Tag: Cold and Flu

Mumps study shows immunity gaps among vaccinated people: College-aged study participants received MMR as children

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

Study offers promise for preventing necrotizing enterocolitis in preemies: Preventing inflammatory white blood cell infiltration in the intestine decreases development of necrotizing enterocolitis in animal model

Researchers at Stanley Manne Children’s Research Institute at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, and colleagues, discovered a promising direction toward understanding the development of necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC), a devastating intestinal disease commonly affecting premature infants, in order to treat it. Studying the early cellular events leading to NEC in a mouse

Lung neuropeptide exacerbates lethal influenza virus infection: Researchers find that neuropeptide Y (NPY) makes influenza worse when produced by lung immune cells

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

Near-infrared spectroscopy could improve flu vaccine manufacturing

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

Having a meal activates the functioning of human brown fat

The importance of the human brown adipose tissue (BAT) has become clearer during the past ten years. Using positron emission tomography, PET, it was shown that adult humans have functional BAT. Coldness is an effective activator of the BAT metabolic function but, in rodents, eating has the same effect. Now, the researchers at Turku PET

Dogs can be a potential risk for future influenza pandemic

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

Clues for improved influenza vaccine design

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