Much like flipping a light switch, the hepatitis C virus turns on human immune defenses upon entering the body but also turns off those defenses by manipulating interaction of key cellular proteins, UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers have found.
Influenza experts have borrowed a page from economists, creating a futures market for influenza activity that predicted outbreaks two to four weeks in advance. The influenza prediction market is presented in the January issue of Clinical Infectious Diseases.
Researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore will begin a clinical trial in January to test the first cell culture-based pandemic influenza vaccine to see if it will provide immunity faster and more reliably than a vaccine produced in eggs. The new study is also the first test in the United States of a whole virus vaccine for avian influenza, which could produce a stronger response by the immune system.
Trust for America’s Health (TFAH) today commended the federal government’s progress in executing 92 percent of the six month benchmarks in the national pandemic preparedness implementation plan.
Governor Rod R. Blagojevich today announced a new guide for Illinois schools that provides them the tools they need to proactively plan and prepare for a pandemic flu outbreak. The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) and the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) jointly prepared the School Guidance During an Influenza Pandemic document.
The Government of Canada announced today the coming into force of the new Quarantine Act. The modernization of this legislation addresses urgent issues with respect to the spread of communicable diseases in Canada and abroad.
HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt today announced the United States has formally accepted the revised International Health Regulations (IHR), and will begin the process of implementing these new international rules immediately instead of waiting for them to take effect in June 2007. Secretary Leavitt made the announcement during a week-long visit to the People?s Republic of China.
Researchers from the University of Wisconsin have identified a novel antiviral peptide that may inhibit influenza viruses including the H5N1 strain. They report their findings in the December 2006 issue of the Journal of Virology.
South Korea has confirmed its third outbreak in three weeks of highly pathogenic H5N1 bird flu after about 4,000 quail died at a southern farm.
The International donor community today pledged $475 million to fight bird flu after a senior United Nations official warned them that the virus, with its possible mutation into a deadly human pandemic, remains a potent threat around the world.