http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. Questions about who should be vaccinated against influenza are asked each year as the winter (and influenza) season approaches. Even though influenza vaccines have been used since the 1940s, there's still much confusion about their use and effectiveness. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-06-influenza-vaccine.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Wed, 05 Jun 2013 09:22:10 EST news289642918 A new study suggests that patients with influenza can emit small virus-containing particles into the surrounding air during routine patient care, potentially exposing health care providers to influenza. Published in The Journal of Infectious Diseases, the findings raise the possibility that current influenza infection control recommendations may not always be adequate to protect providers from influenza during routine patient care in hospitals. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-patients-emit-small-influenza-containing-particles.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Thu, 31 Jan 2013 00:00:01 EST news278789633 (HealthDay)—In Chicago, a hospital employee describes the emergency department as "knee-deep in flu and pneumonia cases." http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-flu-cases-severe-season.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Fri, 04 Jan 2013 10:12:26 EST news276516740 The 2012-2013 influenza season in Norway is emerging and above the epidemic threshold. The activity at the moment is of medium intensity. The three different influenza viruses that are circulating are all covered by the seasonal influenza vaccine. People with risk factors are advised to take the seasonal influenza vaccine. There are no changes in the risk groups. The situation is being continuously monitored and recommendations may change if required. So far most confirmed cases are A (H1N1) (swine influenza) and influenza B viruses, with fewer A (H3N2), but the picture may change during the winter. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-influenza-norway.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Fri, 04 Jan 2013 06:30:36 EST news276503427 A text messaging intervention with education-related messages sent to parents increased influenza vaccination coverage compared with usual care in a traditionally hard-to-reach, low-income, urban, minority population of children and adolescents, although coverage overall remained low, according to a study in the April 25 issue of JAMA. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-flu-vaccination-text-messaging-low-income.html Health Tue, 24 Apr 2012 16:44:08 EST news254504640 An intranasal vaccine that includes four weakened strains of influenza could do a better job in protecting children from the flu than current vaccines, Saint Louis University research shows. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-flu-vaccine.html Immunology Wed, 04 Apr 2012 10:15:57 EST news252753351 The two main ways to prevent and control influenza today are annual immunization and antiviral drugs. A team of investigators has found that statins, cholesterol-lowering drugs, may offer an additional treatment to complement these approaches and reduce mortality among patients hospitalized with influenza. The findings are published in The Journal of Infectious Diseases and are now available online. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-12-statins-mortality-patients-hospitalized-influenza.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Wed, 14 Dec 2011 04:50:02 EST news243059136 A study published in this week's PLoS Medicine suggests that there might be an association between maternal immunization with inactivated influenza vaccine during pregnancy and reduced likelihood of prematurity and the baby being small for gestational age. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-06-link-influenza-vaccination-pregnancy-premature.html Health Wed, 01 Jun 2011 04:26:32 EST news226121172