Influenza, or flu, and air pollution are significant public health risks that impact nations around the world with large economic consequences. The authors of this paper show that increased levels of air pollution significantly increase the rate of hospitalisation for people with flu. In addition, they find that protection afforded …
Women are more at risk of contracting avian flu than men, states the Egyptian health ministry. The statement came after an appraisal of the gender ratio of avian flu infected people in the country. Most avian flu deaths in the country were found to be among women and a total …
This report examines the progress that has been made to improving America’s ability to respond to health threats and help identify ongoing areas of vulnerability.
Scientists around the globe have been warning about the risk of a potential pandemic influenza outbreak. Pandemic flu is caused by a new, severe strain of the flu virus capable of producing severe disease and spreading rapidly person-to-person worldwide. Unlike the seasonal flu, a pandemic flu virus poses a novel …
The influenza virus can survive for thousands of years in frozen lakes and might be picked up and carried by birds to reinfect animals and people. After their release, these viruses can cause new infections and spread pandemics, researchers recently reported in the Journal of Virology. "We have found viral …
South Korea has begun killing hundreds of fowl, and dogs, cats and pigs in an effort to contain the spread of the deadly h5n1 strain of bird flu. The move came after the country confirmed its second outbreak of avian flu since December 2005. The outbreak came to notice in …
• China refuted a recent US National Academy of Sciences report, which notes that a new strain of the H5N1 bird flu virus has emerged in southern China. • Argentine President Nestor Kirchner has asked the World Bank to halt loans for the controversial pulp mill in neighbouring Uruguay, until …
Researchers have developed what could be used as an effective preventive drug against bird flu. In a study published online in the website of the journal Respiratory Research, researchers have revealed that they have created antibodies against the avian flu virus H5N1 that work in mice both as a preventive …
current avian flu viral strains may lack the ability to trigger a human pandemic, claims a team of researchers. Led by Taronna Maines from the Centers for Disease Control (cdc) in the us, the scientists genetically engineered viruses containing genes from both the h5n1 avian flu strain and a human …
restoring lost and degraded wetlands could reduce the threat of bird flu pandemics, claims a study commissioned by the United Nations Environment Programme (unep). The study
The World Health Organization recommends countries should stock enough Tamiflu (one of the two antiviral medicines for avian influenza) for a quarter of their population to ward off a possible outbreak. At a cost of US $60 per course of medication, this means the total spending could touch US $100 …
All avian influenza (AI) viruses belong to Type A influenza in the Orthomyxoviridae family. Type A viruses are divided into subtypes based on two proteins
vietnam is grappling with the severest ever attack of bird flu. The disease has killed five people so far, even as nine other influenza deaths are being examined. As a damage-control measure, Vietnam as well as some Southeast Asian countries have resorted to mass culling of poultry chickens. The disease …
Officials in Hong Kong have completed their slaughtering operation to contain the spread to a flu caused by the H5N1 strain of avian influenza virus. At least 1.4 million birds were slaughtered during the operation (see
Thousands of birds, including quail, pigeons and chicken, have died in Hong Kong due to a flu caused by the H5N1 strain of avian influenza virus. The virus, that killed six people in 1997, has not affected any human beings till now (Read: Fowl play, Down To Earth, January 31, …
Why have we been witnessing so many different communicable diseases recently? Increase in population has given rise to densely inhabited areas leading to poor sanitation. This gives perfect opportunities to microbes to spread. Along with this is the problem of malnutrition, which sometimes goes hand in hand with the increase …
An epidemic of viral influenza and other diseases have claimed 820 lives in the past two months in Nepal. The northwest district of Kalikot and Jumla were the worst affected with 483 dead and more than 25,000 requiring treatment, the state-run RSS news agency said quoting the epidemiology and disease …
A new strain of the influenza A virus ( h9n2 ) has been discovered in two patients by the virus unit of the Hong Kong department of health. The two patients are girls, aged one and four, who recovered fully from an influenza-like illness in March. A typical influenza virus …
a strain of influenza, originating from Sydney in Australia, is being blamed for causing chaos in London's health care system. The Sydney flu bug has been sweeping southern parts of Britain after initially being found in the British Midlands and the north of the country. The bout of influenza has …
a frozen corpse and preserved samples from victims of the 1918 flu epidemic that killed up to 40 million people worldwide show the virus resembled the common swine flu. Tissue samples from three people who died in the epidemic have provided enough genetic material to allow researchers to sequence one …
A STRAIN of influenza emanating from Sydney, Australia, is being blamed for causing chaos in London's health care system and delaying thousands of Britons from returning to work. The Sydney flu bug has been sweeping southern parts of Britain after initially being found in the British Midlands and the north …
