Cold, Flu & Cough News and Research

Latest Cold, Flu & Cough News and Research

New data shows influenza-associated deaths among children, effectiveness of school vaccinations

New data being presented at IDWeek 2012TM shows the fatal risk that influenza poses even for children without underlying health conditions and the effectiveness of school-based vaccination programs in protecting student populations.

20 Oct 2012

Sanofi Pasteur files Fluzone sBLA with FDA for treatment of influenza

Sanofi Pasteur, the vaccines division of Sanofi, announced today that it has filed a Supplemental Biologics License Application (sBLA) with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for a quadrivalent formulation of its Fluzone (Influenza Virus Vaccine).

20 Oct 2012

Quality of care drops if doctors dictate

Physicians who predominantly dictate patients’ medical notes have worse quality of care than their peers who use structured electronic health record documentation, show study findings.

19 Oct 2012

Babies born to HIV positive mothers more likely to acquire measles

Non-infected babies born to HIV positive mothers should be vaccinated early against measles, to avoid them acquiring the virus or passing it on to others.

19 Oct 2012

New book focuses on Wnt signaling

Wnt proteins are signaling molecules that play critical roles during embryonic development and in the regeneration of adult tissues. They bind to Frizzled and LRP family receptors on the cell surface, triggering a series of events that cause beta-catenin to enter the nucleus and activate transcription factors that control cell fate and cell proliferation. Mutations in components of the Wnt pathway lead to developmental defects and are common in cancer.

19 Oct 2012

Salk findings on cold virus proteins may spur new cancer treatments

Cold viruses generally get a bad rap----which they've certainly earned----but new findings by a team of scientists at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies suggest that these viruses might also be a valuable ally in the fight against cancer.

17 Oct 2012

Public-private partnership will promote handwashing to help reduce child mortality in Africa

Though the number of children dying of preventable and treatable diseases worldwide has dropped significantly since 1990, there is "realistic hope for much more" progress, particularly if "improved hygiene and sanitation ... play a key role in the next stage," Jeffrey Sachs, director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University, and Paul Polman, CEO of Unilever, write in the Huffington Post's "Global Motherhood" blog.

17 Oct 2012

iLarynx app effective at simulating fiberoptic bronchoscopy

A study presented during the ANESTHESIOLOGY 2012 annual meeting has shown that an iPhone application called iLarynx was so effective at simulating fiberoptic bronchoscopy that when app-trained students eventually used a real bronchoscope on a manikin, they completed the procedure in less than half the time than students exposed only to anatomy photos.

17 Oct 2012

UAF scientists discover evolutionary origin of air breathing in vertebrates

University of Alaska Fairbanks scientists have identified what they think is the ancestral trait that allowed for the evolution of air breathing in vertebrates. They will present their research at the 42nd annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience Oct. 17 in New Orleans.

17 Oct 2012

LRRK2 inhibitors may provide neuroprotection for patients with Parkinson's

For decades, patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) have had the same experience. Their hands start to shake uncontrollably, their limbs become rigid and they lose their balance. Years before those movement problems set in, many begin struggling with fainting, incontinence, sexual dysfunction, anxiety and depression. Many patients are still treated with a 42-year-old drug called L-DOPA, which temporarily staves off symptoms but can itself cause heart arrhythmias, stomach bleeding and hallucinations.

16 Oct 2012

NIAID-funded study to evaluate PPSV23 and PCV13 in Phase Iib pneumococcal trial

Researchers plan to see if a higher dose of a pneumococcal vaccine will create a stronger immune response in older adults who received an earlier generation vaccine against pneumonia and other pneumococcal diseases.

16 Oct 2012

Saint Louis University to participate in PPV23 vaccine trial for pneumonia

Saint Louis University is participating in a multi-site, National Institutes of Health-sponsored clinical trial in older adults of a new vaccine designed to protect against one of the most common types of pneumonia and related diseases such as bloodstream infections and meningitis.

16 Oct 2012

Environmental factors affect pneumonia hospitalization in HIV

Hospital admissions for Pneumocystis pneumonia in HIV-infected individuals are significantly more common in the summer months, US research shows.

15 Oct 2012

Genzyme announces key data from AUBAGIO Phase III trial on multiple sclerosis

Genzyme, a Sanofi company announced today that key data from the TOWER trial were presented at the 28th Congress of the European Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis (ECTRIMS).

15 Oct 2012

Celgene receives FDA approval for ABRAXANE to treat non-small cell lung cancer

Celgene Corporation today announced the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved ABRAXANE (paclitaxel protein-bound particles for injectable suspension) (albumin-bound) for the first-line treatment of locally advanced or metastatic non-small cell lung cancer, in combination with carboplatin, in patients who are not candidates for curative surgery or radiation therapy.

15 Oct 2012

Lenalidomide worsens survival, adverse events in prostate cancer

A combination of lenalidomide plus docetaxel and prednisone treatment in patients with chemotherapy-naive prostate cancer leads to worse overall survival rates and increased toxicity compared with placebo, show study results.

12 Oct 2012

Hospital superbugs can float on air currents and contaminate surfaces

Hospital superbugs can float on air currents and contaminate surfaces far from infected patients' beds, according to University of Leeds researchers.

12 Oct 2012

Alverix receives FDA 510(k) clearance for new BD Veritor System kit

Alverix, Inc., a world leader in the design and manufacture of next-generation platforms for diagnostic Point-of-Care (POC) testing, today announced that BD Diagnostics, a segment of Becton Dickinson and Company, a leading global medical technology company, received 510(k) clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for nasopharyngeal wash, aspirate and swab in transport media specimens on the BD VeritorTM System for Rapid Detection of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV).

12 Oct 2012

Top-line results from Pfizer’s ALO-02 Phase 3 study on chronic non-cancer pain

Pfizer Inc. announced top-line results today from a Phase 3 open-label long-term safety study of investigational agent ALO-02 (oxycodone hydrochloride and naltrexone hydrochloride extended-release capsules) in patients with moderate-to-severe chronic, non-cancer pain.

12 Oct 2012

Blocking leukotriene B4 might slow down eczema

More than 15% of children suffer with eczema, or atopic dermatitis, an inflammatory skin disease that in some cases can be debilitating and disfiguring. Researchers reporting in the October issue of Immunity have discovered a potential new target for the condition, demonstrating that by blocking it, they can lessen the disease in mice.

12 Oct 2012