHO reinforce Tamiflu as primary H5N1 treatment

The World Health Organization (WHO) has reinforced that Tamiflu (oseltamivir) is the primary recommended antiviral of choice in managing patients infected with H5N1 in updated guidance published on the WHO website today.

24 Aug 2007

Environmental tests help predict hospital-acquired Legionnaires' disease risk

A new study spearheaded by the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine has determined that environmental monitoring of institutional water systems can help to predict the risk of hospital-acquired Legionella pneumonia, better known as Legionnaires disease.

24 Aug 2007

Breakthrough for Huntington's disease

A major breakthrough in the understanding and potential treatment of Huntington's disease has been made by scientists at the University of Leeds.

24 Aug 2007

Bali hit by bird flu again

There has been another death from bird flu in Bali; this time the victim is a 28-year-old woman.

22 Aug 2007

Improving the quality of primary care could prevent 4 million hospitalizations each year

More than 4 million hospitalizations potentially could be prevented each year by improving the quality of primary care, enhancing patients' access to effective treatments, and getting more Americans to adopt healthy behaviors, according to the latest News and Numbers from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

13 Aug 2007

Legionnaires' disease in Surrey with links to Institute of Animal Health at Pirbright

The Health Protection Agency can confirm that its Surrey Health Protection Unit is involved in an investigation with the Health and Safety Executive and local environmental health officers of a reported case of Legionnaires' disease with alleged links to the Institute of Animal Health at Pirbright, in Surrey .

12 Aug 2007

GSK receives FDA 'not approvable letter' for Advair for COPD

GlaxoSmithKline has announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued a not approvable letter for the supplemental drug application for the 500/50 strength of Advair Diskus (fluticasone propionate and salmeterol inhalation powder) in the treatment of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

9 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

The battle against killer superbugs begins in earnest

A new initiative in the battle against hospital infections caused by antibiotic-resistant superbugs will be led by the very doctor who first raised the alarm bells over the deadly germs.

7 Aug 2007

CT-guided radiofrequency ablation effective in eradicating small malignant kidney tumors

A relatively new, minimally invasive treatment was 100 percent successful in eradicating small malignant kidney tumors in a study of more than 100 patients, report researchers from Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center.

3 Aug 2007

New TB vaccine could save over a million lives

Initial trials of a new tuberculosis (TB) vaccine mean the drug will now progress to phase II trials.

31 Jul 2007

Pets could be to blame for infections of multi-resistant bacteria in humans

The next time you have difficulty fighting a bacterial infection, your next trip to the doctor might be to the family veterinarian.

31 Jul 2007

Web site puts physicians and hospitals under microscope

As health consumers across the country demand better and more detailed information about their physicians and hospitals, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) is stepping up to detail its own performance efforts ranging from the percentage of clinicians who clean their hands to the number of times physicians take the proper steps in treating heart attack patients.

19 Jul 2007

Vitamin C for treating the common cold

Unless you run marathons, you probably won't get much protection from common colds by taking a daily supplemental dose of vitamin C, according to an updated review of 30 studies.

18 Jul 2007

Vitamin C to ward off colds - don't bother!

A survey by Australian and Finnish scientists of 30 different scientific studies from around the world over the last twenty years, has reached the conclusion that taking daily doses of vitamin C to ward off colds is a waste of time.

17 Jul 2007

COPD patients taking inhaled steroids are at greater risk for severe pneumonia

Patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) are increasingly being prescribed inhaled corticosteroids to control exacerbations of the disease, but a new study finds that the anti-inflammatory drugs increase the chances that these patients will be hospitalized for pneumonia.

17 Jul 2007