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. Influenza is circulating in Africa, but virtually no information or attention is evident, says a new essay in this week's PLoS Medicine. Maria Yazdanbakhsh and Peter Kremsner argue that the lack of adequate surveillance means that the burden of influenza in Africa is incorrectly believed to be negligible. But sporadic reports from various regions in Africa indicate that influenza is circulating and may be regularly causing epidemics. http://www.physorg.com/news180087720.html Medicine & Health Tue, 15 Dec 2009 08:22:46 EST news180087720 (PhysOrg.com) -- As communities brace for rising wintertime influenza cases, scientists are developing a mathematical and visual analytic toolkit to help health officials quickly analyze pandemics and craft better response strategies. http://www.physorg.com/news180028065.html Technology Mon, 14 Dec 2009 16:00:04 EST news180028065 A German research team has examined data on supply and demand for blood transfusions against a computer simulation of an influenza pandemic, and discovered that a severe pandemic scenario could quickly lead to a deficit of up to 96,000 red blood cell (RBC) transfusion units in Germany alone, creating potentially fatal outcomes. Their study is published today in the journal TRANSFUSION. http://www.physorg.com/news179559269.html Medicine & Health Wed, 09 Dec 2009 06:00:01 EST news179559269 A new study from researchers at the UK Medical Research Council and the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) projects that the severity of the H1N1 flu during the autumn-winter flu season in the U.S. will likely be less than previously feared. The estimates of hospitalizations and life-threatening events in the study are the most accurate to date of the H1N1 pandemic's impact in the U.S. The study appears online on December 7, 2009 in the journal PLoS Medicine. http://www.physorg.com/news179482852.html Medicine & Health Tue, 08 Dec 2009 08:30:02 EST news179482852 The relatively low number of new cases created by a single case of H1N1 influenza indicates that mitigation strategies such as vaccination, social distancing and the use of antiviral drugs may help to lessen the final impact of the virus, suggests an epidemiological modelling study reported in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) http://www.physorg.com/news179067035.html Medicine & Health Thu, 03 Dec 2009 13:30:03 EST news179067035 (PhysOrg.com) -- How much information do people want in the event of an influenza pandemic? When do they want to be told, and who should the information come from? http://www.physorg.com/news174911596.html Medicine & Health Fri, 16 Oct 2009 11:50:02 EST news174911596 Early action, especially rapid rollout of vaccines, is extremely effective in reducing the attack rate of the H1N1 influenza virus, according to a simulation model of a pandemic outbreak reported in a new study in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal). http://www.physorg.com/news174662382.html Medicine & Health Tue, 13 Oct 2009 14:50:16 EST news174662382 Critical illness among Canadian patients with 2009 influenza A(H1N1) occurred rapidly after hospital admission, often in young adults, and was associated with severely low levels of oxygen in the blood, multi-system organ failure, a need for prolonged mechanical ventilation, and frequent use of rescue therapies, according to a study to appear in the November 4 issue of JAMA. This study is being published early online to coincide with its presentation at a meeting of the European Society of Intensive Care Medicine. http://www.physorg.com/news174562090.html Medicine & Health Mon, 12 Oct 2009 10:29:29 EST news174562090 The devastation of the 1918-1919 influenza pandemic is well known, but a new article suggests a surprising factor in the high death toll: the misuse of aspirin. Appearing in the November 1 issue of Clinical Infectious Diseases and available online now, the article sounds a cautionary note as present day concerns about the novel H1N1 virus run high. http://www.physorg.com/news173715307.html Medicine & Health Fri, 02 Oct 2009 15:15:32 EST news173715307 People exposed to a H1NI strain of influenza A while in utero were significantly more likely to have cardiovascular disease later in life, reveals a new study to be published in Journal of Developmental Origins of Health and Disease on Oct. 1. http://www.physorg.com/news173593604.html Medicine & Health Thu, 01 Oct 2009 05:40:02 EST news173593604 Pregnant women should be sure to get all their flu shots as soon as the vaccines become available this year to protect them against both the seasonal flu and the H1N1 (swine) flu, according to eight leading national maternal and infant health organizations. http://www.physorg.com/news172936589.html Medicine & Health Wed, 23 Sep 2009 15:20:01 EST news172936589 The anticipated onset of a second wave of the H1N1 influenza pandemic could present a host of thorny medical ethics issues best considered well in advance, according to the University of Toronto Joint Centre for Bioethics, which today released nine papers for public discussion. http://www.physorg.com/news172931869.html Medicine & Health Wed, 23 Sep 2009 14:00:01 EST news172931869 The public health measures taken in response to swine flu may be seen as alarmist, overly restrictive, or even unjustified, says a US expert in a paper published on BMJ.com today. http://www.physorg.com/news171227423.html Medicine & Health Thu, 03 Sep 2009 20:10:48 EST news171227423 Scientists at The University of Nottingham and Health Protection Agency East Midlands are carrying out urgent research into the swine flu virus after being commissioned as part of the government's response to the pandemic. http://www.physorg.com/news170422791.html Medicine & Health Tue, 25 Aug 2009 12:40:53 EST news170422791 (PhysOrg.com) -- Optimal control of the spread of the seasonal flu and H1N1 is achieved by prioritizing vaccinations for schoolchildren and for adults aged 30 to 39 in the United States. Those are the findings of a new study by Clemson University and Yale University School of Medicine mathematicians. http://www.physorg.com/news169997811.html Medicine & Health Thu, 20 Aug 2009 15:30:05 EST news169997811 As flu season draws nearer along with the potential for resurgence in H1N1, leading infectious diseases doctors, hospital epidemiologists, and infection preventionists urge officials to base recommendations for the public and healthcare workers on scientific knowledge and frontline experience gained from the outbreak this summer. http://www.physorg.com/news169300539.html Medicine & Health Wed, 12 Aug 2009 13:10:04 EST news169300539 A commonly held belief that severe influenza pandemics are preceded by a milder wave of illness arose because some accounts of the devastating flu pandemic of 1918-19 suggested that it may have followed such a pattern. But two scientists from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, say the existing data are insufficient to conclude decisively that the 1918-19 pandemic was presaged by a mild, so-called spring wave, or that the responsible virus had increased in lethality between the beginning and end of 1918. http://www.physorg.com/news169227271.html Medicine & Health Tue, 11 Aug 2009 16:35:35 EST news169227271 Two common anti-influenza drugs - Relenza and Tamiflu - appear equally effective at preventing common flu symptoms when given before infection, say researchers from the Stanford University School of Medicine. However, data is lacking on the effectiveness and safety of the two drugs in vulnerable groups such as the very young and people with compromised immune systems. http://www.physorg.com/news168539440.html Medicine & Health Mon, 03 Aug 2009 19:00:02 EST news168539440 Researchers at the Center for Infection and Immunity (CII) at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health are working with Argentina's National Institute of Infectious Diseases, the National Administration of Laboratories and Health Institutes (ANLIS), and Roche 454 Life Sciences to decode the complete genomic sequences of influenza pandemic (H1N1) 2009 virus from patients with severe respiratory disease. The scientists will be comparing sequences of viruses associated with the current outbreak in Argentina with those found in other locations to determine if there are differences that may be linked to higher mortality rates or provide insights into virus evolution. http://www.physorg.com/news168269928.html Medicine & Health Fri, 31 Jul 2009 14:39:16 EST news168269928 A model of influenza transmission and treatment suggests that, if the current swine flu pandemic behaves like the 1918 flu, antiviral treatment should be reserved for the young. Researchers writing in the open access journal BMC Infectious Diseases found that, in this situation, providing the elderly with antiviral drugs would not significantly reduce mortality, and may lead to an increase in resistance. http://www.physorg.com/news167989595.html Medicine & Health Tue, 28 Jul 2009 09:00:02 EST news167989595 Mathematical modelling can help inform public health policy in outbreaks such as the H1N1 pandemic, write members of the Pandemic Influenza Outbreak Research Modelling Team in Canada in a CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) article http://www.cmaj.ca/press/cmaj090885.pdf. These models are useful tools for simulating plausible scenarios, developing control strategies and identifying important areas for immediate research. http://www.physorg.com/news167315207.html Medicine & Health Mon, 20 Jul 2009 13:27:11 EST news167315207 Swine flu has swept the globe at "unprecedented speed," the World Health Organisation said Friday, as a study warned the pandemic could tip the world into deflation and delay the economic recovery. http://www.physorg.com/news167061370.html Medicine & Health Fri, 17 Jul 2009 15:30:01 EST news167061370 The influenza virus that wreaked worldwide havoc in 1918-1919 founded a viral dynasty that persists to this day, according to scientists from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health. In an article published online on June 29 by the New England Journal of Medicine, authors Anthony S. Fauci, M.D., Jeffery K. Taubenberger, M.D., Ph.D., and David M. Morens, M.D., argue that we have lived in an influenza pandemic era since 1918, and they describe how the novel 2009 H1N1 virus now circling the globe is yet another manifestation of this enduring viral family. http://www.physorg.com/news165515121.html Medicine & Health Mon, 29 Jun 2009 18:10:01 EST news165515121 There is no way to know how the newest strain of the H1N1 influenza virus will behave in the future. But scientists, notably those working at the intersections of epidemiology, mathematics, modeling and statistics, are monitoring it closely to identify anomalies on its pattern of spread while evaluating ways of mitigating its impact. http://www.physorg.com/news165516530.html Medicine & Health Mon, 29 Jun 2009 17:49:29 EST news165516530 The swine flu has escalated into the world's first influenza pandemic in 40 years, the World Health Organization declared Thursday, after infecting tens of thousands of people in 74 countries. http://www.physorg.com/news163990710.html Medicine & Health Fri, 12 Jun 2009 01:58:44 EST news163990710 SARS. Ebola. West Nile. Avian flu. Over the past decade, the world has watched and waited to see if these viruses would develop into global health threats. In recent weeks, the World Health Organization (WHO) sent a shockwave through the public when it ranked the emergent influenza swine-A/H1N1 virus--better known as swine flu--at alert Phase 5, implying that an influenza pandemic is imminent. http://www.physorg.com/news163352310.html Medicine & Health Thu, 04 Jun 2009 16:39:21 EST news163352310 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 A survey of health care workers has revealed that as many as 85% may stay off work if an influenza pandemic did take hold of the country. The results of the survey, published in the open access journal BMC Public Health, suggest that levels of absenteeism may be significantly higher than current official estimates and that 'willingness', rather than 'ability', plays the largest role in health care workers' decisions as to whether to go to work or not. http://www.physorg.com/news161516852.html Medicine & Health Thu, 14 May 2009 10:47:58 EST news161516852 Some genetic markers of influenza infection severity have been identified from past outbreaks. Researchers have failed to find most of these markers, described in the open access journal BMC Microbiology, in samples of the current swine-flu strain. http://www.physorg.com/news160832514.html Biology Wed, 06 May 2009 12:42:38 EST news160832514 When pandemics occur, correctional facilities are not immune. With more than 9 million people incarcerated across the globe 2.25 million in U.S. jails and prisons alone it is vital that correctional officials and health professionals be prepared for a worst-case scenario that involves pandemic influenza reaching inmates and staff. http://www.physorg.com/news160765232.html Medicine & Health Tue, 05 May 2009 18:01:08 EST news160765232