SARS News

Latest Flu / Cold / SARS News From Medical News Today.

Total news: 25
Last news: August 31, 2007 07:00:00

Latest SARS News From News-Medical.Net

Total news: 10
Last news: August 29, 2007 17:35:00

HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt announced that the Department is making available another $75 million to states, territories and four metropolitan areas to help strengthen their capacity to respond to a pandemic influenza outbreak. "The additional funding will provide our nations health care community with a means to continue planning, training and acquiring needed equipment for an effective pandemic response," Secretary Leavitt said. [click link for full article] - [Read more]

Researchers may be able to tinker with a single amino acid of an enzyme that helps viruses multiply to render them harmless, according to molecular biologists who say the discovery could pave the way for a fast and cheap method of making vaccines. - [Read more]

The worldwide fear against the pandemic threat of the avian flu is soon to be allayed at the 5th International Bird Flu Summit organized by New-Fields Exhibition Inc., as Dr. Norio Ogata of the Japanese Taiko Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. presents, for the first time in an international conference, the companys experimental data and practical applications of chlorine dioxide against pandemic influenza. The product to be launched uses chlorine dioxide gas to create virus-free living spaces. [click link for full article] - [Read more]

Queensland has been gripped by one of the worst flu seasons in years, leaving many patients with secondary bacterial infections. Despite, the Australian Medical Association urging people to be vaccinated against the flu every year, many dont take heed. And if luck doesnt prevail and an infection develops antibiotics become the treatment of choice. [click link for full article] - [Read more]

More than at any previous time in history, global public health security depends on international cooperation and the willingness of all countries to act effectively in tackling new and emerging threats. - [Read more]

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has warned the world to expect a new killer disease to emerge in the next few years which will threaten the lives of millions. - [Read more]

With summer vacation coming to an end, flu season is just around the corner. Hectic back-to-school and work schedules are sure to cause some to forget that they need to schedule a flu shot. Whether you are scheduling the flu vaccination for an elderly parent, child or yourself, you can sign up to receive an e mail to remind you to get your flu shot. Simply log on to http://www.FindaFluShot. [click link for full article] - [Read more]

Scientists at St. Jude Childrens 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 appear in avian influenza virus proteins and those that are more likely to be in human influenza virus proteins. [click link for full article] - [Read more]

Novartis announced the availability in the US of the first shipments of Fluvirin influenza virus vaccine for the 2007/08 season. An estimated 40 million doses of Fluvirin are planned to be shipped to the US for the upcoming season, of which nearly seven million have already been made available to support the rollout of annual influenza immunization programs nationwide. [click link for full article] - [Read more]

Instead of attacking wild birds for our new disease problems, a far more cost effective approach should focus on keeping wild animals separate in the places where they often commingle: in wildlife markets and international trade, according to wildlife health experts from the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in a recent issue of the prestigious Journal of Wildlife Diseases. - [Read more]

A peak in ragweed and mold spores that comes with the onset of fall can aggravate symptoms in children with allergic asthma. So can the flu and other seasonal bugs in the autumn and winter months.Avoiding triggers is important to prevent asthma attacks but so is the diligent use of controller medications, say experts from the Johns Hopkins Childrens Center. [click link for full article] - [Read more]

Scientists at Cure Lab, Inc., a biotechnology company based in Canton, Massachusetts, in collaboration with researchers at Boston University and Harvard Medical School have discovered a potential new target for the development of anti-influenza (flu) drugs, including those that may be effective against potentially pandemic influenza strains like H5N1.Their findings have been published in the journal Cell Cycle. [click link for full article] - [Read more]

Advanced supply contracts to provide the vaccine for a possible flu pandemic were awarded by the Department of Health to pharmaceutical company GSK and Baxter Healthcare. The contracts, worth Ă‚Â£155.4 million over four years, are part of the Governments continued work to prepare for and reduce the impact of a possible flu pandemic. [click link for full article] - [Read more]

Canadas leading cold remedy - COLD-fX - gets critical praise from the University of Californias respected UC Berkeley Wellness Letter in the midst of the ongoing debate involving Vitamin "C", Echinacea and other ways to treat the common cold. COLD-fX is a new class of evidence-based therapeutics discovered by Canadians scientists from the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada which only recently became available in the U.S. [click link for full article] - [Read more]

As this years sniffling-sneezing season approaches, theres also a hint of hope present in the pre-germ-season air. In a study scheduled for publication in the August issue of the American Journal of Chinese Medicine, a team of kinesiologists at the University of Illinois suggest that older adults who adopt an exercise regimen combining Taiji and Qigong may get an extra boost from their annual flu shot. [click link for full article] - [Read more]

Novation, LLC the health care contracting services company of VHA Inc. and the University HealthSystem Consortium (UHC), surveyed pharmaceutical executives to determine the status of their pandemic disaster preparations. While all of the hospitals surveyed reported they have identified to some extent the key pharmaceuticals required in the event of an outbreak, concerns about the appropriate quantities to maintain and the associated cost of additional inventory remain. [click link for full article] - [Read more]

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.Until now. [click link for full article] - [Read more]

School closures and other community strategies designed to reduce the possibility of spreading disease between people during an epidemic can save lives, particularly when the measures are used in combination and implemented soon after an outbreak begins in a community, according to a new study based on public records from the 1918-1919 influenza pandemic.The findings, which are published in the Aug. [click link for full article] - [Read more]

Dynavax Technologies Corporation (Nasdaq: DVAX) announced today that the National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Disease (NIAID), a division of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), has awarded a two-year $3.25 million grant to continue development of a novel universal influenza vaccine for controlling seasonal and emerging pandemic flu strains. [click link for full article] - [Read more]

Non-pharmaceutical interventions, such as closing schools and banning public gatherings, was probably effective in reducing US death rates during the 1918-1919 influenza pandemic, according to an analysis published in the August 8 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). The article suggests that these non-pharmaceutical interventions should perhaps play a role in planning for future flu pandemics. [click link for full article] - [Read more]