Posts Tagged ‘Flu’

Health bosses to vaccinate 20million against swine flu by Christmas

Twenty million people will be vaccinated against swine flu by Christmas, with everyone receiving the jab by the middle of next year.Experts are drawing up a priority list of patients to be given immunity before the bug becomes more virulent.Those first in the queue are expected to be the elderly, infants under the age of five, people with asthma and diabetes, and those with compromised immune systems.

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Resistance To Flu Drug Widespread In U.S.: Study

A flu shot is prepared in Chicago, Illinois. US President Barack Obama has vowed to fight for his budget proposals that include investments in clean energy and healthcare as he faces a tough battle moving the measures through Congress. (AFP/Getty Images/File/Tim Boyle)From Yahoo News/Reuters:WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Virtually all cases of the most common strain of flu circulating in the United States now resist the main drug used to treat it, the U.S.

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Scientists Close In On ‘Universal’ Vaccine For Flu: Study

From Breitbart/AFP:Scientists on Sunday unveiled lab-made human antibodies that can disable several types of influenza, including highly-lethal H5N1 bird flu and the “Spanish Flu” strain that killed tens of millions in 1918.Tested in mice, the antibodies work by binding to a previously obscure structure in the flu virus which, when blocked, sabotages the pathogen’s ability to enter the cell it is trying to infect, according to the study.Because this structure — described by one scientist as a “viral Achilles’ heel” — is genetically stable and has resisted mutation over time, the antibodies are effective against many different strains.Read more ….

Bacteria, Not Flu, Cause Of 1918 Pandemic

The 1918 flu pandemic is estimated to have caused the death of between 50 million and 100 million people in approximately 18 months (Source: US National Archives)From ABC News/Reuters:Strep infections and not influenza may have killed most people during the 1918 influenza pandemic, which suggests predictions about a new pandemic could be exaggerated, say US researchers.The findings suggest that amassing antibiotics to fight bacterial infections may be as important as stockpiling antiviral drugs to battle flu, they say.Professor Keith Klugman of Emory University, Atlanta and colleagues report their findings in the journal Emerging Infectious Diseases.The team looked at information available about the 1918 flu pandemic, which killed between 50 million and 100 million people globally in the space of about 18 months.Read more ….

Happiness: Contagious As The Flu

From Live Science:In a good mood? Your neighbor, her friends and even her friends’ friends should thank you – you’re likely infecting them with your cheer. Happiness spreads through social networks about as easily as the flu, according to a new study.The researchers analyzed data compiled from nearly 5,000 interconnected people over a 20-year period.

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