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Influenza, or as it is commonly known, the flu, is
a contagious respiratory disease caused by a virus.
The influenza virus can cause mild to severe illness, and while most people
recover without complications in 1-2 weeks, the disease at times can lead to death.
The best approach to influenza is through prevention but once the infection
takes place and the symptoms appear (high fever, headache, extreme tiredness etc)
the disease needs to be treated.
Today serious concern is caused by a particular form of influenza called
Avian influenza or bird flu.
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| Influenza is currently a grave concern for governments and health organisations around the world. The worry is the potential for highly virulent bird flu strains, such as H5N1, to develop the ability to infect humans easily. New drugs and vaccines to halt the spread of the virus are badly needed. ... more info |
| Indonesia is running a large scale drill simulating an outbreak of human to human bird flu that involves thousands of villagers, health workers and government officials, rehearsing for a potential pandemic. The drill started today, Friday 25th April, and is scheduled to run for three days. ... more info |
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| The Spanish flu outbreak of 1918 killed between 30 and 50 million people. In the infected patients, the ultimate cause of death was acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). This fatal condition is a massive reaction of the body during which the lung becomes severely damaged. ARDS can be induced by various bacterial and viral infections, but also by chemical agents. These could be toxic gases that are inhaled or gastric acid when aspirated. ... more info |
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| A new vaccine under development may provide protection against highly pathogenic bird flu and its evolving forms, according to researchers at Purdue University and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention who discovered the new preventative drug and have tested it in mice. ... more info |
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| Iomai Corporation (Nasdaq: IOMI) announced that it has received approval from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to expand its program to develop an immunostimulant adjuvant patch for use with an injected H5N1 influenza vaccine. This decision was based upon positive clinical data generated in a 500-subject, Phase 1/2 study recently completed by Iomai. ... more info |
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| The journal Respirology has launched a special supplementary issue on the avian influenza. Published by Wiley-Blackwell, the collection of papers present an inclusive insight into the threat of the avian influenza pandemic by addressing a wide range of topics including the basic biology of the virus, updates on laboratory diagnosis and influenza anti-viral, treatment options, and pandemic planning. ... more info |
| Testsindicate that a father diagnosed with bird flu in China probably caughtthe disease from his son, only increasing concern about transmission ofthe virus between humans. This was published early online and in theApril 2008 issue of The Lancet. As of April 2, 2008,there have been 376 cases of infection with the highly pathogenic avianinfluenza A (H5N1) virus with 238 deaths reported in 14 differentcountries since November 2003. ... more info |
| H5N1 Bird flu (avian flu) did kill some family members in Peshawar, north-west Pakistan last year, the World Health Organization (WHO) has confirmed after carrying out tests at its WHO H5 Reference Laboratory in Cairo, Egypt, and the WHO Collaborating Centre for Reference and Research on Influenza in Atlanta, USA. Last year the north-west and southern areas of Pakistan were hit by bird flu. Tens of thousands of birds were destroyed in an attempt to stem the spread of the disease. ... more info |
| Preliminary research from the Department of Respiratory Disease Research at the Naval Health Research Center (NHRC) suggests that a rapid antigen assay test developed by Arbor Vita Corporation (AVC) shows promise as a useful diagnostic for the detection of the avian influenza virus in humans. Researchers from NHRC reported their findings last week at the 2008 International Conference on Emerging Infectious Diseases (ICEID) in Atlanta, Georgia. ... more info |
| Ducks, people and rice paddies - rather than chickens - are the major factors behind outbreaks of H5N1 highly pathogenic avian influenza in Thailand and Viet Nam, and are probably behind outbreak persistence in other countries of the region such as Cambodia and Lao PDR. ... more info |
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| Iomai Corporation (Nasdaq: IOMI) announced positive interim results from the 500-subject Phase 1/2 trial of its immunostimulant adjuvant patch used with an injected vaccine for H5N1 influenza. The trial met a key endpoint, demonstrating a clinically relevant adjuvant effect when the Iomai patch was used with a single dose of the 45-microgram H5N1 vaccine. ... more info |
| The Ministry of Health in Viet Nam has confirmed a new case of human infection of H5N1 avian influenza. The case has been confirmed by the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology (NIHE). The case is an 11 -year old male from Thanh Liem district, Ha Nam province. He developed symptoms on 4 March was hospitalized on 9 March and died on 14 March. The case had contact with sick and dead poultry prior to his illness. ... more info |
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| The old adage 'a bird in hand is worth two in the bush' may very well apply to a new vaccine project underway in the lab of ASU School of Life Sciences Professor Roy Curtiss, director of the Center for Infectious Diseases and Vaccinology at the Biodesign Institute.There, associate research scientist Melha Mellata is leading a USDA funded project to identify targets to develop a vaccine against a leading poultry disease, called avian pathogenic E. coli (APEC). ... more info |
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| The prevalence of bird flu in Indonesia continues to be serious despite containment efforts undertaken by national authorities and the international community, FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations) warned today. Indonesia is the country worst hit by avian influenza. ... more info |
| Physicians from countries worst-affected by the deadly bird flu (H5N1 influenza virus) have reported an increased survival rate in patients treated with the oral antiviral Tamiflu (oseltamivir). These data reinforce the World Health Organization (WHO) advisory that Tamiflu is the only antiviral strongly recommended for the treatment of humans infected with the H5N1 virus. ... more info |
| Reassortment of the influenza A virus occurs frequently throughout its evolutionary history, according to a new study published February 29 in the open-access journal PLoS Pathogens. Researchers at Pennsylvania State University and the National Institute of Health used an evolutionary analysis of influenza viruses sampled from 1918 - 2005 to investigate the influenza viruses that cause seasonal epidemics in humans, particularly those where mortality was unusually high. ... more info |
| A recent article published in the open-access journal PLoSPathogens maintains that over its evolutionary history,reassortment of the influenza A virus happens often.Genetic reassortment is when genetic material mixes from two similarviruses that are infecting the same cell. Influenza virus A is aspecies of virus that causes influenza in birds, humans, pigs, andhorses; it has often given rise to human influenza pandemics. ... more info |
| India is to be commended for its successful efforts to control the recent worst-ever outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza in the state of West Bengal, FAO said. The agency warned, however, that intensive surveillance should continue in high-risk areas as the possibility of new outbreaks remains high. ... more info |
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| Several strains of the bird flu virus that raged across southern China were blocked from entering Thailand and Vietnam, UC Irvine researchers have discovered.This first-ever statistical analysis of influenza A H5N1's genetic diversity helps scientists better understand how the virus migrates and could, in the future, help health officials determine whether efforts to thwart its spread were successful. ... more info |
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| HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt is visiting Indonesia, Singapore and
Vietnam to advance the administration’s efforts to improve the safety of imports, and to review
cooperative efforts to reduce the spread of disease, including HIV/AIDS and highly pathanogenic
avian influenza. ... more info |
| Effective State, local and community functioning during and following an influenza pandemic requires focused planning and practicing in advance of the pandemic to ensure that States can maintain their critical functions. ... more info |
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| A panel of immunization experts advised the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) today to expand the recommended ages for annual influenza vaccination of children to include all children from only 6 months to 59 months of age. The expanded recommendation is to take effect as soon as feasible, but no later than the 2009 – 2010 influenza season... ... more info |
| The telebriefing will provide an update on the current influenza season. ... more info |
| Updated immunization recommendations for childhood influenza and adolescent meningococcal vaccinations are included in the 2008 Childhood and Adolescent Immunization Schedules released jointly today by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)... ... more info |
| Telebriefing to discuss Merck(c) Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) vaccine recall ... more info |
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| The telebriefing will provide an update on the current influenza season as well as seasonal influenza vaccine distribution and availability ... more info |
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| The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced today that the nation's influenza vaccine manufacturers report that more than 103 million doses of influenza ... more info |
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| A panel of immunization experts has voted to expand the recommendation for the nasal spray influenza vaccine... ... more info |
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| The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and its Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) today released interim advice to the public about the use of facemasks and respirators in certain public (non-occupational) settings during an influenza pandemic.... ... more info |
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| The impact of pandemic influenza extends well beyond health and medical communities into many segments of society. Developing a pandemic influenza vaccine could take several months.... ... more info |
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| The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention today announced $11.4 million in new contracts to four companies working to develop new diagnostic tests that doctors and field epidemiologists could eventually use to quickly and accurately test patients for avian influenza H5N1 and other emerging influenza viruses... ... more info |
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| The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention today announced $5.2 million in new cooperative agreements designed to evaluate the effectiveness of community-level measures that could be used during an influenza pandemic to reduce the spread of infection... ... more info |
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| The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced today that influenza (flu) vaccine manufacturers are expecting to produce and distribute more than 100 million doses of influenza vaccines in the United States between now and early January, 2007.
... more info |
| Scientists from the University of Colorado at Boulder and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have developed a microchip-based test that may allow more labs to diagnose influenza infections and learn more about the viruses causing illness.
... more info |
| Scientists at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have released genetic blueprints for over 650 genes of influenza viruses into a database accessible to researchers worldwide.
... more info |
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| Last Update: 14 May 2008 04:11 GMT |
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