Summaries | Headlines

Avian Flu -- 1918 and Today -- Protein Enhances Lethality Of Virus (October 11, 2007) -- The 1918 influenza virus pandemic was responsible for more than 40 million deaths across the globe. The incredible lethality of the 1918 flu strain is not well understood, despite having been under ... > full story

Influenza: Insights Into Cell Specificity Of Human Vs. Avian Viruses (October 10, 2007) -- Researchers have identified which sites and cell types within the respiratory tract are targeted by human vs. avian influenza viruses, providing valuable insights into the pathogenesis of these ... > full story

Grid Computing Offers New Hope In Race Against Bird Flu (October 9, 2007) -- A new attack against the deadly bird flu virus, harnessing the combined power of more than 40,000 computers across 45 countries to boost the pace of anti-viral drug discovery, has just been launched. ... > full story

Bird Flu Viruses Found In Africa And Europe 'Closest To Becoming A Human Virus' (October 7, 2007) -- Since it first appeared in Hong Kong in 1997, the H5N1 avian flu virus has been slowly evolving into a pathogen better equipped to infect humans. "The viruses that are in circulation now are much ... > full story

Flu Vaccinations Recommended For Health-care Workers (October 5, 2007) -- The American College of Physicians recommends that an annual influenza vaccine should be required for every health-care worker with direct patient care activities. Every year, flu infects up to 20 ... > full story

Spouses Often Mirror Each Other's Health Habits (October 4, 2007) -- If one spouse exercises, quits smoking, stops drinking alcohol... the other spouse is more likely to do the same. For example, smokers were more than five times more likely to quit smoking if their ... > full story

New Field-deployable Biosensor Detects Avian Influenza Virus In Minutes Instead Of Days (October 2, 2007) -- Quick identification of avian influenza infection in poultry is critical to controlling outbreaks, but current detection methods can require several days to produce results. A new biosensor can ... > full story

Avian Flu In Humans Had Multiple Effects: Can Even Cross Placenta To Fetus (September 28, 2007) -- H5N1 influenza, also known as avian influenza, is considered a major global threat to human health, with high fatality rates. Studies of human H5N1 victims shed light on the anatomic distribution of ... > full story

Nosespray Vaccine Using Aloe Vera Has Exciting Potential, Researcher Says (September 28, 2007) -- Researchers are participating in developing a medicine that is worth sneezing about: a treatment for influenza that forms a jelly when sprayed into the ... > full story

How To Assess Benefits Of Influenza Vaccine In The Elderly (September 27, 2007) -- Each year, seasonal flu kills approximately 36,000 people in the United States, most over age 70. Yet little is known about the benefit of influenza vaccine in older seniors. In a new article ... > full story

Detecting Bird Flu: New Lab-on-chip Identifies H5N1 In Thirty Minutes (September 25, 2007) -- Scientists have developed a miniature device that, if successfully commercialized, could be deployed in affected regions for preemptive surveillance of a nascent avian flu epidemic. The device can ... > full story

Flu Virus Trots Globe During Off Season, Mixes With Other Viral Strains (September 21, 2007) -- The influenza A virus does not lie dormant during summer but migrates globally and mixes with other viral strains before returning to the Northern Hemisphere as a genetically different virus, ... > full story

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Flu vaccine -- The flu vaccine is a vaccine to protect against the highly variable influenza virus. The annually updated trivalent flu vaccine for the 2005-2006 season consists of hemagglutinin (HA) surface ... > full article

Avian flu -- Avian flu (also "bird flu", "avian influenza", "bird influenza"), means "flu from viruses adapted to birds", but is sometimes mistakenly used to refer to both other flu subsets (such as H5N1 flu) or ... > full article

Pandemic -- A pandemic is an epidemic (an outbreak of an infectious disease) that spreads worldwide, or at least across a large region. There have been a number of significant pandemics in human history, ... > full article

Spanish flu -- The Spanish Flu Pandemic, also known as La Grippe Espagnole, or La Pesadilla, was an unusually severe and deadly strain of avian influenza, a viral infectious disease, that killed some 50 million to ... > full article

Influenza pandemic -- An influenza pandemic is a large scale epidemic of the influenza virus, such as the 1918 Spanish flu. The World Health Organization (WHO) warns that there is a substantial risk of an influenza ... > full article

H5N1 -- H5N1 is an avian influenza virus subtype. The H5N1 flu is what is commonly meant when talking of "bird flu" or "avian influenza". It is a viral disease that causes illness in many species including ... > full article

Incubation period -- Incubation period, also called the latent period or latency period, is the time elapsed between exposure to a pathogenic organism, or chemical or radiation, and when symptoms and signs are first ... > full article

Global spread of H5N1 in 2006 -- The global spread of (highly pathogenic) H5N1 in birds is considered a significant pandemic threat. While prior H5N1 strains have been known, they were significantly different from the current H5N1 ... > full article

Upper respiratory tract infection -- Upper respiratory infections, commonly referred to the acronym URI, is the illness caused by an acute infection which involves the upper respiratory tract: nose, sinuses, pharynx, larynx, or bronchi. ... > full article

Pathogen -- A pathogen or infectious agent is a biological agent that causes disease or illness to its host. The term is most often used for agents that disrupt the normal physiology of a multicellular animal or ... > full article

West Nile virus -- West Nile virus is a virus of the family Flaviviridae, found in both tropical and temperate regions. It mainly infects birds, but is known to infect humans, horses, cats, bats, chipmunks, skunks, ... > full article

Infectious disease -- In medicine, infectious disease or communicable disease is disease caused by a biological agent such as by a virus, bacterium or parasite. This is contrasted to physical causes, such as burns or ... > full article

Antiviral drug -- Antiviral drugs are a class of medication used specifically for treating viral infections. Like antibiotics, specific antivirals are used for specific viruses. Antiviral drugs are one class of ... > full article

Gastroenteritis -- Gastroenteritis involves diarrhea or vomitting, with noninflammatory infection of the upper small bowel, or inflammatory infection of the colon, both part of the gastrointestinal tract. Usually this ... > full article

MMR vaccine -- The MMR vaccine is a mixture of live attenuated viruses, administered via injection for immunization against measles, mumps and rubella. It is generally administered to children around the age of one ... > full article

Vaccination -- Vaccination is the process of administering weakened or dead pathogens to a healthy person or animal, with the intent of conferring immunity against a targeted form of a related disease agent. It ... > full article

Nasal congestion -- Nasal congestion is the blockage of the nasal passages usually due to excessive secretion of mucus that is caused by a virus and typically resolves spontaneously within a week. It is also known as ... > full article

HPV vaccine -- Human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine research focuses on the prevention of diseases, such as cervical cancer and genital warts, caused by sexually transmitted human papillomaviruses. Of the more than ... > full article

Herbal tea -- An herbal tea, tisane, or ptisan is an herbal infusion not made from the leaves of the tea bush. Tisanes can be made with fresh or dried flowers, leaves, seeds or roots, generally by pouring boiling ... > full article

Tularemia -- Tularemia (also known as "rabbit fever") is an infectious disease caused by the bacterium Francisella tularensis. The disease is endemic in North America, and parts of Europe and Asia. The primary ... > full article