Medical research

Researchers develop microfluidic chip to stem flu outbreaks

The H1N1 flu pandemic in 2009 underscored weaknesses in methods widely used to diagnose the flu, from frequent false negatives to long wait times for results. Now Boston University researchers have developed a prototype of ...

Medical research

Flu transmission work is urgent: Nature Comment

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 ...

Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes

Does the La Nina weather pattern lead to flu pandemics?

Worldwide pandemics of influenza caused widespread death and illness in 1918, 1957, 1968 and 2009. A new study examining weather patterns around the time of these pandemics finds that each of them was preceded by La Niña ...

Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes

Tracking a moving target

The influenza pandemic that began in Mexico in April 2009 rapidly spread throughout the world and arrived in Japan one month later. Now, a research team led by Toshihisa Ishikawa at the RIKEN Omics Science Center in Yokohama ...

Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes

When well-known flu strains 'hook up' dangerous progeny can result

A new University of Maryland-led study finds that 'sex' between the virus responsible for the 2009 flu pandemic (H1N1) and a common type of avian flu virus (H9N2) can produce offspring -- new combined flu viruses -- with ...

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