The 2009 influenza pandemic prompted the fastest effort in history to develop a vaccine. Within six months of the pandemic declaration, vaccine-makers had developed, produced and distributed hundreds of…
Influenza symptoms include high fevers and chills, as well as pains and aches in muscles and joints.
Davide Taviani
When people say they have “the flu”, what they’re experiencing most of the time is the common cold, which is not caused by the influenza virus at all. But the term “flu season”, which Australia is in the…
Pandemics produce an extraordinary outpouring of emotion which is out of proportion to the number of actual cases and deaths.
EPA/Wu Hong
It’s ten years since SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) upset our complacency about infectious diseases and now we are faced by another “new” disease. H7N9 bird flu is currently spreading through…
Flu vaccines given to children should be more rigorously tested before before being allowed onto the market, researchers say, to prevent a repeat of the 2010 vaccine release, which caused a spate of high…
Sneezing into your hands is more likely to spread cold and flu germs around than prevent infection of others.
NSW Strategic Communications
NSW Health authorities should withdraw advertisements urging people to cover their coughs and sneezes with their hands and instead tell people to use their inner elbow, according to a letter to the editor…
Controversial research into the H5N1 virus, more commonly known as bird flu, is set to recommence, after it was delayed in 2011 following a request from the US government. The research had raised biosecurity…
Public health researchers have stepped up their campaign to access clinical trial data about influenza drug Tamiflu, amid concerns about its effectiveness. Professor Peter Gøtzsche, leader of the Nordic…
Maybe it’s just a normal part of growing older and “taking the time to smell the roses”, but I’ve been finding over the past few years that I’m much more interested in birds. That hasn’t yet turned me…
The H3 strain of influenza has made a come back but immunity from past infectious is likely to have waned.
Tranchis
Each year, different strains of influenza cause varying rates of illness throughout the community. So what strains are around this year and what kind of protection is offered by seasonal influenza vaccines…
Influenza or flu is one of those dustbin words used by the media and by health professionals to cover the myriad causes of a respiratory infection. The only way to be sure is with laboratory testing of…
You might feel crook after a flu vax but the injection itself can’t give you influenza.
Nettsu
We hear it all the time: “I don’t want a flu vaccine. It gives you the flu.” The old, the young, and even health professionals make this claim. And it’s usually followed by a personal example like, “the…
Does Tamiflu work the way its manufacturer claims?
A team of public health experts has called for the release of all clinical drug trial results for independent analysis following a “frustrating” three-year battle for access to data on controversial flu…
Scientists could reconstruct the work on the avian flu virus from clues, making suppression of future work counterproductive.
AAP
Researchers working on a pathogenic strain of avian flu (H5N1) have agreed to pause their work for 60 days so international experts can discuss the safest ways to proceed. But it’s important to ensure…
Billions of dollars have been spent, but the safety and effectiveness of Roche’s drug remain uncertain.
A Cochrane review published today has again raised questions about the efficacy of Tamiflu, the antiviral drug that has been stockpiled by countries across the world as the first line of defence against…
Are the benefits of openness worth the risk of releasing a new superflu?
Ars Electronica
Two studies, one carried out in the Netherlands by Ron Fouchier and the other in Japan by Yoshihiro Kawaoka, are causing controversy over the creation of a new strain of H5N1 Avian Influenza or “bird flu…