http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. A new approach for immunizing against influenza elicited a more potent immune response and broader protection than the currently licensed seasonal influenza vaccines when tested in mice and ferrets. The vaccine concept, which was developed by scientists at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), represents an important step forward in the quest to develop a universal influenza vaccine—one that would protect against most or all influenza strains without the need for an annual vaccination. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-approach-influenza-vaccination-early-animal.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Wed, 22 May 2013 15:38:42 EST news288455916 (Medical Xpress)—Scientists have described small genetic changes that enable the H5N1 bird flu virus to replicate more easily in the noses of mammals. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-bird-flu-mutation-vaccine-clue.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Mon, 08 Apr 2013 08:35:06 EST news284628899 Until now most experimental vaccines against the highly lethal H5N1 avian influenza virus have lacked effectiveness. But a new vaccine has proven highly effective against the virus when tested in both mice and ferrets. It is also effective against the H9 subtype of avian influenza. The research is published online ahead of print in the Journal of Virology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-cleverly-vaccine-blocks-h5-avian.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Mon, 25 Mar 2013 11:42:56 EST news283430569 Virologists making mutated versions of the H5N1 bird flu halted their research in January after a U.S. government advisory panel suggested that their work, though well-intentioned, had the potential to endanger the public. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-bird-flu-debate-h5n1-resume.html Medical research Sat, 13 Oct 2012 09:10:59 EST news269338236 Researchers from Royal Holloway, University of London are looking at ways of testing the side effects of new drugs without using animals. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-animal-drug.html Medical research Wed, 10 Oct 2012 07:56:35 EST news269074590 The 2009 H1N1 pandemic influenza virus appears to have required certain mutations in order to be transmitted to humans, according to a paper in the September Journal of Virology. The research could prove extremely valuable for efforts to predict human outbreaks.  http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-molecular-h1n1-transmission-humans.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Thu, 20 Sep 2012 08:16:31 EST news267347781 A new University of Iowa study suggests there are two root causes of a type of diabetes associated with cystic fibrosis (CF). The findings, which already have sparked a clinical trial, may guide development of new treatments or even help prevent diabetes in patients with CF. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-cystic-fibrosis-disrupts-pancreas-ways.html Diabetes Mon, 17 Sep 2012 16:15:58 EST news267117346 (HealthDay)—A new report shows that a deadly swine flu virus can infect ferrets, highlighting the importance of continuous surveillance of emerging flu strains. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-powerful-swine-flu-strain-korea.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Mon, 10 Sep 2012 18:00:01 EST news266517454 Research at Imperial College London examining influenza transmission in ferrets suggests that the virus can be passed on before the appearance of symptoms. If the finding applies to humans, it means that people pass on flu to others before they know they're infected, making it very difficult to contain epidemics. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-flu-transmitted-symptoms.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Wed, 29 Aug 2012 17:00:12 EST news265478038 Scientists have created versions of the H5N1 bird flu that spread easily among mammals through droplets in sneezes and have concluded that the deadly virus could trigger a global pandemic in humans. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-pandemic-bird-flu-transmissible-air.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Fri, 22 Jun 2012 14:30:08 EST news259594201 (Medical Xpress) -- The journal Science is today publishing a paper revealing that highly pathogenic H5N1 influenza, also known as bird flu, can pass from one ferret to another through the air. Publication of these results has been delayed and debated during the last several months for fear that terrorists or others might use information from the study to “weaponize” the flu virus for intentional harm. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-flu-proceed-caution-experts-urge.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Fri, 22 Jun 2012 09:46:19 EST news259577165 The author of a paper on a mutant bird flu strain said Monday that experts agreed to publish it only after he explained that the virus was "much less lethal" than previously feared. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-mutant-bird-flu-lethal-paper.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Tue, 03 Apr 2012 04:10:01 EST news252644202 In the controversy surrounding the newly developed strains of avian H5N1 flu viruses, scientists and policy makers are struggling with one question in particular: what level of biosafety is best for studying these potentially lethal strains of influenza? In a pair of commentaries, researchers from the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York and the University of Michigan argue their different views of how to safely handle H5N1 flu viruses. The commentaries will be published in mBio, the online open-access journal of the American Society for Microbiology, on Tuesday, March 6. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-h5n1-viruses-benefits.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Tue, 06 Mar 2012 03:51:57 EST news250228309 Bird flu is believed to be a rare disease that kills more than half of the people it infects, but a US study out Thursday suggests it may be more common and less lethal than previously thought. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-bird-flu-cases-common-thought.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Thu, 23 Feb 2012 15:53:48 EST news249234811 (Medical Xpress) -- A CDC study led by microbiologist Terrence Tumpey has found that the H3N2 virus that infected several people in the United States last year, may have more pandemic potential than has been thought. The study is based on research conducted by the CDC on ferrets. The team has published the results of their study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-cdc-h3n2-swine-virus-pandemic.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Tue, 21 Feb 2012 08:35:58 EST news249035738 Scientists have engineered a new strain of H5N1 (commonly known as bird flu) to be readily transmitted between humans. Two perspectives being published early online in Annals of Internal Medicine, the flagship journal of the American College of Physicians, raise concerns about if and how this research should be continued, and how the data should be shared for the benefit of public health. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-01-newly-highly-transmissible-h5n1-strain.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Thu, 26 Jan 2012 17:45:32 EST news246822319 The author of an upcoming Nature paper about H5N1 argues in a Nature Comment article today that research into deadly pathogenic viruses must continue if pandemics are to be prevented. Yoshihiro Kawaoka suggests, after reviewing many factors, that pursuing studies of highly pathogenic viruses must be done with urgency. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-01-flu-transmission-urgent-nature-comment.html Medical research Wed, 25 Jan 2012 16:14:36 EST news246730461