Influenza (the flu) is a contagious respiratory illness caused by influenza viruses. It can cause mild to severe illness, and at times can lead to death. The best way to prevent the flu is by getting a flu vaccination each year. Every year in the United States, on average 5% to 20% of the population gets the flu; more than 200,000 people are hospitalized from flu complications, and; about 36,000 people die from flu-related causes. Some people, such as older people, young children, and people with certain health conditions, are at high risk for serious flu complications.
Cambridge scientists have created a novel test that “fishes” for many respiratory viruses at once using single strands of DNA as “bait” and provides extremely accurate results in under an hour.
Although it frequently necessitates a challenging laboratory procedure, the quantitative detection of specific antibodies in complex samples like blood can provide information on a variety of diseases.
As the COVID-19 pandemic demonstrated, potentially harmful new viruses can spread throughout the population long before the system for monitoring global public health can catch them.
The Native Antigen Company (part of LGC Clinical Diagnostics), one of the world’s leading suppliers of reagents that enables research into vaccines and diagnostics for emerging and endemic infectious diseases, today announced the commercial launch of its latest range of influenza antigens for the southern hemisphere’s 2023 flu season.
The structure of the influenza replication machinery and how it interacts with cellular proteins have been solved by a team of Oxford University scientists using a variety of techniques at Diamond Light Source.
A study praising the development of a potential treatment that might be applied to combat all recognized influenza strains was published online on January 13th, 2020.
According to a new study, tiny nets made of DNA strands can capture the spike protein of the virus that causes COVID-19, illuminating it for a quick yet accurate diagnostic test and preventing it from infecting cells, suggesting a new potential path to antiviral treatment.
The use of attenuated, live viruses as vaccines is a potential method to minimize the effects of viral infectious diseases, such as influenza.
People are realizing now, more than two years into the COVID-19 disease outbreak, that the “new normal” will most likely involve practicing to coexist with SARS-CoV-2.
Two RNA binding proteins have been discovered to be the key to a greater immune reaction to influenza in mice, according to researchers at the Babraham Institute.
A team of scientists has created a powerful new method for generating protein drugs. Using computers, they designed molecules that can target important proteins in the body, such as the insulin receptor, as well as vulnerable proteins on the surface of viruses.
There is a lack of understanding as to why some people suffer from long-lasting symptoms after COVID-19 infection.
OxDX has raised £2.6m in pre-seed funding for its AI powered diagnostic technology that can recognise and identify specific species and strains of viruses.
Although several people think of medicines as purely synthetic compounds, nature is an important element of most of the medications humans depend on.
A viral protein might contain information that could be used to avoid pneumonia due to the body’s overactive response to respiratory viruses, such as COVID-19.
As any parent knows, infants are prone to getting respiratory infections. But a new study shows that the infant immune system is stronger than most people think and beats the adult immune system at fighting off new pathogens.
Endemic in Western African countries, Lassa virus is transmitted to humans through food or household items that are contaminated with the urine or faeces of Mastomys rats.
Over time, the immune system in humans weakens making older adults more prone to infections. This leaves researchers with the puzzling dilemma of retaining health throughout the lifespan.
A common strategy to make vaccines more powerful is to deliver them along with an adjuvant -; a compound that stimulates the immune system to produce a stronger response.
Nanoengineers from the University of California San Diego recently created a new and potentially efficient means to deliver messenger RNA (mRNA) into cells.