Respiratory Infections

Sequirus recently announced that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Flucelvax Quadrivalent influenza vaccine.

An international team of researchers may have identified a potential animal model for use in the laboratory as part of efforts to better understand the pathogenesis of Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) coronavirus and, hopefully, find an effective treatment for it: alpacas.

A new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) suggests that many of the reported outbreaks involving Legionella bacteria since 2000 could have been prevented with better testing protocols and infrastructure management.

Public health demands integrity, said Margaret Hamburg, MD, former commissioner of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s 65th Annual Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS) Conference in Atlanta, Georgia.

The number of expecting mothers who opt for annual vaccination for influenza during pregnancy remains relatively low; however, the results of a new study suggest this may be changing—and that there are obvious benefits for immunization for newborns.

A program designed to improve the quality of influenza surveillance capabilities in 39 countries from around the globe through partnership with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) seems to have resulted in remarkable progress on all six of the assessed metrics, and even led to improvements in the surveillance of other pathogens, according to the results of a recent study.

The level of hemagglutination inhibition (HAI) used as the traditional gold standard for evaluating influenza vaccines in the United States and European Union may not actually be the best predictor of protection from influenza virus-induced disease.

Researchers have reported the results of an investigation of the role of an immune signaling pathway that may have an important role in mediating the immune response to influenza A virus infection.

The consequences of not understanding the actual rate of asymptomatic influenza infection can be grave, as influenza virus infection of the respiratory tract has been shown to result in severe disease and complications, including pneumonia, shock, renal failure, encephalopathy, and multiorgan dysfunction, which can be lethal.

Officers of the CDC’s Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS) presented recent research on tuberculosis (TB) on May 3 in a session at the 65th Annual Epidemic Intelligence Service Conference in Atlanta, Georgia. A summary of the presentations is included in this article.

Public health leaders have serious concerns about influenza, according to Dan Jernigan, MD, MPH, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Influenza Division during a session on influenza on May 2nd during the 65th Annual Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS) Conference in Atlanta, Georgia.

Researchers at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill have identified what they describe as a new, “SARS-like” virus that will not need to adapt in order to infect humans.

Rohit Bhalla, DO, Chief of the Section of Infectious Diseases at the University Medical Center of Princeton, shares how healthcare practitioners can help stop the spread of mumps.

It is hoped that this proof of concept research may lead to promising new drug candidates to combat hPIV-3, which is the principal cause of acute respiratory illness in infants.

Dr. Rohit Bhalla, DO, Chief of the Section of Infectious Diseases at the University Medical Center of Princeton, explains why an individual could still become infected with mumps, even after receiving vaccinations.

A recent review article on the status of influenza vaccines, their short-comings, and ways to improve them suggests the potential for significant improvements in the performance of future influenza vaccines.

Because certain viral sub-types are associated with higher rates of morbidity and mortality than others, efforts to improve the effectiveness of influenza vaccines remain an important focus of future research.

Rohit Bhalla, DO, Chief of the Section of Infectious Diseases at the University Medical Center of Princeton, explains what the public can do to protect themselves from contracting mumps.

From Friday April 22, 2016 to Tuesday, April 26, 2016, the number of confirmed mumps cases at Harvard University rose from 34 to 40.

The impact of the water crisis in Flint, Michigan now includes an infectious disease component—namely, an outbreak of Legionnaire’s disease—and it has sparked a debate among health officials and infectious disease experts.

Seasonal influenza results in nearly 50,000 deaths each year in the United States alone, and 5 to 10 times as many deaths in all industrialized countries combined.

The untimely passing of pop music icon, Prince, is a somber reminder of the serious risks that can accompany an influenza infection.

Rohit Bhalla, DO, Chief of the Section of Infectious Diseases at the University Medical Center of Princeton, discusses whether or not the public should be concerned about the recent mumps outbreaks.

Rohit Bhalla, DO, Chief of the Section of Infectious Diseases at the University Medical Center of Princeton, explains why we are seeing a recent resurgence of mumps in the United States.

Human metapneumovirus (hMPV), of the paramyxovirus family, was discovered in 2001. hMPV can affect people of all ages, however, older adults, children and individuals with weak immune systems are at highest risk of contracting the virus.

Since approximately 340,000 Europeans had TB infections in 2014, in order to meet its ultimate goal of eliminating the prevalence of TB altogether, Europe still has to overcome many obstacles.

Mycobacterium tuberculosis is an airborne bacteria known to cause tuberculosis (TB), a disease that mainly attacks the lungs, but can also affect other organs, sometimes resulting in death.

A recent study attributes the rise in infections of preventable infectious diseases to the growing number of individuals who are refusing vaccines.

Because ARIs are common in infants and can negatively impact their health beyond infancy, simple and objective measures of the level of severity are necessary for clinical management decisions.

Each year 20,000 children are hospitalized due to the flu. In the 2014/2015 winter season alone, 148 children lost their lives to the virus.