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Norovirus vaccine reduced symptoms in challenge study

A vaccine targeting two common norovirus strains reduced vomiting and diarrhea and prevented severe illness in a small clinical challenge study, researchers reported today at the IDWeek conference in San Francisco.

USDA says Foster Farms poultry plants can stay open

Foster Farms has taken adequate contamination-control steps at three of its California plants linked to a multistate Salmonella outbreak to have the plants remain operational, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) said, according to an NBC News report yesterday.

Southern Hemisphere flu drops as Northern Hemisphere's season starts

As the end of the Southern Hemisphere's flu season draws near, activity in Australia and New Zealand seems to have peaked, though over the last few weeks South Africa has seen a second, smaller peak, the World Health Organization (WHO) said today in a global flu update.

Flu surveillance comparison finds flaws in Google tool

A comparison of traditional surveillance and Google Flu Trends (GFT) over the past decade found that GFT isn't a reliable tool for tracking seasonal and pandemic influenza, having missed the first 2009 H1N1 pandemic wave and overestimated the 2012-13 H3N2 epidemic, according to a study released yesterday.

Study: Flu vaccine plus immune suppressor may offer broader protection

US researchers reported yesterday that giving mice a flu vaccine and simultaneously treating them with rapamycin, an immune-suppressing drug, caused them to generate antibodies that were protective against other flu strains, including H5N1 and H7N9.

Cambodia confirms H5N1 in 8-year-old girl

An 8-year-old girl in Cambodia has become the country's 21st H5N1 avian flu case-patient this year, according to a detailed statement today from Cambodia's Ministry of Health (MoH) and the World Health Organization's (WHO's) Western Pacific Region.

H7N9 hospitalizes 2 in Shanghai; study estimates transmission risk

Shanghai health officials reported two new H7N9 avian influenza cases, in a 52-year-old man and a 37-year-old woman, the first infections reported in the city since the middle of February.

US report is cautious on climate change impact on infectious diseases

A draft White House report on the impact of climate change on human health takes a cautious tone regarding the possible effects of a warming climate on the prevalence of infectious diseases.

Influenza B exerts muscle over receding US flu season

Markers for the US flu season showed some further declines last week, with the percentage of clinic visits for flulike illness falling below the national baseline for the first time after 19 weeks at or above baseline, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said today in its weekly update.

Five regions, however, are still above their baselines for that indicator.

New H3N2 virus implicated in Chicago canine flu outbreak

A canine influenza outbreak affecting dogs in Chicago and other Midwest locations is being fueled by a virus closely related to Asian H3N2 strains and not H3N8 as originally thought, researchers from Cornell University and the University of Wisconsin announced yesterday.

Potency issue prompts recall of GSK flu vaccine syringes

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said yesterday that GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) has notified federal officials that it has recalled the remaining doses of its 2014-15 Flulaval quadrivalent thimerosal-free prefilled syringes, because of a reduced potency issue.

Study: School closures in Michigan didn't curb pandemic flu

School closures in Michigan during the fall wave of the 2009 H1N1 flu pandemic had little impact on disease spread, according to a retrospective study by a team based at the University of Michigan. The group published its findings yesterday in Clinical Infectious Diseases.

US flu season continues to decline, but hospitalizations up again

Influenza activity continues to drop in the United States even as rates of hospitalization for flu continue to climb, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said today in its weekly update. The CDC also reported three flu-related deaths in kids.

CDC says tough 2014-15 flu season is finally ending

Two straight weeks of low influenza activity signal that the long 2014-15 flu season, marked by its heavy impact on seniors and poor vaccine performance, is drawing to an end, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said in a short review of the season yesterday.

Minnesota reports 11 more H5N2 outbreaks

Minnesota, the epicenter of the H5N2 avian influenza battle, today reported 11 more outbreaks on poultry farms, including 8 confirmed detections and 3 presumptive positives, raising the state's total to 67.

Few flu hot spots remain, but virus still making hospitalization impact

Flu activity continues to hang on in a few northeastern states, but most markers declined further last week, except for the hospitalization rate, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said today.

Anhui province reports China's 2nd H7N9 case this month

A new case of H7N9 avian flu has been reported from China, this one in a 3-year-old boy from Huaibei City, according to machine-translated notices from provincial health officials posted yesterday on FluTrackers, an infectious disease message board.

The child, who is reportedly in stable condition with mild symptoms, had contact with live poultry before his Apr 27 disease onset. He received outpatient treatment.

H5 outbreaks strike four more Iowa farms

Iowa agriculture officials today reported four more highly pathogenic H5 avian influenza outbreaks, with testing under way to confirm that they are part of a string of H5N2 outbreaks that has now affected up to 60 of the state's farms.

Mexico reports 8 more H7N3 outbreaks, culls 800,000 birds

Eight more outbreaks of H7N3 avian flu have struck Mexican chicken farms in recent weeks, prompting the destruction of more than 800,000 birds and the vaccination of 5 million more, Mexican authorities reported to the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) today.

Serum study finds no subclinical H7N9 in Chinese health workers

A serologic study of healthcare workers in China's Zhejiang province, the area that has had the most cases in the H7N9 flu outbreak, found no asymptomatic infections with the new virus, according to a letter from Chinese researchers in Clinical Infectious Diseases.

Inovio reports preclinical results for H7N9 vaccine

Inovio, a pharmaceutical company based in Blue Bell, Pa., today announced the first preclinical results from tests in mice on its candidate DNA vaccine against the H7N9 virus, according to a press release.

The study was conducted by researchers at the University of Pennsylvania and Canada's National Microbiology Laboratory in Winnipeg.

H5N1 prevalence may surpass 10% in Egyptian backyard, market poultry

An Egyptian surveillance study found that while H5N1 avian flu viruses were uncommon on commercial poultry farms, more than 10% of backyard and live-market birds harbored the virus, according to a report in the Journal of Virology.

WHO notes latest MERS-CoV cases, raises global count to 77 cases

The World Health Organization (WHO) today used Twitter to acknowledge the seven latest MERS-CoV (Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus) cases in Saudi Arabia.

Canada investigates H7 findings in American air passenger

Canadian health officials said an American man hospitalized in Edmonton after getting sick on a plane tested positive for an H7 virus after traveling to China, though he doesn't have an active flu infection, the Canadian Press reported today.

The elderly man was on a flight from Cairo to San Francisco when he got sick and became unconscious, and the airline diverted the plane to Edmonton.

Study: GBS risk much higher with flu than with flu vaccine

The risk of Guillain-Barre syndrome (GBS) after flu vaccination was much lower than the risk of GBS after flu infection, according to a study today in Lancet Infectious Diseases.

Canadian researchers used a self-controlled study design and data from universal healthcare systems in Ontario from 1993 through 2011. They determined exposures to flu vaccine and flu illness from physician billing claims.