Ginseng can help treat and prevent influenza and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), a respiratory virus that infects the lungs and breathing passages, according to research findings by a scientist in Georgia State University’s new Institute for Biomedical Sciences.
Flu epidemics cause up to half a million deaths worldwide each year, and emerging strains continually threaten to spread to humans and cause even deadlier pandemics. A study by McGill University professor Maziar Divangahi published by Cell Press on April 10 in the journal Immunity reveals that a drug that inhibits a molecule called prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) increases survival rates in mice infected with a lethal dose of the H1N1 flu virus. The findings pave the way for an urgently needed therapy that is highly effective against the flu virus and potentially other viral infections.
There are many reasons some people may not get a flu shot, but would they be more likely to do so if there was a simple device that could be mailed directly to them, was easy enough to use by themselves, and provided at least the same level of protection as a traditional flu shot without the pain of a needle jab? A recent NIBIB-funded study suggests the answer is yes.
Sifting flu-related tweets can help track the illness at the local level, not just on a national scale. researchers have found.
Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute have mapped key elements of a severe immune overreaction—a “cytokine storm.” Their findings also clarify the workings of a potent new class of anti-inflammatory compounds that prevent this immune overreaction in animal models.
The annual ritual of visiting a doctor’s office or health clinic to receive a flu shot may soon be outdated, thanks to the findings of a new study published in the journal Vaccine.
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital scientists have identified a signature immune response that might help doctors identify which newly diagnosed influenza patients are most likely to develop severe symptoms and suffer poor outcomes. The findings also help explain why infants and toddlers are at elevated risk for flu complications. The research appears in the upcoming issue of the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.
A snapshot of patients who required care at Duke University Hospital during this year’s flu season shows that those who had not been vaccinated had severe cases and needed the most intensive treatment.
Physicians at UAB are employing a technology known as ECMO as a last-resort therapy for extremely severe cases of influenza. ECMO is a sort of portable heart/lung bypass machine.
The researchers assembled information from many sources, including experiments on human volunteers and on ferrets, then used a mathematical model to compute how the increase in the amount of virus given off by a single person taking fever-reducing drugs would increase the overall number of cases in a typical year, or in a year when a new strain of influenza caused a flu pandemic. The bottom line is that fever suppression increases the number of annual cases by approximately five per cent, corresponding to more than 1,000 additional deaths from influenza in a typical year across North America.
A research project supervised by Kansas State University's Juergen Richt is showing promise in fighting the deadly novel avian H7N9 influenza virus.
McGill researchers, led by Dr. Maya Saleh of the Department of Medicine, have identified an enzyme, cIAP2 that helps the lungs protect themselves from the flu by giving them the ability to resist tissue damage.
What you should know about the flu, its symptoms and how to prevent getting it.
With cold and flu season in full swing, digital thermometers are a convenience for many families, but an internal medicine physician in the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Medicine says they are not for everyone.
Sudden onset of fever. Nausea. Body aches. Coughing. Sneezing. All these classic symptoms of flu are quickly spreading across offices, classrooms, and neighborhoods.
Every year, patients have "a bucketful of excuses" for not getting a flu vaccine. Dr. Jennifer Caudle, of RowanSOM discusses and dispels the seven most common myths and misconceptions she hears about the vaccine.
In a study of older mice, wolfberries appear to interact with the influenza vaccine to offer additional protection against the flu virus. The research from Tufts University suggests the wolfberry may increase the activity of dendritic cells, which play an important role in the ability of the immune system to defend against viral infections.
Avian influenza virus H7N9, which killed several dozen people in China earlier this year, has not yet acquired the changes needed to infect humans easily, according to a new study by scientists at The Scripps Research Institute.
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital scientists have evidence that descendants of the H2N2 avian influenza A virus that killed millions worldwide in the 1950s still pose a threat to human health, particularly to those under 50. The research has been published in an advance online edition of the Journal of Virology.
A research team consisting of more than 60 collaborators in 26 countries has estimated the global death toll from the 2009 outbreak of the H1N1 virus to be 10 times higher than the World Health Organization’s count, which was based on laboratory-confirmed cases of this flu. The study, which appears online in PLOS Medicine, suggests that the pandemic virus caused up to 203,000 respiratory deaths around the world.
Weakened immune systems due to diseases like cancer cause increased risk of severe complications from the flu virus — experts advise vaccine shot, not mist.
Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have shown for the first time how influenza A viruses snip through a protective mucus net to both infect respiratory cells and later cut their way out to infect other cells.
Egg allergies and fear of needles are no longer arguments to avoid getting a flu vaccine, thanks to improvements newly available this year. Good news because the flu virus has already struck. Loyola University Health System diagnosed its first case of the flu for the 2013 – 2014 season on Tuesday, Nov. 5. “Autumn usually signals the traditional beginning of the flu season in America so one case in early November is normal and right on schedule,” says Jorge Parada, MD, MPH, the Medical Director of the Infection Prevention and Control Program at Loyola. “Last year we had an unusually early flu season and we diagnosed cases in early October.”
Should flu vaccines be mandatory for health care workers? That’s the question raised this week in the British Medical Journal to two health care providers, including Penn Medicine’s Amy J. Behrman, MD, in a “Head to Head” piece that argues both sides of the debate.
With the fall season well underway, people of all ages are urged to receive their flu vaccinations before the cold and flu season soon kicks into high gear.
Flu season lurks around the corner throughout the United States, and gerontologists at the University of Alabama at Birmingham say the elderly are at increased risk for getting the flu and often have a worse time coping with flu symptoms than do younger people.
There is an association between the influenza virus and cardiovascular events like heart disease and stroke; those with cardiovascular disease should protect themselves against the flu.
Receiving an influenza vaccination was associated with a lower risk of major adverse cardiovascular events such as heart failure or hospitalization for heart attack, with the greatest treatment effect seen among patients with recent acute coronary syndrome (ACS; such as heart attack or unstable angina), according to a meta-analysis published in the October 23/30 issue of JAMA.
The flu vaccine may not only ward off serious complications from influenza, it may also reduce the risk of heart attack or stroke by more than 50 per cent among those who have had a heart attack, according to new research led by Dr. Jacob Udell, a cardiologist at Women’s College Hospital and clinician-scientist at the University of Toronto.
Members of The National Communication Association who study health communication can provide insight into the following: Which messages are most effective in convincing people to get a flu shot?; What are the greatest challenges faced in communicating positive health messages?; Which health messages resonate well with underserved populations?
Revealing influenza’s truly insidious nature, Whitehead Institute scientists have discovered that the virus is able to infect its host by first killing off the cells of the immune system that are actually best equipped to neutralize the virus.
A study led by St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital scientists highlights a new approach for developing a universal influenza vaccine that could protect against multiple flu strains, including deadly pandemic strains. The research appears today in the advance online edition of the scientific journal Nature Immunology.
All children should have flu shots, even if they have an egg allergy, and it’s now safe to get them without special precautions. “In a large number of research studies published over the last several years, thousands of egg allergic children, including those with a severe life-threatening reaction to eating eggs, have received injectable influenza vaccine (IIV) as a single dose without a reaction” said allergist John Kelso, MD, fellow of the ACAAI.
UAB clinician says those with diabetes should receive the flu vaccine and not the mist, which is not safe for diabetics.
Researchers from the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and Boston University, in collaboration with the American Academy of Allergy Asthma and Immunology (AAAAI), have found evidence of the H1N1 influenza vaccine’s safety during pregnancy.
Scientists at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center have uncovered a new mechanism by which influenza can infect cells – a finding that ultimately may have implications for immunity against the flu.
A UAB internal medicine expert says sporadic cases of flu are appearing and with a vaccine already available, it is best to get immunized now.
A blood test developed by researchers at Duke Medicine showed more than 90-percent accuracy in distinguishing between viral and bacterial infections when tested in people with respiratory illnesses.
Researchers at The Mount Sinai Medical Center have developed an innovative system to test how a virus interacts with cells in the body — to see, for example, what happens in lung cells when a deadly respiratory virus attacks them.
Some of this year's flu vaccine will protect against four strains of the virus. There will also be vaccines which protect against three strains of the virus as well. This is the first year the four strain flu vaccine is available.
New mothers and obese people, two groups not typically regarded as risk groups, were found to have a higher risk of death and other severe outcomes from influenza, according to the global study sponsored by the World Health Organization.
A new technology is showing promise as the basis for a home test to diagnose influenza quickly, before the window for taking antiviral drugs slams shut and sick people spread the virus to others, scientists reported here today. In a presentation at the 246th National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society, they described how it also would determine the specific strain of flu virus, helping in selection of the most effective drug.
The next flu shot season will include several new vaccine options for consumers, Mayo Clinic vaccine expert Gregory Poland, M.D., says. Fearful of needles? There’s now an influenza vaccination just for you. Allergic to eggs? It won’t stop you from getting a flu shot. The new choices move influenza vaccinations closer to the personalized approach long sought by immunologists including Dr. Poland, but they may also prove bewildering to patients, he says.
The emerging H7N9 avian influenza virus responsible for at least 37 deaths in China has qualities that could potentially spark a global outbreak of flu, according to a new study published today (July 10, 2013) in the journal Nature.
To investigate factors underlying the three-wave shape of the 1918 influenza epidemic, McMaster researchers developed what they describe as a simple epidemic model. It incorporates three factors in addition to natural disease spread: school terms, temperature changes during an outbreak and changes in human behavior.
The influenza virus’ ability to mutate quickly has produced new, emerging strains that make drug discovery more critical than ever. For the first time, researchers have mapped how critical molecules regulate both the induction and resolution of inflammation during flu infection. The results are published this month in the journal Cell.
RSS
Medicine keyboard_arrow_right
Sciencekeyboard_arrow_right
Life keyboard_arrow_right
Business keyboard_arrow_right
Journal News keyboard_arrow_right
By Location keyboard_arrow_right
Meetings, Grants, and Events keyboard_arrow_right