This year’s unexpectedly aggressive flu season reminds everyone that although the flu vaccine can reduce the number of people who contract the virus, it is still not 100 percent effective. Researchers report that a tweak to a small-molecule drug shows promise for future production of new antiviral therapies that could help patients, regardless of the strain with which they are infected.
UGA researcher Ted Ross shares his thoughts on the future of flu prevention
Mandatory flu vaccines for health care workers improve participation by as much as 30 percent and reduce absenteeism during critical periods of patient surges by about 6 percent, findings from a multi-institutional study show.
In the first study to measure the link between an employee’s number of paid sick leave days and the use of vital preventive health care services like getting a flu shot, researchers found a 26 to 85 percent increase in preventive health care use among those with at least 10 or more paid sick leave days. For the female-focused preventive services, they showed a 55 percent increase in the use of preventive mammography.
This year’s flu season has been one of the worst in recent memory causing thousands of people to be hospitalized. The virus can be particularly dangerous for young men who can experience nerve damage caused by the body’s response to the flu.
People getting more rays of sunlight — and therefore vitamin D — in August and September could help reduce the severity of flu season, according to a National Bureau of Economic Research working paper co-authored by a University of Kansas economist.
Although obesity has been considered a risk factor for more-severe cases of the flu, a new study found that it is not a risk factor for severe acute respiratory illnesses, including the flu, in children or adults.
Using several large datasets describing health care visits, geographic movements and demographics of more than 150 million people over nine years, researchers at the University of Chicago have created models that predict the spread of influenza throughout the United States each year.
We know that germs can make you sick, but if you seem to constantly be under the weather with cold symptoms, could it be something other than germs that are getting you down?
Researchers from the University of Chicago, Harvard University and others show that poor immune responses, not egg adaptions, may explain the low effectiveness of the vaccine that year.
Flu is still on the rise
With this year’s severe flu season, one statistic is especially chilling. Each year, around 50 percent of all children under 5 years old who die from the flu were previously healthy, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Adults who die from the flu, on the other hand, typically had a medical condition that increased their risk of mortality. A new study published in the Journal of Immunology offers new insights as to why healthy children are much more vulnerable. It also opens new opportunities for treatment.
Overhead far-UVC light, a type of ultraviolet light that is harmless to humans, effectively killed airborne flu virus, found researchers at Columbia University. The lighting may offer a new weapon against the spread of flu virus in public spaces.
Julia A. Piwoz, M.D., FAAP, chief, Section of Pediatric Infectious Diseases at the Joseph M. Sanzari Children’s Hospital at Hackensack Meridian Health Hackensack University Medical Center has created a list of Top Ten Tips for Kids (and their parents) on how to deal with the challenges of the flu.
Two viruses closely related to Zika – West Nile and Powassan – can spread from an infected pregnant mouse to her fetuses, causing brain damage and fetal death, according to a new study from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. The findings suggest that Zika may not be unique in its ability to cause miscarriages and birth defects.
A pandemic flu outbreak could kill millions. Now, researchers have found features of the virus's genome that influence how well it multiplies. The findings could help target pandemic flu surveillance efforts to make it easier to find the next outbreak before it spreads widely.
Researchers have developed a universal vaccine to combat influenza A viruses that produces long-lasting immunity in mice and protects them against the limitations of seasonal flu vaccines, according to a study led by Georgia State University.
A new study, led in part by San José State researcher Sheryl Ehrman, indicates the virus may be passed on a lot more easily than once thought.
Southern Research scientists are working on several fronts to help limit the death toll from a catastrophic flu outbreak that one day slams the nation.
More than 700,000 Americans were hospitalized due to illnesses associated with the seasonal flu during the 2014–15 flu season, according to federal estimates. A radical new approach to vaccine development at UCLA may help lower that figure for future flu seasons.
A Rutgers medical expert explains why this year’s flu season is so fierce and how you can protect yourself
New data analysis suggests that people born at the time of the 1957 H2N2 or Asian Flu pandemic were at a higher risk of dying during the 2009 H1N1 Swine Flu pandemic as well as the resurgent H1N1 outbreak in 2013-2014. And it is not the first time this has happened.
There a few common sense, if perhaps overlooked, steps one can take to reduce one’s risk for catching a cold.
Loyola Medicine pediatrician Bridget Boyd, MD, has some advice for parents on how to help their child fend off the flu and what to do if they do get sick.
Influenza is a serious illness that sometimes can result in death. Jonathan Grein, MD, Cedars-Sinai medical director of Hospital Epidemiology, is available to discuss ways to keep healthy as flu activity surges dramatically.
As flu season swings into high gear, a new poll suggests nursing homes and other long-term care facilities should be doing more to get their staff and patients vaccinated before it’s too late. Nearly three-quarters of people over age 50 say all staff in such facilities should definitely be required to get the flu vaccine. More than 60 percent say that patients should definitely get vaccinated too.
Holiday travel forces people into often-crowded airplanes, automobiles and airports and the result can be a cold or other bug that dims the holiday cheer.
A Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory biomedical technology that can deliver vaccines and drugs inside the human body has been licensed for use in cancer treatments to a Michigan company.
Nearly a century after the influenza pandemic of 1918–1919 ravaged communities worldwide, the threat of another pandemic looms large as the scientific and global health communities find ways to prepare for, and battle, future outbreaks.
It’s easy to get worn down this time of year. A Michigan Medicine expert offers tips to handle holiday travel with your health in mind.
A team of researchers working across disciplines and universities is developing a flu nanovaccine that preliminary studies suggest could be more effective than today's seasonal shots. The NIH is supporting the research with a five-year, $2.8 million grant.
Lactic acid bacteria, commonly used as probiotics to improve digestive health, can offer protection against different subtypes of influenza A virus, resulting in reduced weight loss after virus infection and lower amounts of virus replication in the lungs, according to a study led by Georgia State University.
Employees with laboratory-confirmed influenza have more lost work time—including absences and reduced productivity while at work—compared to those with other types of acute respiratory illness (ARI), reports a study in the December Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine.
Researchers at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health have discovered a genetic mutation in the FluMist intranasal flu vaccine that has the potential to be altered to enhance the vaccine’s protective effect.
A new study demonstrates that outbreaks of mosquito-borne viruses Zika and Chikungunya generally occur about three weeks after heavy rainfall. Researchers also found that Chikungunya will predominate over Zika when both circulate at the same time.
Infectious disease experts are warning that flu can lead to an increased risk of heart attack, stroke and disability in elderly patients for months after they have recovered from their illness.
Rural counties continue to rank lowest among counties across the U.S., in terms of health outcomes. A group of national organizations including the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the National 4-H Council are leading the way to close the rural health gap.
The below average efficacy of last year’s influenza vaccine (which was only 20 to 30 percent effective) can be attributed to a mutation in the H3N2 strain, a new study reports. With the mutation, most people receiving the egg-grown vaccine did not have immunity against H3N2 viruses that circulated last year.
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