Tag: Influenza

Editor’s note: Find the latest COVID-19 news and guidance in Medscape’s Coronavirus Resource Center. With the Delta variant of COVID-19 still raging in the United States and intensive care units in parts of the country filled with patients with the coronavirus, experts are voicing concern about the added risk of a difficult flu season. Two

(Reuters Health) – Patients who visited a doctor’s office at the same time or after someone with flu-like illness were more likely than those who visited earlier in the day to return with a similar illness within two weeks, a new study finds. An analysis of data from 10,737,587 office visits to nearly 7,000 physicians’

Analysis indicated the number of mutations in the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) receptor-binding domain (RBD) doubles every 72 days. As the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic continues infecting more people, SARS-CoV-2 is also evolving. Several new variants of the virus have now been discovered, some more infectious than the original strains. This

Skip to: What are coronaviruses? Why are coronaviruses dangerous? SARS-CoV-2 / COVID-19 SARS-CoV MERS-CoV The rapid spread of the virus that causes the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has sparked alarm across the globe. The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared the condition a global pandemic, with many countries grappling with the rise of infections. The disease

President Donald Trump signed an executive order aimed at developing better flu vaccines to defend Americans against both seasonal influenza and the possibility of a future pandemic outbreak. Interested in Flu Season? Seasonal flu “kills tens of thousands of Americans each year,” Alex Azar, secretary of Health and Human Services, said in a statement. A

Immunity against mumps virus appears insufficient in a fraction of college-aged people who were vaccinated in childhood, research from Emory Vaccine Center and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention indicates. The findings highlight the need to better understand the immune response to mumps and mumps vaccines. In the last 15 years, several mumps outbreaks

Giving children an additional dose of rotavirus vaccine when they are nine months old would provide only a modest improvement in the vaccine’s effectiveness in low-income countries concerned about waning protection against the highly contagious disease, according to a new study led by the Yale School of Public Health and the Institute of Infection and

Studying how influenza viruses cause disease just got a little easier, thanks to a new tool developed at South Dakota State University. Scientists have been using cells from chickens, dogs, monkeys and hamsters to study influenza viruses that infect pigs and humans. Now they can use cell cultures from the tissues of swine nasal passages,

Heat waves can reduce the body’s immune response to flu, according to new research in mice at the University of Tokyo. The results have implications for how climate change may affect the future of vaccinations and nutrition. Climate change is predicted to reduce crop yields and nutritional value, as well as widen the ranges of

Severe influenza virus infection is characterized by a strong inflammatory response and profuse viral replication in lungs. These viruses, such as the notorious avian flu, have a high rate of death and to date there are no effective treatments. A research group led by National Institutes of Biomedical Innovation, Health and Nutrition (NIBIOHN) and Osaka

Allison Eaglespeaker lost her battle with influenza B and pneumonia on Saturday. Six-year-old Allison Eaglespeaker, a kindergartner at Russell Elementary, lost her battle with influenza strain B and pneumonia on Saturday. Recorded as the first pediatric death for Montana, she is actually the sixth child to have died in this year’s flu season, according to

Recent research from North Carolina State University outlines how near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy could be used to make cell-culture-based flu vaccine manufacturing faster and more efficient. The researchers demonstrated the use of a NIR probe to measure the concentration of influenza virus in cells being grown in a bioreactor. “The NIR technique is faster, more accurate

Many people love autumn for the colorful foliage and pumpkin spice, but each year it ushers in another season that is more menacing: cold and flu season, that is. The two illnesses are often lumped together, but there are important distinctions. And when it comes to prevention and treatment, there are plenty of misconceptions that

Genital warts and the flu don't seem to have much in common, other than that they are both caused by viruses. But now, researchers are testing whether a cream that's commonly used to treat genital warts could also help boost the protection of flu vaccines in the event of a pandemic. In a study that began earlier this

The study is designed to help scientists come up with more effective flu vaccines following one of the worst flu seasons in recent years. Saint Louis University is willing to pay $3,500 to anyone who’s willing to stay in “Hotel Influenza,” a remodeled hotel where participants run the risk of contracting the flu during a

Dogs are a potential reservoir for a future influenza pandemic, according to a study published in the journal mBio. The study demonstrated that influenza virus can jump from pigs into canines and that influenza is becoming increasingly diverse in canines. “The majority of pandemics have been associated with pigs as an intermediate host between avian

Infectious disease preparedness work focuses predominantly on an historical list of pathogens derived from biological warfare agents, political considerations, and recent outbreaks. That fails to account for the most serious agents not currently known or without historical precedent, write scholars from the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security in a new report on the traits

Flu vaccines for horses haven’t been updated in more than 25 years, but University of Rochester researchers have developed a new live equine influenza vaccine that is safe and more protective than existing vaccines. Luis Martinez-Sobrido, Ph.D., associate professor of Microbiology and Immunology at the University of Rochester Medical Center, says a new vaccine is

Influenza vaccines that better target the influenza surface protein called neuraminidase (NA) could offer broad protection against various influenza virus strains and lessen the severity of illness, according to new research published in Cell. Current seasonal influenza vaccines mainly target a different, more abundant influenza surface protein called hemagglutinin (HA). However, because influenza vaccines offer