The seasonal flu vaccine is less effective in some years than others. New St. Jude research showed one reason behind this lack of efficacy is the inclusion of flu strains with an unstable viral protein.
A Cornell research scientist, working in partnership with an organization representing a consortium of 20 Native Alaska groups, used ground-penetrating radar and AI modeling to locate the communal graves of approximately 93 victims of the Spanish influenza at Pilgrim Hot Springs on the Seward Peninsula – a finding that helps clarify the historical record for the Indigenous communities devastated by the 1918-19 pandemic.
JMIR Publications published "Examining the Use of an Artificial Intelligence Model to Diagnose Influenza: Development and Validation Study" in the Journal of Medical Internet Research, which reported that it may be possible to diagnose influenza infection by applying deep learning to pharyngeal images given that influenza primarily infects the upper respiratory system.
Scientists report using a single-atom-thick nanomaterial to build a device that can simultaneously detect the presence of the viruses that cause COVID-19 and the flu — at much lower levels and much more quickly than conventional tests for either. They will present their results at ACS Spring 2023.
In a study published in the journal Immunity, researchers describe a distinct and novel subset of memory B cells that predict long-lived antibody responses to influenza vaccination in humans.
Below is a brief roundup of news and story ideas from the experts at UCLA Health. For more information on these stories or for help on other stories, please contact us at [email protected].
Influenza viruses have an enormous impact in the U.S., with an estimated 25 million illnesses and 18,000 deaths in the 2022-23 flu season alone. However, the majority of virus particles are not infectious or are only partially infectious. How, then, do they become such a contagious and deadly virus?
Researchers at Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University found that an outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) was associated with the deaths of more than 330 New England harbor and gray seals along the North Atlantic coast in June and July 2022, and the outbreak was connected to a wave of avian influenza in birds in the region.
The next pandemic that cascades through the human population could be caused by a new influenza virus strain concocted in animals, against which humans will have little to no immunity.
In reviewing data from previous studies, a team lead by researchers at the University of Chicago and the French National Institute of Health and Medical Research (Inserm) found that individuals who had fewer than six hours of sleep per night in the days surrounding vaccination had a blunted antibody response. That indicates efforts to promote heathy sleep duration ahead of an immunization could be an easy way to improve vaccine effectiveness.
To evaluate best strategies for increasing vaccination rates, researchers from Brigham and Women’s Hospital, a founding member of the Mass General Brigham healthcare system, collaborated with Danish researchers to develop and implement a nationwide trial in Denmark testing nine different electronic messaging tactics among adults over age 65.
Schools are among the most notable settings people associate with picking up viral infections such as the common cold, various types of the flu or other respiratory viruses.
Every year, the influenza season presents a challenge to hospitals. Despite having been vaccinated, older people and patients with health problems in particular run a heightened risk of falling prey to a severe bout of influenza.
A new University of California, Irvine-led study uncovers how a protein, APOBEC3B, could protects cells against many different types of RNA viruses like respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), SARS-CoV2, influenza virus, poliovirus and measles, helping to prevent disease. The study was published in Nature Communications.
Viruses use the molecular repertoire of the host cell to replicate. Researchers from the Cluster of Excellence ImmunoSensation2 at the University of Bonn, together with Japanese researchers, want to exploit this for the treatment of influenza.
For the first time, researchers at UC San Diego have created an atomic-level computer model of the H1N1 virus that reveals new vulnerabilities, suggesting possible strategies for the design of future vaccines and antivirals against influenza.
Nonpharmaceutical interventions slowed the spread of COVID-19 and other infectious diseases but now, as NPIs are lifted, countries are seeing a resurgence in several respiratory diseases. In Chaos, scientists, using data from Hong Kong to develop their model, describe a threshold control method that can be used to predict the best time to lift NPIs without overwhelming the hospital systems when these other respiratory diseases inevitably surge back. They found that reintroducing NPI measures when a threshold of 600 severe cases is reached could ensure that the hospital system in Hong Kong is not overwhelmed by severely infected patients.
NEW YORK, NY – Jan. 17, 2023 – The American Thoracic Society is starting the new year poised to improve vaccination rates with three health system partners: University of Arizona/ Banner Health; West Virginia University Hospitals, Inc.; and San Francisco Health Network/ University of California.
A new test that ‘fishes’ for multiple respiratory viruses at once using single strands of DNA as ‘bait’, and gives highly accurate results in under an hour, has been developed by Cambridge researchers.
Results of the 18-month study, published in Lancet Regional Health - Americas and led by Amit Bahl, M.D., M.P.H., emergency medicine with Corewell Health East, formerly Beaumont Health, showed that while omicron cases had the highest hospital admission rates among children ages 0 to 17, serious, even deadly, cases of illness were less likely during omicron than during the delta and alpha variants. In fact, the odds of severe disease were 65% lower during omicron compared to alpha.
Researchers at Hokkaido University have revealed the effects of high pathogenicity avian influenza virus infection on an Ezo red fox and a Japanese raccoon dog, linking their infection to a recorded die-off of crows.
To provide vital resources during current RSV surge, AACN and Children's Hospital Association offer new eLearning course on pediatric respiratory care, available to all nurses and other clinicians at no charge.
Flu season came a month early this year in Tennessee and hit hard, disproportionately affecting children, according to Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS) data gathered by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Tennessee Department of Health and Vanderbilt University Medical Center.
With flu cases on the rise, geriatric specialists at UT Southwestern Medical Center say vaccinations are particularly important this year for people 65 and older who are more at risk from complications than other age groups.
Once considered a potentially static field of medicine, the discipline of studying infectious diseases has proven to be dynamic as emerging and reemerging infectious diseases present continuous challenges, Anthony S. Fauci, M.D., writes in a perspective in The New England Journal of Medicine.
Given the anticipated increase in COVID-19 and influenza cases this fall and winter, America’s healthcare professional organizations are coming together to remind the public of the importance of vaccinations and early treatment.
With what some are calling a “tripledemic” of COVID-19, the influenza virus and respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, soaring in many parts of the country, the holiday season will come with some tough decisions again this year.
People who have a COVID-19 infection are more likely to develop seizures or epilepsy within the next six months than people who have an influenza infection, according to a study published in the November 16, 2022, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
An international study led by McMaster University researchers and published in The Lancet Global Health has found that influenza vaccines greatly reduce both pneumonia and cardiovascular complications in people with heart failure. An international study led by McMaster University researchers and published in The Lancet Global Health has found that influenza vaccines greatly reduce both pneumonia and cardiovascular complications in people with heart failure. Data gathered during flu season also showed the vaccine helped protect against cardiovascular complications, such as heart attacks and strokes.
Children with a severe form of epilepsy should be vaccinated against the flu due to the high risk of seizures being triggered by an influenza infection, according to a new study.
Hosted by Chulalongkorn University the APRU APEC University Leaders' Forum 2022 is the first post-pandemic in-person APEC meeting held to foster high-level dialogue between CEOs, policy leaders, university presidents, and top researchers. This event begins Nov 15 at 9 PM EST.
New research presented this week at ACR Convergence, the American College of Rheumatology’s annual meeting, showed that discontinuing methotrexate for 1 week after seasonal influenza vaccination provided the same seroprotection as a 2 week discontinuation period in patients with RA.
A new model for understanding which patients with sepsis, Covid-19 and influenza have immune dysfunction and are more likely to suffer poor outcomes has been developed by researchers at the Wellcome Sanger Institute, the University of Oxford, Queen Mary University, Imperial College and their collaborators.
Researchers from the University of Missouri School of Medicine have discovered a high prevalence of COVID-19 co-infections in central Missouri during the 2021-2022 flu season, with a monthly co-infection rate as high as 48% among individuals with COVID-19.
The Global Virus Network (GVN), representing 68 Centers of Excellence and 11 Affiliates in 39 countries comprising foremost experts in every class of virus causing disease in humans, and the Mahidol University in Thailand announced the addition of the Mahidol Virus Network as GVN’s newest Center of Excellence.
Cedars-Sinai and other hospitals nationwide are seeing a surge in cases of pediatric RSV (respiratory syncytial virus) that are showing up earlier than expected this year. Healthcare providers are worried about the onset of the virus combined with the additional threats of the flu and COVID-19 as we head into winter.
A paper in Cell Reports Medicine details the efficacy of H84T-BanLec against all known human-infecting coronaviruses, including MERS, the original SARS, and SARS-CoV2, including the omicron variant.
The annual influenza (flu) season — which typically lasts from October to April in the United States — is upon us. Johns Hopkins Medicine experts will be available throughout the 2022–23 season for interviews about this year’s flu virus and flu vaccine, as well as other respiratory illnesses, such as COVID-19 and monkeypox.
Researchers have identified the gene TDRD7 as a key regulator against influenza A virus (IAV), which causes respiratory tract infections in 5 to 20 percent of the human population.
An international team of researchers has demonstrated that among patients hospitalized for influenza, those who were vaccinated had less severe infections, including reducing the odds for children requiring admittance to an intensive care unit by almost half.
Amid the loosening of COVID-19 precautions and a sharp increase in flu cases in the Southern Hemisphere, Cedars-Sinai experts are warning the public to prepare for a bad flu season this year.
Texas already has a moderately high rate of flu cases in September. This doesn’t look good for flu season, which was uncharacteristically low last year because of masks and people isolating. Houston Methodist experts are encouraging the community to get the flu shot early. Experts say cases aren't usually seen this high until December, which is when the season usually peaks.
In the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, the coronavirus was everywhere – stuck to our cellphone screens, smeared on our mail, dangling from doorknobs, even clinging to our cereal boxes. Except that it wasn’t.
Despite public health guidance suggesting surfaces be disinfected to stop the spread of COVID-19, the virus wasn’t significantly transmitted through inanimate surfaces and objects, what microbiologists call “fomites.” As with all respiratory viruses – from the flu to the common cold – transmission was and remains almost exclusively airborne.
Emanuel Goldman, a professor of microbiology at the Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, was among the first scientists to challenge conventional wisdom by warning that hygiene theater – overzealous disinfection of surfaces – had “become counterproductive” for public health.
Scientists have created a face mask that can detect common respiratory viruses, including influenza and the coronavirus, in the air in droplets or aerosols.