http://www.physorg.com/ en-us Physorg.com internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. In the waning months of the First World War, a lethal virus known as the Spanish flu (influenza A, subtype H1N1), swept the United States, Europe and Asia in three convulsive waves. The year was 1918. The ensuing pandemic claimed up to 100 million victims, most of whom succumbed to severe respiratory complications associated with rapidly progressing pneumonia. Many died within days of the first symptoms. http://www.physorg.com/news153482126.html Biology Tue, 10 Feb 2009 09:56:05 EST news153482126 Influenza is and remains a disease to reckon with. Seasonal epidemics around the world kill several hundred thousand people every year. In the light of looming pandemics if bird flu strains develop the ability to infect humans easily, new drugs and vaccines are desperately sought. Researchers at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) and the joint Unit of Virus Host-Cell Interaction (UVHCI) of EMBL, the University Joseph Fourier (UJF) and the National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS), in Grenoble, France, have now precisely defined an important drug target in influenza. In this week's Nature they publish a high-resolution image of a crucial protein domain that allows the virus to hijack human cells and multiply in them. http://www.physorg.com/news152976647.html Biology Wed, 04 Feb 2009 13:31:24 EST news152976647 Donning a face mask is an easy way to boost protection from severe respiratory illnesses such as influenza and SARS, new research from the University of New South Wales (UNSW) has found, but convincing a reluctant public and health workers is proving a struggle. http://www.physorg.com/news152193746.html Medicine & Health Mon, 26 Jan 2009 12:05:29 EST news152193746 With an epidemic of antibiotic-resistant infections growing, experts are warning grocery-store pharmacies that antibiotics giveaways are an unhealthy promotional gimmick. If grocery stores want to help customers and save them money during cold and flu season, the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) says, they should offer free influenza vaccinations instead. http://www.physorg.com/news151328826.html Medicine & Health Fri, 16 Jan 2009 11:47:06 EST news151328826 One of the major strains of the influenza virus this season has become resistant to Tamiflu - rendering the mainstay antiviral drug all but impotent and creating tough treatment options for patients who come down with the flu. http://www.physorg.com/news151249561.html Medicine & Health Thu, 15 Jan 2009 13:46:01 EST news151249561 Workers age 50-64 who received influenza vaccine lost substantially fewer days of work and worked fewer days while ill, according to a new study in the Feb. 1 issue of Clinical Infectious Diseases, now available online. Given the concerns about antiviral drug resistance among this year's flu strains, the study highlights the importance of vaccination to prevent influenza. http://www.physorg.com/news151073410.html Medicine & Health Tue, 13 Jan 2009 12:50:10 EST news151073410 Influenza's ability to resist the effects of cheap and popular antiviral agents in Asia and Russia should serve as a cautionary tale about U.S. plans to use the antiviral Tamiflu in the event of widespread avian flu infection in humans, scientists say. http://www.physorg.com/news150558036.html Medicine & Health Wed, 07 Jan 2009 13:40:36 EST news150558036 By mixing and matching a contemporary flu virus with the "Spanish flu" - a virus that killed between 20 and 50 million people 90 years ago in history's most devastating outbreak of infectious disease - researchers have identified a set of three genes that helped underpin the extraordinary virulence of the 1918 virus. http://www.physorg.com/news149793752.html Biology Mon, 29 Dec 2008 17:22:32 EST news149793752 (PhysOrg.com) -- At the end of July 2008, major news agencies reported an outbreak of jalapeño-related salmonella that sickened more than 1,000 people in Mexico and the United States. It was the biggest outbreak of its kind in decades. http://www.physorg.com/news149346537.html Medicine & Health Wed, 24 Dec 2008 13:08:57 EST news149346537 (PhysOrg.com) -- In a pioneering effort, researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the University of Queensland in Australia have successfully demonstrated that they can count, size and gauge the quality of virus-like particle-based (VLP) vaccines much more quickly and accurately than previously possible. Their findings could reduce the time it takes to produce a vaccine from months to weeks, allowing a much more agile and effective response to potential outbreaks. http://www.physorg.com/news148141667.html Biology Wed, 10 Dec 2008 14:27:47 EST news148141667 A hot drink may help reduce the symptoms of common colds and flu, according to new research by Cardiff University's Common Cold Centre. http://www.physorg.com/news148131716.html Medicine & Health Wed, 10 Dec 2008 11:41:56 EST news148131716 (PhysOrg.com) -- Cells involved in the body`s immune response to cancer are also implicated in influenza infection and could be targeted in new flu vaccination strategies, scientists at Oxford University have discovered. http://www.physorg.com/news146151305.html Medicine & Health Mon, 17 Nov 2008 13:35:05 EST news146151305 (PhysOrg.com) -- Ninety years after the sweeping destruction of the 1918 flu pandemic, researchers at the Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt have recovered antibodies to the virus - from elderly survivors of the original outbreak. http://www.physorg.com/news145643890.html Medicine & Health Tue, 11 Nov 2008 16:38:10 EST news145643890 Flu shots may reduce the risk of blood clots forming in veins by 26 percent, according to research presented at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2008. http://www.physorg.com/news145513928.html Medicine & Health Mon, 10 Nov 2008 04:32:08 EST news145513928 Children who receive all recommended flu vaccine appear to be less likely to catch the respiratory virus that the CDC estimates hospitalizes 20,000 children every year. http://www.physorg.com/news144912406.html Medicine & Health Mon, 03 Nov 2008 05:26:46 EST news144912406 A new predictive model shows that vaccinating infants with 7 valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV7)--the current recommendation--not only saves lives and money during a normal flu season by preventing related bacterial infections; it also would prevent more than 357,000 deaths during an influenza pandemic, while saving $7 billion in costs. http://www.physorg.com/news144431908.html Medicine & Health Tue, 28 Oct 2008 16:58:28 EST news144431908 Vaccinating new mothers and other family members against influenza before their newborns leave the hospital creates a "cocooning effect" that may shelter unprotected children from the flu, a virus that can be life-threatening to infants, according to researchers at Duke Children's Hospital. http://www.physorg.com/news144238717.html Medicine & Health Sun, 26 Oct 2008 11:18:37 EST news144238717 As the first globally co-ordinated plan for the planet's gravest health threats is hatched by government ministers from around the world this weekend, a new report sets out a 10-point plan for this new, globalised approach to infectious diseases such as avian flu. http://www.physorg.com/news143975853.html Medicine & Health Thu, 23 Oct 2008 10:17:33 EST news143975853 A single vaccine could be used to protect chickens, cats and humans against deadly flu pandemics, according to an article published in the November issue of the Journal of General Virology. The vaccine protects birds and mammals against different flu strains and can even be given to birds while they are still in their eggs, allowing the mass vaccination of wild birds. http://www.physorg.com/news143691774.html Biology Mon, 20 Oct 2008 03:22:54 EST news143691774 Newborns can be protected from seasonal flu when their mothers are vaccinated during pregnancy, according to a study led by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. The researchers observed a 63 percent reduction in proven influenza illness among infants born to vaccinated mothers while the number of serious respiratory illnesses to both mothers and infants dropped by 36 percent. http://www.physorg.com/news140861945.html Medicine & Health Wed, 17 Sep 2008 09:19:05 EST news140861945 (PhysOrg.com) -- School and day care settings are the most "efficient ways to spread flu in the community," say researchers at Duke Children's Hospital which may explain why the CDC is now recommending that all children -- ages six months to 18 years - obtain a flu vaccine this year. http://www.physorg.com/news140444462.html Medicine & Health Fri, 12 Sep 2008 13:21:02 EST news140444462 Clinical trials of a new vaccine that could protect against multiple types of flu are beginning at Oxford University. If successful, the ‘universal` flu injection would transform the way we vaccinate against influenza and could offer immunity to a bird flu pandemic. http://www.physorg.com/news140098875.html Medicine & Health Mon, 08 Sep 2008 13:21:15 EST news140098875 Mice given quercetin, a naturally occurring substance found in fruits and vegetables, were less likely to contract the flu, according to a study published by The American Physiological Society. The study also found that stressful exercise increased the susceptibility of mice to the flu, but quercetin canceled out that negative effect. http://www.physorg.com/news139657798.html Medicine & Health Wed, 03 Sep 2008 10:49:58 EST news139657798 Ninety years after the sweeping destruction of the 1918 flu pandemic, researchers at Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt have recovered antibodies to the virus - from elderly survivors of the original outbreak. http://www.physorg.com/news138198336.html Medicine & Health Sun, 17 Aug 2008 13:25:36 EST news138198336 To avoid producing vaccines that treat the wrong strains during flu season, the FDA should consider deferring some of its selections as well as other changes to the vaccine composition, according to a study by two decision analysts published in a journal of the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS). http://www.physorg.com/news137165733.html Medicine & Health Tue, 05 Aug 2008 14:35:33 EST news137165733 A Group Health study in the August 2 issue of The Lancet adds fuel to the growing controversy over how well the flu vaccine protects the elderly. http://www.physorg.com/news136783271.html Medicine & Health Fri, 01 Aug 2008 04:21:11 EST news136783271 The greatest danger in a pandemic flu outbreak is that it could spread quickly and devastate a broad swath of people across the United States before there is much of a chance to react. The result could be a nation brought to its knees by a disease run rampant. http://www.physorg.com/news135878953.html Medicine & Health Mon, 21 Jul 2008 17:09:13 EST news135878953 (PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists and researchers have taken a big step closer to a cure for the most common strain of avian influenza, or "bird flu," the potential pandemic that has claimed more than 200 lives and infected nearly 400 people in 14 countries since it was identified in 2003. http://www.physorg.com/news135355812.html Biology Tue, 15 Jul 2008 15:50:12 EST news135355812 Researchers in Ohio and New Mexico are reporting an advance in the quest for a fast, sensitive test to detect flu viruses - one that requires no refrigeration and can be used in remote areas of the world where new flu viruses often emerge. Their new method, the first to use sugar molecules rather than antibodies, is in the July 2 issue of the Journal of the American Chemical Society. http://www.physorg.com/news135252581.html Chemistry Mon, 14 Jul 2008 11:09:41 EST news135252581 Scientists have discovered how bird flu adapts in patients, offering a new way to monitor the disease and prevent a pandemic, according to research published in the August issue of the Journal of General Virology. Highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza virus has spread through at least 45 countries in 3 continents. http://www.physorg.com/news134797964.html Medicine & Health Wed, 09 Jul 2008 04:52:44 EST news134797964