Flu in Biological News

1 in 6 health workers won't report in flu pandemic -- study by Ben-Gurion U. researchers

BEER-SHEVA, ISRAEL -- July 28, 2009 A study conducted by researchers at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) and John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health indicates that approximately 16 percent of public health care workers will not report for work in a pandemic flu emergency, regardles...

Targeting children effective use of limited supplies of flu vaccine and could help control flu spread

Targeting children may be an effective use of limited supplies of flu vaccine, according to research at the University of Warwick funded by the Wellcome Trust and the EU. The study suggests that, used to support other control measures, this could help control the spread of pandemics such as the cu...

Government of Canada announces funding for research on the H1N1 flu virus

This release is available in French . Toronto (June 5, 2009) - The Honourable Leona Aglukkaq, Minister of Health, is pleased to announce another measure to address the H1N1 flu virus. The Government of Canada will fund a national influenza research network focused on pandemic vaccine evalu...

Swine flu experts gather at New York Academy of Sciences May 28

The very latest information on the 2009 swine influenza (H1N1) outbreak is the subject of a landmark afternoon symposium hosted by the New York Academy of Sciences on Thursday, May 28. Speakers will discuss the new recombinant virus, epidemiology, treatment, vaccine development and the public heal...

Princeton team's analysis of flu virus could lead to better vaccines

A team of Princeton University scientists may have found a better way to make a vaccine against the flu virus. Though theoretical, the work points to the critical importance of what has been a poorly appreciated aspect of the interaction between a virus and those naturally produced defensive p...

HudsonAlpha investigator develops rapid response swine flu test

Huntsville, Ala. Dr. Jian Han, faculty investigator at the HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology, has completed development of a rapid response, molecular-level assay for swine flu, the current strain of the H1N1 family of the influenza virus. The test, which can confirm swine flu in less than ...

Swine flu genes dissimilar to past pandemics

Some genetic markers of influenza infection severity have been identified from past outbreaks. Researchers have failed to find most of these markers, described in the open access journal BMC Microbiology , in samples of the current swine-flu strain. Jonathan Allen and Tom Slezak from Lawrence ...

Scientists learn why the flu may turn deadly

As the swine flu continues its global spread, researchers from the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, have discovered important clues about why influenza is more severe in some people than it is in others. In their research study published online in the Journal of Leukocyte Biolog...

Social separation stops flu spread, but must be started soon

A disease spread simulation has emphasized that flu interventions must be imposed quickly, if they are to be effective. Researchers writing in the open access journal BMC Public Health have shown that staying at home, closing schools and isolating infected people within the home should reduce in...

K-State researcher finds 1918 flu resulted in current lineage of H1N1 swine influenza viruses

In 1918 a human influenza virus known as the Spanish flu spread through the central United States while a swine respiratory disease occurred concurrently. A Kansas State University researcher has found that the virus causing the pandemic was able to infect and replicate in pigs, but did not kill t...

Avian flu research sheds light on swine flu outbreak

AUDIO: Associate Professor Daniel Perez from the University of Maryland talks about the H9N2 virus. Click here for more information. ...

FluChip technology licensed to combat deadly flu virus

Boulder, CO, 4-28-09. InDevR, a small biotech company in Boulder, CO, announced today that they have licensed the FluChip technology from the University of Colorado. The FluChip was invented by a joint team of scientists at the University of Colorado and the Centers for Disease Control and Preve...

Scientists identify human monoclonal antibodies effective against bird and seasonal flu viruses

February 22, 2009--Researchers at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (Dana-Farber), Burnham Institute for Medical Research (Burnham) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have reported the identification of human monoclonal antibodies (mAb) that neutralize an unprecedented range o...

Scientists identify human monoclonal antibodies effective against bird, seasonal flu viruses

February 22, 2009--Researchers at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (Dana-Farber), Burnham Institute for Medical Research (Burnham) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have reported the identification of human monoclonal antibodies (mAb) that neutralize an unprecedented range o...

Shades of 1918? New study compares avian flu with a notorious killer from the past

In the waning months of the First World War, a lethal virus known as the Spanish flu (influenza A, subtype H1N1), swept the United States, Europe and Asia in three convulsive waves. The year was 1918. The ensuing pandemic claimed up to 100 million victims, most of whom succumbed to severe respirat...

Avian flu becoming more resistant to antiviral drugs, says University of Colorado study

A new University of Colorado at Boulder study shows the resistance of the avian flu virus to a major class of antiviral drugs is increasing through positive evolutionary selection, with researchers documenting the trend in more than 30 percent of the samples tested. The avian flu, an Influenza ...

Protein 'tubules' free avian flu virus from immune recognition

A protein found in the virulent avian influenza virus strain called H5N1 forms tiny tubules in which it "hides" the pieces of double-stranded RNA formed during viral infection, which otherwise would prompt an antiviral immune response from infected cells, said Baylor College of Medicine researcher...

Avian flu threat: New approach needed

As the first globally co-ordinated plan for the planet's gravest health threats is hatched by government ministers from around the world this weekend, a new report sets out a 10-point plan for this new, globalised approach to infectious diseases such as avian flu. Ministers of health and agricu...

Bird flu vaccine protects people and pets

A single vaccine could be used to protect chickens, cats and humans against deadly flu pandemics, according to an article published in the November issue of the Journal of General Virology . The vaccine protects birds and mammals against different flu strains and can even be given to birds while ...

NIAID funds studies of how SARS and bird flu evade antiviral responses

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NAID), one of the National Institutes of Health, has awarded a contract to the University of Washington (UW) to use systems biology approaches to comprehensively analyze and model the virus-host interactions and cellular response networks ...

Rethinking who should be considered 'essential' during a pandemic flu outbreak

Not only are doctors, nurses, and firefighters essential during a severe pandemic influenza outbreak. So, too, are truck drivers, communications personnel, and utility workers. That's the conclusion of a Johns Hopkins University article to be published in the journal of Biosecurity and Bioterror...

Survivors of 1918 flu pandemic protected with a lifetime immunity to virus

New research has discovered that infection and natural exposure to the 1918 influenza virus made survivors immune to the disease for the remaining of their lives. Antibodies produced by cells isolated from these survivors served as an effective therapy to protect mice from the highly lethal 1918 ...

1918 flu antibodies resurrected from elderly survivors

Ninety years after the sweeping destruction of the 1918 flu pandemic, researchers at Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt have recovered antibodies to the virus from elderly survivors of the original outbreak. In addition to revealing the surprisingly long-lasting immunity to ...

Newly described 'dragon' protein could be key to bird flu cure

ARGONNE, Ill. (July 15, 2008) -- Scientists and researchers have taken a big step closer to a cure for the most common strain of avian influenza, or "bird flu," the potential pandemic that has claimed more than 200 lives and infected nearly 400 people in 14 countries since it was identified in 200...

VaxInnate to discuss seasonal and pandemic flu vaccines during BIO 2008 this week

SAN DIEGO, CA, June 16, 2008 -- VaxInnate Corporation announced today that it will discuss its novel proprietary technology for producing seasonal and pandemic influenza vaccines during BIO 2008 here this week. VaxInnate will participate in the following three BIO 2008 panel discussions: ...

New vaccine may give long-term defense against deadly bird flu and its variant forms

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - A new vaccine under development may provide protection against highly pathogenic bird flu and its evolving forms, according to researchers at Purdue University and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention who discovered the new preventative drug and have tested it in m...

Arbor Vita rapid H5N1 flu diagnostic presented at ICEID meeting

Sunnyvale, CA March 27, 2008 Preliminary research from the Department of Respiratory Disease Research at the Naval Health Research Center (NHRC) suggests that a rapid antigen assay test developed by Arbor Vita Corporation (AVC) shows promise as a useful diagnostic for the detection of the avian...

Study of sugars on cell surface identifies key factor in flu infection

Scientists have identified a key factor that determines the ability of influenza viruses to infect cells of the human upper respiratory tracta necessary step for sustaining spread between people. The research, described in the January 6 online edition of Nature Biotechnology and funded by the Nati...

MIT finds key to avian flu in humans

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--MIT researchers have uncovered a critical difference between flu viruses that infect birds and humans, a discovery that could help scientists monitor the evolution of avian flu strains and aid in the development of vaccines against a deadly flu pandemic. The researchers found ...

St. Jude influenza survey uncovers key differences between bird flu and human flu

Scientists at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital have found key features that distinguish influenza viruses found in birds from those that infect humans. The St. Jude team used a mathematical technique to identify specific amino acid building blocks that are statistically more likely to app...

Study: Fluid buildup in lungs is part of the damage done by the flu

COLUMBUS, Ohio In a fight against respiratory infections, the body typically produces a little fluid to help the lungs generate a productive cough. But new research suggests that the influenza virus can tip the balance toward too much fluid in the lungs, interfering with the supply of oxygen to t...

Study: Excessive use of antiviral drugs could aid deadly flu

COLUMBUS, Ohio Influenza's ability to resist the effects of cheap and popular antiviral agents in Asia and Russia should serve as a cautionary tale about U.S. plans to use the antiviral Tamiflu in the event of widespread avian flu infection in humans, scientists say. Researchers analyzed almos...

Feed a cold, feed a fever: Research shows calorie cut makes it harder to fight flu

EAST LANSING, Mich. -- Dieters or those who consume fewer calories during flu season could have a harder time fighting off the flu virus, according to research by Michigan State University nutritional immunology professor Elizabeth Gardner. In a study published in the November issue of the Jou...

Substance found in fruits and vegetables reduces likelihood of the flu

BETHESDA, Md. (Sept. 3, 2008) Mice given quercetin, a naturally occurring substance found in fruits and vegetables, were less likely to contract the flu, according to a study published by The American Physiological Society. The study also found that stressful exercise increased the susceptibility...

New strategies against bird flu

The Spanish flu outbreak of 1918 killed between 30 and 50 million people. In the infected patients, the ultimate cause of death was acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). This fatal condition is a massive reaction of the body during which the lung becomes severely damaged. ARDS can be induced...

Smiths Detection to launch a portable diagnostic system for foot-and-mouth disease and avian flu

PINE BROOK, N.J. (Oct. 13, 2007) 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. This new techn...

Pregnant mom's exposure to flu vaccine kick-starts fetal immune system

Some researchers have hypothesized that the fetus can be exposed to and mount an immune response against allergens to which the mother has been exposed, and this may have an effect on the development of allergic sensitivity (e.g. eczema and asthma) later in an infant’s life. However this hypothesi...

US control strategies may make flu epidemics worse, UCLA study shows

Regular as clockwork, the flu arrives every year. And, according to the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 5 to 20 percent of the U.S. population on average will come down with it. About 36,000 people will die. But among health experts, a bigger concern than the seasonal flu is ...

Rapid response was crucial to containing the 1918 flu pandemic

One of the persistent riddles of the deadly 1918 Spanish influenza pandemic is why it struck different cities with varying severity. Why were some municipalities such as St. Louis spared the fate of the hard-hit cities like Philadelphia when both implemented similar public health measures? What mad...

UCI scientists reconstruct migration of avian flu virus

UC Irvine researchers have combined genetic and geographic data of the H5N1 avian flu virus to reconstruct its history over the past decade. They found that multiple strains of the virus originated in the Chinese province of Guangdong, and they identified many of the migration routes through which ...