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Pope Francis's comments coincide with WHO guidance on preventing sexual transmission of the virus.
Three studies show moderate protection against pneumococcal pneumonia but limited protection against all-cause pneumonia.
Hong Kong health officials today reported three more H7N9 avian flu infections, all of them in adults from Guangdong province in the southern part of China's mainland. Also, a new analysis of the disease found that longer incubation periods are associated with fatal outcomes.
The agency says even though the virus has not been confirmed in the US blood supply, the risk is real.
A robust immune response in mice clears the way for tests in nonhuman primates.
Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Health (MOH) reported two more MERS cases today, both of which occurred in Riyadh.
The first patient is a 53-year-old Saudi man who is in stable condition, the MOH said. The other patient is a 24-year-old foreigner who is hospitalized in an intensive care unit (ICU).
An expert panel convened by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) said today it has found no significant new scientific evidence to change current indications for the use of antiviral drugs to treat influenza.
The WHO's mosquito-control assessment spoke to the complex and daunting task, but also acknowledged a possible role for newer tools.
H5N1 kills crows in Bangladesh, while France, Nigeria, and Vietnam see more outbreaks of avian influenza caused by various strains.
Saudi Arabia today reported two fatal MERS-CoV cases in elderly men in the same city, Al-Kharj in the central part of the country, where two other cases were reported in recent weeks.
Also, Brazil's health ministry rejected a possible microcephaly link to larvicides, and experts are gathering for a US Zika priority workshop tomorrow.
The governor of Hawaii, David Ige, on Feb 12 issued an emergency proclamation intended to prevent mosquito-borne illnesses, including dengue, Zika, and chikungunya, on the islands.
The WHO's top drug and development official projected the launch of a large vaccine trial is still at least 18 months away, but a test might be available within weeks.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) saw localized pockets of high flu activity last week, but for the nation as a whole, the levels rose only slightly again, according to today's weekly update.
The percentage of respiratory specimens that tested positive for flu registered a modest bump, increasing from 6.8% to 9.1% last week, with the 2009 H1N1 virus holding onto its spot as the predominant strain.
Semen tests were done during an investigation into a British man's infection with Zika virus after visiting the Cook Islands in 2014.
Influenza-related hospitalization rates and high poverty levels showed a "robust" correlation, according to an analysis of data from 14 states during the 2010-11 to 2011-12 flu seasons published today in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR).
The global incidence of dengue has increased sharply since 1990, resulting in climbing rates of disability, particularly in Southeast Asia, while mortality rates appear lower than expected, according to a study yesterday in The Lancet Infectious Diseases.
Also today, two new microcephaly studies documented Zika virus in fetal tissue, strengthening a possible link between the two conditions.
The World Health Organization (WHO) today reported on the latest H7N9 avian influenza pattern in China, still tied primarily to poultry contact, based on the country's Feb 5 report covering 28 recent cases.
Illness onsets ranged from Dec 21 to Jan 25, with an age range of 14 to 91 years. The median age was 58, and 19 (64%) of the patients were male.
Behavioral interventions that made clinicians justify prescriptions, offered alternatives to antibiotic treatment, or compared prescription rates with peers reduced rates of inappropriate antibiotic prescribing, according to findings reported yesterday in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).
