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By Category: Public Health

Scientists closer to universal flu vaccine after pandemic ‘natural experiment’

(ScienceDaily) Scientists have moved closer to developing a universal flu vaccine after using the 2009 pandemic as a natural experiment to study why some people seem to resist severe illness. Researchers at Imperial College London asked volunteers to donate blood samples just as the swine flu pandemic was getting underway and report any symptoms they Read More »

September 23, 2013
| Filed under Asia/Pacific, Europe, North America, Countermeasures, and Public Health
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What’s superbugging you?

(WashingtonPost) You may be worried about a government shutdown, but I’m not. I’m not worried about a shutdown because we’re all about to die anyway. Superbugs are going to kill us.“Drug-resistant bacteria pose potential catastrophe, CDC warns” was The Post’s headline this week about a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report that did indeed Read More »

September 20, 2013
| Filed under Europe, Middle East, North America, and Public Health
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How Far Are We From a Super-Pandemic?

(DiscoveryNews) Fall is flu season and this year, as usual, federal health officials are asking the public to get their annual flu vaccine shot. But scientists say there are much more deadly bugs lurking out there that could someday make the jump from local outbreak to a worldwide super pandemic that could wipe out people Read More »

September 20, 2013
| Filed under Africa, Asia/Pacific, Europe, Middle East, North America, South America, and Public Health
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Bird flu viruses could re-emerge in upcoming flu season

(FAO) FAO has issued a new warning to the international community that the H7N9 and H5N1 avian influenza viruses continue to pose serious threats to human and animal health, especially in view of the upcoming flu season. “The world is more prepared than ever before to respond to bird flu viruses in light of a Read More »

September 16, 2013
| Filed under Asia/Pacific, Europe, North America, South America, International, and Public Health
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Dengue fever presence in Florida at a ‘pretty serious level’

(AlJazeeraAmerica) Marty Baum, 59, dragged his feverish, achy bones out of bed on a hot, humid day in early September, lathered himself with mosquito repellent and attended a clean-water rally in central Florida. Most days, he prefers to be surrounded by water. Baum is an official Indian River Keeper — a post devoted to the Read More »