Influenza News and Research

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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.

Prolonged alcohol use and its detrimental effects on blood protein snapshot

Jon Jacobs, a biochemist, has examined the blood of people suffering from diseases including Ebola, cancer, TB, hepatitis, diabetes, Lyme disease, brain damage, and influenza.

10 Feb 2023

Novel compound curtails influenza virus replication

Viruses use the molecular repertoire of the host cell to replicate. Researchers from the Cluster of Excellence ImmunoSensation2 at the University of Bonn, together with Japanese researchers, want to exploit this for the treatment of influenza.

10 Feb 2023

New scalable approach for the diagnosis of multiple respiratory viruses

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.

18 Jan 2023

Electrochemical biosensor for detecting antibodies

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.

18 Jan 2023

Emerging viruses could be easily detected with a simple nasal swab

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.

5 Jan 2023

The Native Antigen Company introduces new range of influenza antigens

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.

From The Native Antigen Company 21 Nov 2022

Providing structural understanding of the influenza virus

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.

8 Nov 2022

Potential SARS-CoV-2 therapy based on banana protein

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.

25 Oct 2022

Tiny DNA strand net in a low-cost test platform traps COVID-19 virus

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.

26 Sep 2022

Scientists create new live-attenuated influenza vaccine technique over pathogens

The use of attenuated, live viruses as vaccines is a potential method to minimize the effects of viral infectious diseases, such as influenza.

8 Jul 2022

Researchers target human protein to combat SARS-CoV-2 and other viruses

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.

1 Jul 2022

RNA binding proteins in T cells help generate an effective immune response

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.

29 Apr 2022

Scientists create powerful new method for generating protein drugs

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.

28 Mar 2022