"Flu vaccines for everyone?" Interesting article from Business Week. "A big reason shortages occur is that the few pharmaceutical companies that make flu vaccine for the U.S...lose a bundle if they produce too much vaccine. It's costly to manufacture and has to be reformulated each year as flu strains evolve, notes Gerald Keusch, provost and dean for global health at Boston University. "
Antibiotic use linked to increased breast cancer risk. Yet another reason not to take antibiotics to treat a cold.
A new word for the modern vocabulary -
biosecurity.
Australian drug effective in treating bird flu. And the manufacturer's stock is doingquite well.
Popular cold medication generates complaints. Some people are claiming they are losing their sense of smell after using Zicam.
Flu secrets you should know. This article covers most of the current issues revolving around influenza right now - effectiveness of this year's vaccine, the mercury controversy, etc. It also reveals how they estimate the number of cases - random sentinel physicians.
Flu vaccine makers say government must increase demand. Pandemics only come along once a century or so - so making tons of vaccine just in case isn't profitable.
Vietnam bird flu infects fast - high mortality. More details on how the humans in Vietnam died. Questions linger about whether there was human to human transmission.
When viruses start jumping. "As we come close to other animals, their viruses come closer to us. The outcome can be the same if we trap, enclose, and trade wild animals, such as civet cats, which seems to be the scenario that led to SARS in humans."
Scientists say 1918 flu birdlike. Fascinating research, interesting timing.
Avian flu in Delaware different strain from the scary one in Asia.
This article looks at why there are so many common cold remedies out there.
"The truth is that disease is random and inexplicable. No one knows why some cold germs make it to the nasal receptors and some don't; some doctors even think strong immune responses encourage colds when the body overreacts to viral invasion. We can get an annual physical, eat right, exercise, stay current on mammograms and colonoscopies, quit smoking and drinking and eating sugar, and still be dead tomorrow."
Don't cry wolf on every flu. "What we don't need is this constant resort to panic-inducing hyperbole. " Amen!
This article explains why the bird flu always seems to originate in Asia.
On the heels of the news that the bird flu had spread through human to human contact, the World Health Organization tries to
cool fears. "...the current outbreak was at least three weeks old and thousands of people had been exposed to the virus, with only a handful of confirmed cases among people. "
