Search for: "flu vaccines" - 101 articles found

News • Evolution of Sars-CoV-2

Coronavirus model predicts new variants

What does the future of the coronavirus look like? An international research team from Cologne and New York has developed a model to predict the likely evolution of Sars-CoV-2.

News • Immune system insights

New corona research could improve vaccination techniques

New research from Copenhagen University Hospital – Rigshospitalet and Herlev and Gentofte Hospital has shed new light on the immune system’s complex struggle against the coronavirus.

Interview • Symptoms and their causes

Sneezing and sniffing: Is it allergies, a common cold, the flu, or Covid-19?

A family physician at Tufts University School of Medicine offers advice for how to treat allergies and how to tell if symptoms are due to allergies, the common cold, the flu, or Covid-19.

News • Vaccination & Biomedical Technology

Vaccines on demand - the mobile vaccine printer

Getting vaccines to people who need them isn't always easy. Many vaccines require cold storage, making it difficult to ship them to remote areas that don't have the necessary infrastructure.

News • SARS-CoV-2 genetic material in wastewater

Using sewage to forecast Covid-19 infections

A new mathematical model developed by Hokkaido University engineers uses wastewater samples to effectively forecast the number of clinical Covid-19 cases in a community five days in advance.

News • First on site, but short-lived

New insights into immune defence may explain Covid-19 reinfections

A new study has found that antibodies produced in the nose decline nine months after Covid-19 infection, while antibodies found in the blood last at least a year.

News • Coronavirus consequences

Covid-19 continues to reduce life expectancy (in some countries more than others)

Covid-19 has led to global mortality changes unprecedented in the last 70 years, according to new research. However, the drop in life expectancy is not equally high in all countries.

News • Covid-19

Preparing for another outbreak

What will the next pandemic look like? Health officials from across the globe gathered in Geneva in late August at a World Health Organization meeting to focus on how lessons learned from Covid-19 might best prepare civilization for the "next one."

News • Data submission on skin symptoms and vaccine

Monkeypox: International registry launched

Using a newly launched, comprehensive monkeypox registry, health professionals can share data on the skin symptoms of monkeypox and the vaccine to improve patient care.

News • Insufficient treatment advice

Monkeypox: experts state urgent need for high quality guidelines

A lack of high quality, up to date clinical guidance on monkeypox may be hampering effective and safe treatment of the infection around the world, a new review finds.

News • Spit take

Portable diagnostic detects SARS-CoV-2 RNA and antibodies

The prototype device combines eRapid and SHERLOCK technologies into a single, postcard-sized system that can simultaneously detect the presence of both SARS-CoV-2 RNA and antibodies in a patient’s saliva.

News • Nanochannels

Groundbreaking: Nanofluidic scattering microscopy

To develop new drugs, detailed knowledge about nature’s smallest biological building blocks is required. A new microscopy technique that allows proteins, DNA and other tiny biological particles to be studied in their natural state.

News • Mini-livers on a chip

Organoids: step towards hepatitis C vaccine

A platform for studying how the human immune system responds to hepatitis C infection by combining microfluidic technology with liver organoids could speed the hunt for a vaccine.

News • Genetic dystrophy repair

Using mRNA to improve muscle strength

An ECRC research team has introduced CRISPR-Cas9 into human muscle stem cells for the first time using mRNA, thus discovering a method suitable for therapeutic applications.

News • Adaptable for screening

An optical methodology for rapid detection of COVID-19

The tool has made it possible to detect SARS-CoV-2 in exudate from symptomatic patients with a sensitivity of 100% and a specificity of 87.5%

News • Alternative to injection

Inhaled vaccine delivers broad protection against SARS-CoV-2

Scientists have confirmed that an inhaled form of COVID vaccine can provide broad, long-lasting protection against the original strain of SARS-CoV-2 and variants of concern.

News • Viral subtypes

Coronavirus evolution: 'Even Omicron has three variants'

Professor Richard Neher from the Biozentrum of the University of Basel is using his Nextstrain platform to investigate which variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus are currently circulating worldwide.

Article • Diabetes

Microneedles: Nano-sized, huge impact

Drug delivery, blood extraction, contrast agent injection – many procedures in modern medicine would be utterly impossible without needles. Despite the benefits, inserting pointy metal tubes into a patient also comes with several drawbacks. By downscaling the to micrometer-size, Japanese researchers open even more areas of application for needles, while bypassing some of the most important…

News • Patient immunity

COVID-19 variants: Rapid test identifies antibody effectiveness

Test could measure patient immunity against multiple COVID-19 variants such as Omicron and Delta at once and inform which synthetic monoclonal antibody to use for treatments.

News • Covid-19 & influenza

Will there be a twindemic?

“Twindemic” is a term that has not yet been in the headlines but is likely to become part of our lexicon as the summer progresses.

News • Immune response study

Is a "natural" Covid-19 infection better than vaccination? It's complicated

Hope for a future without fear of Covid-19 comes down to circulating antibodies and memory B cells. Unlike circulating antibodies, which peak soon after vaccination or infection only to fade a few months later, memory B cells can stick around to prevent severe disease for decades. And they evolve over time, learning to produce successively more potent “memory antibodies” that are better at…

Article • AI in public health

Inspiring women to create technology that impacts society

Some people change the narrative about technology and society. One of them is Nuria Oliver, Chief Data Scientist at Data-Pop Alliance, Chief Scientific Advisor at the Vodafone Institute, and Co-founder and Vice-president of the European Laboratory for Learning and Intelligent Systems (ELLIS). In an interview with HiE, she explains how she develops computational tools and uses artificial…

News • Cell delivery vehicles

Bio-inspired nanocontainers could enter cells and release their medical cargo

Nanocontainers can transport substances into cells where they can then take effect. This is the method used in, for example, the mRNA vaccines currently being employed against Covid-19 as well as certain cancer drugs. In research, similar transporters can also be used to deliver labelled substances into cells in order to study basic cellular functions. To take advantage of their full potential,…

News • Mechanical inactivation

'Nano traps' to lock up and neutralize viruses

To date, there are no effective antidotes against most virus infections. An interdisciplinary research team at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) has now developed a new approach: they engulf and neutralize viruses with nano-capsules tailored from genetic material using the DNA origami method. The strategy has already been tested against hepatitis and adeno-associated viruses in cell…

News • Coronavirus diagnostics

Rapid Covid-19 test delivers results within 4 minutes with 90 percent accuracy

A low-cost, rapid diagnostic test for Covid-19 developed by Penn Medicine provides Covid-19 results within four minutes with 90 percent accuracy. A paper published this week in Matter details the fast and inexpensive diagnostic test, called RAPID 1.0 (Real-time Accurate Portable Impedimetric Detection prototype 1.0). Compared to existing methods for Covid-19 detection, RAPID is inexpensive and…

News • Lessons learned from Covid-19

A 'blueprint' for preventing the next pandemic

Scientific and public health experts have been raising the alarm for decades, imploring public officials to prepare for the inevitability of a viral pandemic. Infectious epidemics seemingly as benign as "the flu" and as deadly as the Ebola virus provided ample warning, yet government officials seemed caught off guard and ill prepared for dealing with Covid-19.

News • Frequently Asked Questions

What patients want to know about Covid-19 vaccine

This FAQ from the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology is provided to help answer patient questions about COVID-19 vaccines. These recommendations are based on best knowledge to date, but could change at any time, pending new information and further guidance from the FDA or CDC.

News • Microneedles

No more needles for bloodtests?

Blood draws are no fun. They hurt. Veins can burst, or even roll — like they’re trying to avoid the needle, too. Oftentimes, doctors use blood samples to check for biomarkers of disease: antibodies that signal a viral or bacterial infection, such as SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for COVID-19, or cytokines indicative of inflammation seen in conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis and…

News • Lasts longer, causes more damage

Covid-19 pneumonia: not your typical garden-variety pneumonia

Bacteria or viruses like influenza that cause pneumonia can spread across large regions of the lung within hours. In the modern intensive care unit, these bacteria or viruses are usually controlled either by antibiotics or by the body’s immune system within the first few days of the illness. But in a study published in Nature, investigators at Northwestern Medicine show Covid-19 pneumonia is…

News • Disease severity comparison

Covid-19 a far more serious threat than seasonal influenza, confirms huge data set

Nearly twice as many people were admitted to hospital for Covid-19 at the height of the pandemic than were for influenza at the peak of the 2018/2019 flu season, a study of French national data published in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine journal has found (Covid-19, 89,530 patients vs influenza, 45,819 patients).

Article • Diagnosing SARS-CoV-2

The arsenal: Molecular (PCR), antigen and antibody testing

Germany’s lack of diagnostic ability led to significantly underestimation of its own as well as global Covid-19 infection levels during the first wave. Now, however, improved testing and diagnosis of the condition more realistically reveal nearer 20,000 new cases a day across the country, according to Professor Hendrik Streeck, one of the country’s leading virologists. Speaking at a virtual…

News • Masks & social distancing

Do Covid countermeasures also curb other diseases? It's not quite that simple

Measures to reduce the spread of Covid-19 through non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) such as mask wearing and social distancing are a key tool in combatting the impact of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. These actions also have greatly reduced incidence of many other diseases, including influenza and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV).

Video • New insights on the virus' ‘survivability’

How long does SARS-CoV-2 last on surfaces?

Researchers at CSIRO, Australia's national science agency, have found that SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for COVID-19, can survive for up to 28 days on common surfaces including banknotes, glass – such as that found on mobile phone screens - and stainless steel.

News • Simulation model for pathological mechanisms

Understanding the progress of viral infections

It is only 120 millionths of a millimetre in size but can bring entire countries to a standstill: the Corona virus. Even if it were to disappear one day, viral infections will still be among the most frequent and difficult-to-treat diseases in humans. Even decades of research have only produced a few standardized vaccines and strategies for treatment to combat just a small number of viruses. Nor…

Video • For breakthroughs against Hepatitis C

Nobel Prize in Medicine goes to Harvey J. Alter, Michael Houghton and Charles M. Rice

The 2020 Nobel Prize in Medicine is awarded to three scientists who have made a decisive contribution to the fight against blood-borne hepatitis, a major global health problem that causes cirrhosis and liver cancer in people around the world. Harvey J. Alter, Michael Houghton and Charles M. Rice made seminal discoveries that led to the identification of a novel virus, Hepatitis C virus.

Article • Overheard at AAIC 2020

Exciting Alzheimer's findings: ’flu vaccines and P-tau217

More than 32,000 people from over 160 countries registered for The Alzheimer’s Association International Conference (AAIC 2020) in July. This largest and most influential international conference on dementia science had to be held virtually this year, when important highlights were aired. The ability to identify individuals at high risk of developing Alzheimer’s Disease (AD), or at early…

News • Prevalence prediction

COVID-19 will probably become seasonal, but...

Researchers predict that COVID-19 will likely become seasonal, waning in the summer and prevalent in the winter. But, only once herd immunity is achieved through natural infection or vaccinations. Until then, COVID-19 will be here year-round.

News • Coronavirus

Lab-made virus mimics COVID-19 virus

Airborne and potentially deadly, the virus that causes COVID-19 can only be studied safely under high-level biosafety conditions. Scientists handling the infectious virus must wear full-body biohazard suits with pressurized respirators, and work inside laboratories with multiple containment levels and specialized ventilation systems. While necessary to protect laboratory workers, these safety…

Article • Paediatric health risks

Children in the COVID-19 pandemic: Between fear and care

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected children with direct impacts of the infection as well as on them leading normal lives. Schooling, play and vaccinations are among issues that can affect children’s health. Delay in taking paediatric patients to the emergency room (ER) has also had a negative impact, for example late treatment of acute appendicitis. Two experts from Spain tackled these topics…

News • Total Antibody and Molecular

Siemens Healthineers now ships test kits for COVID-19 with expanded capacity

Siemens Healthineers announced today that it is now shipping worldwide its laboratory-based total antibody test1 to detect the presence of SARS-CoV-2 IgM and IgG antibodies in blood.

News • Coronavirus treatment

Can stem cells treat COVID-19?

Niels-Bjarne Woods, a researcher at Lund University in Sweden, has developed lung-specific mesenchymal stem cells to treat inflammation of the lungs and fibrosis. This research now may be the needed breakthrough for treatment of the severe respiratory issues related to COVID-19. A clinical study may soon be underway contingent on a successful application to the Swedish Medical Products Agency.…

News • COVID-19 gateway

Nose cells identified as likely coronavirus entry points

Two specific cell types in the nose have been identified as likely initial infection points for COVID-19 coronavirus. Scientists discovered that goblet and ciliated cells in the nose have high levels of the entry proteins that the COVID-19 virus uses to get into our cells. The identification of these cells by researchers from the Wellcome Sanger Institute, University Medical Centre Groningen,…

News • Coronavirus research

'Organ-on-a-chip' model to find out how COVID-19 invades our bodies

In order for a COVID-19 vaccine and antiviral drugs to be developed, scientists first need to understand why this virus spreads so easily and quickly, and why it invades our bodies with seemingly little resistance from our immune system. To understand how COVID-19 enters the body and does its damage, a team of top researchers from universities, hospitals and the National Research Council of…

News • Flu forecast

Portable AI device predicts outbreaks based on coughing

University of Massachusetts Amherst researchers have invented a portable surveillance device powered by machine learning – called FluSense – which can detect coughing and crowd size in real time, then analyze the data to directly monitor flu-like illnesses and influenza trends. The FluSense creators say the new edge-computing platform, envisioned for use in hospitals, healthcare waiting rooms…

Interview • Chest X-ray, CT and more

Imaging the coronavirus disease COVID-19

Chest X-ray is the first imaging method to diagnose COVID-19 coronavirus infection in Spain, but in the light of new evidence this may change soon, according to Milagros Martí de Gracia, Vice President of the Spanish Society of Radiology (SERAM) and head of the emergency radiology unit at La Paz Hospital in Madrid, one of the hot spots for viral re-production of COVID-19.

News • Dutch experts discuss

On the implications of the coronavirus

The coronavirus last week reached the Netherlands and began to spread around the country. How has the Dutch population reacted? What is a useful frame of reference for this situation? And what are the legal guidelines for dealing with the outbreak? Four researchers from the University of Amsterdam – a clinical microbiologist, an anthropologist, a social scientist and a health lawyer – explain…

News • BCG vs tumour recurrence

Modified tuberculosis vaccine shows promise against bladder cancer

The human immune system can recognize and eliminate not only germs but also cancer cells. This is why treatments with weakened germs can help the immune system in its fight against cancer. Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Infection Biology in Berlin have genetically modified the tuberculosis vaccine BCG in a way that it stimulates the immune system more specifically. Consequently, the…

Video • Epidemiologist Q&A

12 things you should know about the new coronavirus

The novel coronavirus that recently originated in Wuhan, China has grabbed headlines and caused concern among public health officials around the world. Two infectious disease experts share their insights on the novel coronavirus epidemic.

News • 1 in 5

Sepsis death toll twice as high as assumed

Twice as many people as previously believed are dying of sepsis worldwide, according to an analysis published in The Lancet and announced at the Critical Care Reviews annual meeting in Belfast. Among them are a disproportionately high number of children in poor areas.

News • Catching flu by the stalk

One step closer to a universal influenza vaccine

Influenza viruses cause substantial health hazards and claim many lives worldwide each year. Vaccines can keep the virus in check, however, they only protect against influenza when they match the circulating strains – which vary every season. But now, a reasearch team may have found a way to generate a universal vaccine. Led by researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, the…

News • Elderly in the ICU

Can flu vaccine reduce stroke risk?

It appears that an influenza vaccine does not just work when it comes to influenza. A new study shows that elderly people who have been admitted to an intensive care units have less risk of dying and of suffering a blood clot or bleeding in the brain if they have been vaccinated. And this is despite the fact that they are typically older, have more chronic diseases and take more medicine then…

News • Why do we get sick?

Mechanism behind development of viral infections uncovered

A team of researchers from the SingHealth Duke-NUS Academic Medicine Centre’s Viral Research and Experimental Medicine Centre (ViREMiCS) found that immune cells undergoing stress and an altered metabolism are the reasons why some individuals become sick from viral infections while others do not, when exposed to the same virus. The findings, published in medical journal Nature Medicine, have…

Article • MERS-CoV

Seeking answers to combat Middle East respiratory syndrome

With a case fatality rate of 35 percent, a Middle East respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus (MERS-CoV) infection – also called camel flu – is a dangerous disease. About seven years ago, when the virus was first isolated, mortality was close to 100 percent since only severe infections that led to the patient being in intensive care were recorded. Today the environment of each victim is…

Article • Differentiate and select

Myths and truths about antibiotics, antiseptics and vaccination

Sixty-two percent of Germans fear antibiotic resistance, according to a survey recently conducted by the German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment. ‘Patients colonised by multi-resistant pathogens are particularly scared. But many of these fears are rooted in misunderstandings,’ explained Professor Mathias Pletz at the Congress for Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine (KIT).

Article • Blood transfusions

Donor organs become immunologically invisible

The safety of blood transfusions is questioned again and again by the mass media. Sometimes ‘bad’ blood causes infections; sometimes a transfusion leads to cancer years later. The fact is that transfer blood is subjected to the highest safety standards – there are very clear statutory regulations. Nonetheless, there will be shortages of ‘life’s fluid’ because, given increasing…

News • Seasonal influenza

Why the flu is especially dangerous for kidney failure patients

In patients with kidney failure, influenza-like illness (ILI) likely contributes to more than 1,000 deaths per year. The finding, which comes from a study appearing in an upcoming issue of the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (JASN), points to the importance of protection against, surveillance of, and, where possible, treatment of such infections in patients with kidney dysfunction.…

News • Lab equipment

Thermo Fisher presents new compact refrigerators for clinical storage

The Thermo Scientific TSG Series of refrigerators maintain optimal cold storage conditions with minimal energy consumption and noise output. They have been specifically developed to address the need of clinical laboratories and patient care facilities for cold storage equipment that enable secure and energy-efficient storage of vaccines, medicines, lab kits and breast milk, while offering quiet…

News • Epidemics

Animal health drug could stop outbreaks of malaria and Zika virus

Medicines given to household pets to kill fleas and ticks might be effective for preventing outbreaks of malaria, Zika fever and other dangerous insect-borne diseases that infect millions of people worldwide, according to a new study led by scientists at Calibr, a non-profit drug discovery institute closely affiliated with Scripps Research and TropIQ Health Sciences, a Dutch social enterprise.

Article • Medication development

Support from the other end of the world

Partners who could hardly be further apart – yet have a lot in common – have united to fight resistant pathogens. The International Consortium for Anti-Infective Research (iCAIR) is based in Germany and Australia – separated by nearly 16,000 km as the crow flies. This has not stopped the research cooperation from achieving its objectives: the development of new agents against infections.

News • Small molecule, huge effect

Progress toward a new flu treatment, thanks to a small tweak

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. The…

News • Geographic spread prediction

Flu forecast looks six weeks ahead

Scientists at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health developed a system to accurately predict the geographic spread of seasonal influenza in the United States up to six weeks ahead of time.

Article • Joining strengths

Vaccination and infection control: Two pillars of prevention

Synchronised efforts between preventive medicine and immunology enable powerful vaccination strategies in a Spanish seniors hub. Efficient prevention also comes with proper infection control and regulating antibiotics use in primary care, local expert in preventive medicine explained in an exclusive interview with EH. Working in a small structure has its perks, one of which is that departments…

Article • Antimicrobial resistance

Facing the front line in the AMR battle

Nurses have a distinctive and crucial role in the development and implementation of sound health policy,’ according to Annette Kennedy, President of the International Council of Nurses, which represents 135 National Nurses Associations and around 17 million nurses worldwide.

News • Experimental drug

Fighting Hepatitis B with 'virus-cracking' molecules

Indiana University researchers have made an important step forward in the design of drugs that fight the hepatitis B virus, which can cause liver failure and liver cancer. It's estimated that 2 billion people worldwide have had a hepatitis B virus infection in their lifetime, with about 250 million -- including 2 million Americans -- living with chronic infection. Although a vaccine exists, there…

News • Nanovaccine

The flu shot of the future might look like this

For many of us, a flu shot is a fall routine. Roll up a sleeve, take a needle to the upper arm and hope this year’s vaccine matches whichever viruses circulate through the winter. The most common method to make that vaccine is now more than 70 years old. It requires growing viruses in special, pathogen-free chicken eggs. It’s not a quick and easy manufacturing process. And, at best, it…

News • Virus spread

New flu forecasting tool uses evolution to make earlier predictions

Each year, public health officials monitor the spread of influenza to identify which flu strains need to go into that year’s vaccines and where outbreaks will occur. But it can be difficult to predict how bad a particular flu season will be until people actually start getting sick. A new flu forecasting tool built by scientists at the University of Chicago aims to make better predictions by…

Interview • From step-child to limelight

Virologists: Interdisciplinary and global cooperation is vital

Over recent years, virology, once medicine‘s step-child, moved into the limelight, pushed by impressive progress and pulled by globalisation-induced need for expertise in virus diagnostics and viral epidemics.

News • Undercounter refrigerators

Optimal storage conditions due to redundant cooling technology

Thermo Scientific presents its TSX505 Series - undercounter refrigerators designed to provide sustainable cold storage for demanding applications.

Article • Frontline medical advances

Virology is now a key discipline

Virology is fast emerging as a key discipline within modern healthcare against a backdrop of a shifting global demographic and the impact of climate change.

News • Oncology

Nanovaccine could enhance cancer immunotherapy

NIBIB researchers have created a nanovaccine that could make a current approach to cancer immunotherapy more effective while also reducing side effects. The nanovaccine helps to efficiently deliver a unique DNA sequence to immune cells – a sequence derived from bacterial DNA and used to trigger an immune reaction. The nanovaccine also protects the DNA from being destroyed inside the body, where…

News • Watson

Predicting flu epidemics with Twitter data

Osnabrueck cognitive scientists and their students are developing new and intelligent expert systems, which help to effectively utilize the flood of daily information in everyday life. To enable working with large amounts of data, the Institute of Cognitive Science at Osnabrück University has engaged in a cooperation with the global corporation IBM, and will be able to access the IBM computer…

Interview • Viruses

Measles, mumps, rubella threaten youngsters

Before his presentation at ECCMID 2016, Dr Guillaume Béraud, Infectious Disease Specialist, in the Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Poitiers, Poitiers, France, talked to European Hospital about the results from his modelling of these three “childhood” diseases measles, mumps and rubella.

Article • Virus

The Zika mystery: scapegoat or villain?

From the beginning the accusation somehow beggared belief. A ‘mild’ virus was blamed for causing hideous malformations in babies’ heads. Brazil, a country suffering its worst recession since the 1930s, as well as political upheaval, became the focus of a worldwide healthcare scare.

Article • Cases rise

Should we screen for sickle cell disease?

Every year around a quarter of a million children worldwide die from sickle cell disease. In Germany around 3,000 people suffer from this rare inherited blood disorder.

News • Antimicrobial Resistance

AMR may cause over 10 million deaths per year globally by 2050

Following a meeting of professional organisations on the healthcare workforce implications on Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) held at World Health Organization (WHO) headquarters on 2 March 2016, the International Council of Nurses calls on governments to support the Global Action Plan on AMR and stresses the key role of nurses in reducing the impact and limiting the spread of this major threat to…

News • Antibodies

A ‘silver bullet’ for Ebola viruses?

There may be a “silver bullet” for Ebola. Researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston (UTMB) reported that they have isolated human monoclonal antibodies from Ebola survivors which can neutralize multiple species of the virus.

News • EU health services

ESCMID calls to use hospital flu vaccination uptake rankings

The European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Disease (ESCMID) is calling on the healthcare industry to lead by example and implement universal flu vaccination for healthcare workers. ESCMID is encouraging all health workers to take personal responsibility and get vaccinated this season, particularly those who come into contact with high-risk groups.

News • Infectious disease

Ancient origins of deadly Lassa Virus

Working as part of an international team in the United States and West Africa, a researcher at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) has published new findings showing the ancient roots of the deadly Lassa virus, a relative of Ebola virus, and how Lassa virus has changed over time.

News • Ebola

Anesthesiologists need to 'better educate' themselves

As the Ebola virus disease pandemic unfolded in 2014, it may have seemed like a sudden and unprecedented event. But the disease has a long history, the epidemic is ongoing, and new outbreaks are certain to occur in the future, reports the September issue of Anesthesia & Analgesia.

The role of the immune system in cancer therapy

Apart from tumour immunologists themselves, for a long time oncologists have underestimated the role of the immune system in cancer treatment. Nonetheless, in recent years increasing attention has been given to this aspect of cancer.

Shunning the flu vaccine

Although receding since late March, the 2012-13 seasonal flu epidemic in metropolitan France, appears to be the longest in some 30 years, even if it did not strike the highest numbers, according to the monitoring network Sentinelles-Inserm.

Investigating the HFN1 virus

Dutch virologist Ron Fouchier and his colleagues around the world stopped their research into the bird flu virus H5N1 for a whole year to allow an international debate surrounding the benefits and risks of their work.

Measles and whooping cough cases are on the rise

When country doctor Edward Jenner inoculated 8-year-old James Phipps with pus from a cowpox lesion on a milkmaid’s hand, little did he know that he had started a long lasting revolution in preventive medicine.

Sepsis – a Global Medical Emergency

The Global Sepsis Alliance (GSA) is urging healthcare providers, patients and policymakers worldwide to treat sepsis as a medical emergency. “Tens of millions of people die from sepsis each year, making it the likely leading cause of death worldwide. Sepsis kills regardless of age, ethnicity, location and access to care,” said Konrad Reinhart, M.D., Chairman of the GSA and director of the…

Molecular Imaging for Alzheimer’s Disease May Be Available in Hospitals Within One Year

Researchers the world over are advancing positron emission tomography (PET) as an effective method of early detection for Alzheimer’s disease, a currently incurable and deadly neurological disorder. Three studies presented at SNM’s 58th Annual Meeting are providing new insights into the development of Alzheimer’s disease while opening the door to future clinical screening and treatments.

The e-Health Insider Conference

Considering the huge tasks and issues involved, the connection of health services, digitised EPRs, and text messaging via mobile phones, all are progressing -- some slowly, others at a more rapid pace – as many speakers at the e-Health Insider Conference underlined.

European Parliament to Investigate WHO and "Pandemic" Scandal

The Council of Europe member states will launch an inquiry in January 2010 on the influence of the pharmaceutical companies on the global swine flu campaign, focusing especially on extent of the pharma's industry's influence on WHO. The Health Committee of the EU Parliament has unanimously passed a resolution calling for the inquiry.

France prepares for another H1N1 outbreak

Experts predict that 25-50% of the French population could be affected by the H1N1 flu this autumn. According to Patrick Berche, head of the microbiology department at the Necker Hospital in Paris, the likely second wave of the epidemic would produce a great number of cases due to the highly contagious nature of the virus.

Speeding up vaccine production

During the race to produce vaccines against evolving influenza viruses the slowness of their manufacture has turned producers more sharply towards cell culture technology. Using the traditional process, fertilised chicken eggs must first be inoculated with live flu virus, then the resulting egg-adapted virus must be purified and inactivated to produce trivalent inactivated virus (TIV), during…

Swine flu and hygiene standards

Flu preparations - Under the UK´s National Health Service (NHS) code of practice for nosocomial infections, the hospital Trusts and others are required to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that healthcare workers are free of, and protected from, exposure to communicable infections.

Swine flu spreads

Swine flu has been confirmed in a number of countries and it is spreading from human to human, which could lead to what is referred to as a pandemic flu outbreak. Pandemic flu is different from ordinary flu because it's a new flu virus that appears in humans and spreads very quickly from person to person worldwide. On Wednesday, the World Health Organization raised the pandemic threat Level to 5…

Avian 'flu research suggests vaccine should be used now, not stockpiled

Governmental fear of an avian 'flu pandemic remains high, and a certain amount of vaccine has been stockpiled to meet sudden demand.

A new tool for European patients

Last week, the Commissioner for Health, Androulla Vassiliou launched the 'Europe for Patients' campaign in Brussels. The campaign highlights the different health policy initiatives the Commission intends to adopt in the coming months. All these initiatives are bound by a common goal: better healthcare for all in Europe.

NICE renewed flu guidance

The next flu season will come. To prevent high-risk people from infections, the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) recently published a final guidance on the use of the drugs oseltamivir, amantadine and zanamivir for the prophylaxis of influenza. "But vaccination is the main way to prevent flu", says Gillian Leng, NICE Deputy Chief Executive.

The ACP recommends 'flu vaccination for frontline healthcare workers

Influenza infects around 20% of the US population and results in 200,000 hospitalisations annually. It kills about 36,000 citizens. In the USA, only 36% of all healthcare workers are immunised against influenza annually, and now the American College of Physicians (ACP)

A “one-stop-shop” for disaster, rescue and emergency care

Visitors coming to MEDICA to purchase pre-hospital emergency equipment will not be disappointed. Specialist exhibitors are plentiful this year.

Pandemic panic sends feathers flying

AIDS, SARS and now H5NI; just a brief beginning or the end? As the virus moves towards Europe, and millions of birds are slaughtered, interest has risen in a Chinese herb, a patent-sharing controversy and drug stockpiling

Bird flu vaccine production to be based in CR

Czech Republic - The US firm Baxter International Inc. is to establish a production facility to produce a quite unique vaccine in CR. First discussed in December 2005, the plan appears to have made a significant step forward. Baxter specialises in medical devices, pharmaceuticals, and biotechnology, and globally employs around 48,000 people in 64 manufacturing facilities, which include those in…