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By Category: Public Health

Pandemic controversies: The global response to pandemic influenza must change

(EurekAlert) ‘Evil’ scientists, deadly viruses and terrorist plots are usually the preserve of Hollywood blockbusters. But when it comes to pandemic influenza, it is the stuff of real life. As controversy about research into the H5N1 bird flu virus continues, a new paper argues for a complete overhaul of current approaches to pandemic preparedness. To  Read More »

Link to African Ebola Found in Bats Suggests Virus Is More Widespread

(New York Times) For the first time, scientists have found evidence of the African Ebola virus in Asian fruit bats, suggesting that the virus is far more widespread around the world than had been previously known. That does not mean that outbreaks of hemorrhagic fever are inevitable, said Kevin J. Olival, leader of the bat-hunting  Read More »

At least 1 in 5 were infected in flu pandemic, international study suggests

(EurekAlert) The highest rates of infection were in children, with 47 per cent of those aged five to 19 showing signs of having caught the virus. Older people were affected less, with only 11 per cent of people aged 65 or older becoming infected. The findings come from an international collaboration led by the World  Read More »

Immune Cell Suicide Alarm Helps Destroy Escaping Bacteria

(Science Daily) Cells in the immune system called macrophages normally engulf and kill intruding bacteria, holding them inside a membrane-bound bag called a vacuole, where they kill and digest them. Some bacteria thwart this effort by ripping the bag open and then escaping into the macrophage’s nutrient-rich cytosol compartment, where they divide and could eventually  Read More »

Novel approaches needed to end growing scourge of ‘superbugs’

(EurekaAlert) With the rising awareness of the so-called “superbugs,” bacteria that are resistant to most known antibiotics, three infectious disease experts writing in the Jan. 24 edition of the New England Journal of Medicine called for novel approaches based on a “reconceptualization of the nature of resistance, disease and prevention.”

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