Mediaboss Marketing

Flu virus: constantly mutating

For most people, having the flu just means a couple of days in bed.

But for a significant number particularly children, the elderly, and those with other conditions it is a lot more serious.

The average flu season in the US kills around 41,000 people, experts reckon. And in a bad year, things can get much worse. During the last big UK epidemic in 1999-2000, so many staff got sick, that hospitals had to cancel vital operations.

While a vaccine has been widely available since the 1940s, it has to be taken every year, and provides only partial protection in any case.

The good news is that both biotech and pharmaceutical companies are working hard to find a better version. And that spells opportunity for adventurous investors.

The flu jab works on a similar principle to most vaccines. A harmless version of the flu virus is grown in an egg; its then introduced into the patients body (usually via an injection). This stimulates the body to produce antibodies, which will then hopefully recognise and destroy any future infection.

The trouble is, there are many different variants of the flu virus, and new ones appear each year. Meanwhile, the number of antibodies the body produces drops in half within about six months of each jab. Thats why people have to be re-vaccinated each year.

To make matters worse, the vaccine takes time to produce. This means that the companies that make it have to decide on which strains to guard against long before flu season peaks in the winter. The World Health Organisation gives them the best advice it can, but mismatches still occur. That means that in some cases, that years flu jab might provide only partial protection, or even none at all.

Even when the viruses are well matched to the vaccine, protection is not complete. A recent study suggested that in a good year, the vaccine reduces the number of cases in healthy adults by about two-thirds. The benefit for the elderly is much smaller.

Original post:
Cash in on the quest for a universal flu vaccine

10 Sep 2013 09:38

Newcastle was hit by a killer virus yesterday and scientists gathered in the city to discuss how to control it

Mammoth DNA workshop at the Life Science Village

Newcastle was hit by a killer virus yesterday and scientists gathered in the city to discuss how to control it.

However, before you start stocking up on canned food or heading for the hills, you can be reassured it was just a stunt which was the focal point of a fascinating event in Newcastle.

The British Science Festival is being staged in the city until Thursday and yesterday saw the childrens programme of events get under way.

The much-anticipated Epifection social experiment explored how the city would cope with the outbreak of a new disease.

Scientists gathered at Newcastle University for the event and attended a series of workshops where they asked participants what they would do if an infection took hold in the area.

They debated how policy-makers, scientists and health authorities would cope and how the spread of the disease could be stopped.

Dr Nick Jakubovics, lecturer in oral microbiology, said: Hopefully, the public will gain a better understanding of infectious disease, including outbreaks and control measures. Outbreaks are still very frequent, unfortunately.

Originally posted here:
British Science Festival continues to wow crowds in Newcastle

MERS-CoV, the Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus in Saudi Arabia, has claimed four new victims, the cases confirmed in laboratories. In the last year there have been 50 deaths from 108 laboratory-confirmed cases, indicating a mortality rate of some 46%.

The latest four laboratory-confirmed cases were reported by the World Health Organization on August 30, a 55-year-old man from Medina, Saudi Arabia who is hospitalized and another man, 38, from Hafar-al-Batin, Saudi Arabia, who died nine days after contracting the disease. Two of his family members are also infected (a 16-year-old boy and a 7-year-old girl).

MERS-CoV is a severe acute respiratory infection (SARI) which has caused 108 laboratory-confirmed cases in the last year, occasioning 50 deaths. There have been other cases outside those reported. The advice for now from the World Health organization is vigilance, surveillance-reporting and screening, particularly of travelers returning from the Middle East who develop respiratory infections, and especially those who also develop atypical symptoms such as diarrhea.

The transmission mechanism is as yet unknown however the advice from the WHO that "Health care facilities that provide care for patients suspected or confirmed with MERS-CoV infection should take appropriate measures to decrease the risk of transmission of the virus to other patients, health care workers and visitors" would indicate that there is a risk that this dangerous disease could have human-to-human transmission mechanisms, a theory which is backed up by close family members contracting the disease.

For this reason, why does the WHO not advise trade and travel restrictions to the Middle East in general and in particular, to Saudi Arabia? Or is the general idea to allow the disease to propagate itself only for us to discover that those in charge of the United States of America's institutions have their hands in the Pharmaceutical lobbies?

The new killer virus in the Middle East, novel coronavirus, aka Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) is deadly, there is no cure, its transmission mechanisms are hazy, there have been cases of human to human transmission, yes, according to the WHO, "The Emergency Committee, which comprises international experts from all WHO Regions, unanimously advised that, with the information now available, and using a risk-assessment approach, the conditions for a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) have not at present been met".

Until when? When it is too late? A 50 per cent death rate is staggeringly high...

Timothy Bancroft-Hinchey

Pravda.Ru

View original post here:
Killer disease marches on

Parvo is hitting the puppies of Doa Ana County hard as summer wanes. The Animal Service Center of the Mesilla Valley started seeing cases the second week in August and they have not let up. Almost daily, the second little blue dot is turning up on the snap test (only one blue dot is desired - that would be a negative test.)

It breaks my heart that more than 30 puppies had to die from this virus in August in Doa Ana County.

The ASCMV teamed up with the Doa Ana County Humane Society to produce a PSA and billboards to show just how deadly and yet how preventable parvo is. Look for them around the county.

Parvovirus is a viral disease of dogs. It affects puppies much more frequently than it affects adult dogs because they have immature immune systems. The virus grows in rapidly dividing cells. The intestinal lining has the biggest concentration of rapidly dividing cells in a puppy's body so that is where the virus likes to live.

What are the symptoms of parvo?

The big three are vomiting, foul-smelling diarrhea and lethargy. Symptoms usually begin with a high fever, lethargy, depression and loss of appetite. Secondary symptoms appear as severe gastrointestinal distress, such as vomiting and bloody diarrhea. In many cases, dehydration (due to not being able to absorb nutrients or liquids), shock, and

How is this killer virus transmitted?

Canine parvovirus is carried by dogs. Any adult dog can be a carrier, whether it is showing clinical signs or not. In other words, you should consider every dog as a potential carrier.

Generally, it takes seven to 10 days from the time of exposure for dogs and puppies to start showing symptoms and to test positive for the virus. Parvo is highly contagious to unprotected dogs, and the virus can remain infectious in ground contaminated with fecal material for years in the correct conditions.

Parvo is an extremely hardy virus and most disinfectants cannot kill it. Chlorine bleach is the most effective and inexpensive agent that works.

Original post:
Dr. Vesco-Mock: Parvovirus is killing puppies in Doña Ana County

(MENAFN - The Peninsula) The killer coronavirus-Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) has claimed another victim. A 56-year-old Qatari woman, who was battling several health complications after being infected with the virus, has died.

She died on August 31 after being admitted to the intensive care unit at Hamad General Hospital on August 23. Tests conducted by the National Influenza Laboratory here have confirmed that the deceased was infected by the deadly virus.

The woman is the second Qatari to die after being infected with the virus, the first being a man whose death was reported a few months ago from London.

Two other persons are being treated for the infection at Hamad General Hospital, both Qataris, aged 59 and 29 years.

The Supreme Council of Health (SCH) had said previously that the young Qatari was in a critical condition.

The 59-year-old had recently come back from a foreign trip and had developed symptoms of the virus when he was abroad.

He underwent a thorough check-up at the specialist laboratory at Hamad General Hospital, and is said to be in a stable condition.

Those who were in contact with those infected were also tested for the virus but the results were negative.

However, as per WHO regulations, they are under constant medical observation.

They are, however, allowed to travel if they wish. Recently, the SCH brought over two medical experts from the US to coordinate in conducting tests to diagnose the virus and treatment.

The rest is here:
Qatar- 56-year-old woman succumbs to coronavirus in Qatar