The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) has found rare H3N1 influenza viruses in swine in two states in recent months, and two of the isolates carry genes from human seasonal flu viruses. The developments are grounds for serious concern about the potential spread of disease at fairs this fall, according to one animal health expert.
Resistance to artemisinin, the main drug for treating malaria, has now spread throughout Southeast Asia, including critical border regions, and a genetic mutation in the Plasmodium falciparum parasite that causes the disease may be the culprit, according to a study today in the New England Journal of Medicine.
An analysis of flu vaccine effectiveness (VE) during the 2012-13 season in the United Kingdom found moderate protection against influenza B, good protection against the 2009 H1N1 virus, but very poor protection against H3N2.
UW calls a recent UK newspaper story biased and largely wrong.
The flu vaccine in three European nations in 2012-13 provided 33% protection against hospitalization for influenza in adults, according to a study yesterday in PLoS One.
Vaccine strains overstimulated some kids' immune systems, and CSL said it has taken steps to reduce the risk.
Health officials have been heard to say that even though influenza vaccine doesn't provide complete protection against flu, it may reduce symptoms if you do get sick. Now a study out of Wisconsin offers some evidence in support of that view.
Readiness is better now, Fineberg said, "but it's not adequate."
Federal researchers have found antibodies to the 2009 H1N1 (pH1N1) flu virus in almost three fourths of sea otters they tested that were from off the coast of Washington state, according to a letter today in Emerging Infectious Diseases.
Adults who were hospitalized were 25% less likely to die if they were given the drug.
