Single-Dose Flu Drug Reduces Spread Within Households
Only 1.9% of uninfected household contacts who took a single dose of baloxavir marboxil came down with the flu.
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Influenza
FAST-SPREADING MUTATION HELPS COMMON FLU SUBTYPE ESCAPE IMMUNE RESPONSE
Strains of a common subtype of influenza virus, H3N2, have almost universally acquired a mutation that effectively blocks antibodies from binding to a key viral protein, according to a study from researchers at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
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Homeless people are more likely to be put on ventilators for respiratory infections than non-homeless
Researchers from UCLA, Harvard Medical School and the University of Tokyo found that during a recent six-year period, homeless people in New York state were more likely to hospitalized and treated with mechanical ventilators for respiratory infections than people who are not homeless. These findings have implications for the COVID-19 pandemic.
Read moreTo Better Understand COVID-19, Researchers Review Aging, Immune Response to Viral Infections
As clinicians learn about a new disease in real-time, researchers are also investigating what lessons from other respiratory infections could apply to COVID-19.
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Scientists Aim Gene-Targeting Breakthrough Against COVID-19
Scientists at Berkeley Lab and Stanford have joined forces to aim a gene-targeting, antiviral agent called PAC-MAN against COVID-19.
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UW–Madison, FluGen, Bharat Biotech to develop CoroFlu, a coronavirus vaccine
An international collaboration of virologists at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and the vaccine companies FluGen and Bharat Biotech has begun the development and testing of a unique vaccine against COVID-19 called CoroFlu.
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Panicky Responses to the Coronavirus are Dangerous—Here’s Why
Fear of the virus may spread faster than the virus itself, a potential threat to health, liberty, trade, and the economy.
Read moreCoronavirus – study finds methods for preventing global disease spread through airports
As coronavirus spreads across the globe via infected air travelers, authorities are looking for ways to contain the outbreak and avoid a pandemic. This study, published in Risk Analysis, analyzes the impact of implementing disease mitigation strategies at airports across the globe. The study finds that increasing traveler engagement with proper hand-hygiene at all airports has the potential to reduce the risk of a potential pandemic by 24-69 percent. The researchers also identify ten critical airports, central to the air-transportation network. If hand-washing mitigation strategies are implemented in just these ten locations, the pandemic risk can drop by up to 37 percent.
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New Tool Monitors Real Time Mutations In Flu
A Rutgers-led team has developed a tool to monitor influenza A virus mutations in real time, which could help virologists learn how to stop viruses from replicating. The gold nanoparticle-based probe measures viral RNA in live influenza A cells, according to a study in The Journal of Physical Chemistry C. It is the first time in virology that experts have used imaging tools with gold nanoparticles to monitor mutations in influenza, with unparalleled sensitivity.
Read moreGauging the threat posed by the coronavirus
Wearing a surgical mask is unlikely to protect healthy people from the novel coronavirus that originated in China, and influenza likely poses a much greater threat to Americans, according to José Cordero, professor of epidemiology and biostatistics in the University of Georgia’s College of Public Health.
Read moreFull influenza vaccination among children cuts hospitalization in half
Fully vaccinating children reduces the risk of hospitalization associated with influenza by 54%, according to a study by researchers at the University of Michigan, the Clalit Research Institute, and Ben-Gurion University in Israel.