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. The specter of a drug-resistant form of the deadly H5N1 avian influenza is a nightmare to keep public health officials awake at night. http://www.physorg.com/news180634278.html Medicine & Health Mon, 21 Dec 2009 16:50:05 EST news180634278 A massive, data-crunching computer search program that matches fragments of potential drug molecules to the known shapes of viral surface proteins has identified several FDA-approved drugs that could be the basis for new medicines -- if emerging viruses such as the H5N1(avian flu) or H1N1/09 (swine flu) develop resistance to current antiviral therapies -- according to a presentation at the American Society for Cell Biology 49th Annual Meeting, Dec. 5-9, 2009 in San Diego. http://www.physorg.com/news179329297.html Medicine & Health Sun, 06 Dec 2009 14:30:06 EST news179329297 New methods of studying avian influenza strains and visually mapping their movement around the world will help scientists more quickly learn the behavior of the pandemic H1N1 flu virus, Ohio State University researchers say. http://www.physorg.com/news177593538.html Medicine & Health Mon, 16 Nov 2009 11:33:00 EST news177593538 At least one strain of the H5N1 avian influenza virus leaves survivors at significantly increased risk for Parkinson's disease and possibly other neurological problems later in life, according to new research from St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. http://www.physorg.com/news169137452.html Medicine & Health Mon, 10 Aug 2009 16:00:04 EST news169137452 New data on the persistence of avian influenza viruses in the environment has allowed a team of University of Georgia researchers to create the first model that takes into account both direct and indirect transmission of the viruses among birds. The model, which is detailed in the early online edition of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, has the potential to shed new light on how outbreaks begin in wild bird populations. http://www.physorg.com/news163168691.html Biology Tue, 02 Jun 2009 13:38:49 EST news163168691 Singapore scientists report an evolutionary analysis of a critical protein produced by the 2009 H1N1 influenza A virus strain in Biology Direct journal's May 20 issue. http://www.physorg.com/news162211487.html Chemistry Fri, 22 May 2009 11:45:29 EST news162211487 Those travelling abroad should take seriously advice to pack their condoms and keep their needles to themselves: research published today in the open access journal Retrovirology shows that tourists, travellers and migrants from Greece, Portugal, Serbia and Spain actively export HIV-1 subtype B to other European nations. http://www.physorg.com/news162033302.html Medicine & Health Wed, 20 May 2009 10:15:48 EST news162033302 (AP) -- Drug giant GlaxoSmithKline said it has offered to donate 50 million doses of a pandemic vaccine to the World Health Organization in the event of a global flu outbreak, according to a company spokesman. http://www.physorg.com/news161962615.html Medicine & Health Tue, 19 May 2009 14:37:37 EST news161962615 A novel vaccine strategy using virus-like particles (VLPs) could provide stronger and longer-lasting influenza vaccines with a significantly shorter development and production time than current ones, allowing public health authorities to react more quickly in the event of a potential pandemic. http://www.physorg.com/news161870513.html Biology Mon, 18 May 2009 13:02:43 EST news161870513 (PhysOrg.com) -- Avian influenza viruses do not thrive in humans because the temperature inside a person's nose is too low, according to research published today in the journal PLoS Pathogens. The authors of the study, from Imperial College London and the University of North Carolina, say this may be one of the reasons why bird flu viruses do not cause pandemics in humans easily. http://www.physorg.com/news161611542.html Biology Fri, 15 May 2009 13:09:19 EST news161611542 (AP) -- Bird flu kills more than 60 percent of its human victims, but doesn't easily pass from person to person. Swine flu can be spread with a sneeze or handshake, but kills only a small fraction of the people it infects. http://www.physorg.com/news160983779.html Medicine & Health Fri, 08 May 2009 06:43:33 EST news160983779 The swine flu outbreak that began in Mexico and continues to spread around the globe may be particularly dangerous for young, otherwise healthy adults because it contains genetic components of the H5N1 avian influenza virus, which can induce a "cytokine storm," in which a patient's hyper-activated immune system causes potentially fatal damage to the lungs. Research studies and review articles exploring the regulation of cytokine responses in the lung and how infection-related dysregulation can cause a cytokine storm have been published in Viral Immunology, a peer-reviewed journal published by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. http://www.physorg.com/news160761170.html Medicine & Health Tue, 05 May 2009 16:53:21 EST news160761170 InDevR, a small biotech company in Boulder, CO, and the Influenza Division of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta confirmed today that the M gene version of InDevR's FluChip can detect swine-origin H1N1 influenza A viruses and clearly distinguish them from seasonal influenza viruses (A/H1N1 and A/H3N2) as well as the deadly avian A/H5N1 virus. http://www.physorg.com/news160755100.html Chemistry Tue, 05 May 2009 15:12:21 EST news160755100 (AP) -- Now that the swine flu virus has passed from a farmworker to pigs, could it jump back to people? The question is important, because crossing species again could make it more deadly. http://www.physorg.com/news160636697.html Medicine & Health Mon, 04 May 2009 06:18:51 EST news160636697 Hong Kong authorities said Saturday that a dead pigeon found in the city had tested positive for the H5N1 bird flu virus. http://www.physorg.com/news160459355.html Medicine & Health Sat, 02 May 2009 05:03:04 EST news160459355 World health authorities on Friday rushed to tackle flu outbreaks in the United States and Mexico that have killed at least 60 people and have pandemic potential. http://www.physorg.com/news159778101.html Medicine & Health Fri, 24 Apr 2009 07:48:59 EST news159778101 Chinese officials had confirmed the outbreak of a deadly strain of bird flu among poultry in the Tibetan capital Lhasa, state media reported Sunday, quoting the ministry of agriculture. http://www.physorg.com/news159365820.html Medicine & Health Sun, 19 Apr 2009 13:30:48 EST news159365820 German authorities have discovered the first case of the deadly H5N1 bird flu virus this year, the European Commission announced Tuesday. http://www.physorg.com/news155927903.html Medicine & Health Tue, 10 Mar 2009 18:19:02 EST news155927903 Hong Kong authorities said Friday that a dead chicken found in the southern Chinese territory had tested positive for the deadly H5N1 strain of the bird flu virus. http://www.physorg.com/news155563386.html Medicine & Health Fri, 06 Mar 2009 12:04:58 EST news155563386 Vaccines against H5N1 influenza will be critical in countering a possible future pandemic. Yet public health experts agree that the current method of growing seasonal influenza vaccines in chicken eggs is slow and inefficient. http://www.physorg.com/news155142871.html Medicine & Health Sun, 01 Mar 2009 15:15:15 EST news155142871 Researchers at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Burnham Institute for Medical Research and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have reported the identification of human monoclonal antibodies (mAb) that neutralize an unprecedented range of influenza A viruses, including avian influenza A (H5N1) virus, previous pandemic influenza viruses, and some seasonal influenza viruses. http://www.physorg.com/news154540721.html Biology Sun, 22 Feb 2009 16:00:18 EST news154540721 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