By Steven Reinberg
HealthDay Reporter
FRIDAY, Feb. 10 (HealthDay News) — It was just about three years ago that a strange new strain of flu first appeared in Mexico, then spread across the border to the United States and eventually much of the globe.
The H1N1 “swine” flu strain didn’t behave like a “normal” flu, because it proved particularly dangerous to children and younger adults — the very groups of people who usually have the strongest defenses against seasonal flu.
By Margaret Steele and Steven Reinberg
HealthDay Reporter
TUESDAY, Jan. 31 (HealthDay News) — Concerns that research about a genetically mutated form of bird flu could escape from labs or fall into the hands of bioterrorists led U.S. scientific advisers to ask two prominent journals to withhold key details on the groundbreaking research, the advisers explained Tuesday.
The U.S. National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity (NSABB) acknowledged that experiments on the potential threat of H5N1 bird flu “could lead to greater preparedness and potential development of novel strategies for disease control.”
TUESDAY, Jan. 24 (HealthDay News) — Only about one in five American adults aged 36 to 39 got a flu shot during the H1N1 swine flu epidemic of 2009-2010, even though about 65 percent were at least moderately concerned about the disease and nearly 60 percent claimed to follow the issue moderately or very closely.
That’s the finding of a University of Michigan report detailing how this age group monitored the epidemic and what they did to protect themselves and their families.
By Steven Reinberg
HealthDay Reporter
FRIDAY, Jan. 20 (HealthDay News) — Scientists agreed Friday to a 60-day moratorium on controversial research into a modified avian flu virus that has been shown to be more transmissible among mammals.
Although the investigators believe their research has a public health benefit, they acknowledge the fear of some governments and others that the genetically altered virus could escape from labs and infect people or fall into the hands of bioterrorists.
By Amanda Gardner
HealthDay Reporter
WEDNESDAY, Jan. 18 (HealthDay News) — Could this be the flu season that wasn’t?
After the H1N1-linked drama of prior years, the low number of cases of influenza currently circulating in the United States is reassuring, experts said.
But that doesn’t mean the virus couldn’t still become the wily foe it so often is, they added.
WEDNESDAY, Jan. 11 (HealthDay News) — Keeping an eye on Internet search traffic about the flu can provide hospital emergency departments with an early warning system about potential surges in seasonal flu cases, a new study suggests.
This approach may be more effective than waiting for outdated government flu case reports, the Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers said.
THURSDAY, Jan. 5 (HealthDay News) — Giving antibiotics to pregnant women at risk of streptococcus B infection greatly reduces infection rates in newborns, according to a new study.
Use of antibiotics to prevent group B strep is common in high-income nations and should also be used in developing countries, at least until a vaccine becomes available, said study author Dr. Karen Edmond, of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine in England, and colleagues.
THURSDAY, Jan. 5 (HealthDay News) — More than half of U.S. jails didn’t receive any vaccine to protect inmates during the 2009-10 outbreak of H1N1 swine flu, a new study says.
Jail and prison inmates are at increased risk for exposure to infectious diseases. The steady stream of new arrivals can introduce new types of infectious diseases to facilities, and close confinement makes it easy for diseases to spread, researchers from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention explained.
FRIDAY, December 16, 2011 (Health.com) — Louisiana health officials are warning residents not to use nonsterilized tap water in neti pots after the deaths of two people who exposed their brains to a deadly amoeba while flushing out their nasal passages.
The amoeba, Naegleria fowleri, can be found in lakes and ponds as well as in contaminated lukewarm tap water. The organism doesn’t pose a threat when ingested, but if it becomes lodged in a person’s nose it can end up in the brain and cause an infection. Read More
By Steven Reinberg
HealthDay Reporter
FRIDAY, Dec. 16 (HealthDay News) — While the alarming re-emergence in 2009 and 2010 of mosquito-borne dengue fever in the continental United States seems to have subsided, that’s no reason to believe the potentially deadly infection won’t be back, experts warn.
The outbreak of the sometimes-excruciating viral illness centered on southern Florida. Now, researchers have issued an update on the situation for one locale in particular, Key West.
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