bird flu

Scientists are working on a "universal" flu vaccine that would eliminate the need for year to year flu shots, and may even protect against a bird flu pandemic.

(Wellcome Trust) Scientists funded by the Wellcome Trust are to examine what is preventing the H5N1 avian influenza virus from causing a human pandemic and what mutations are required to realise its deadly potential.

The research could hold the key to early identification of a potential influenza pandemic, and to developing drugs and a vaccine.

Novavax said yesterday that its bird flu vaccine elicited a robust immune response in humans, moving the biotech a step closer to licensing its pandemic vaccine production system.

Scientists say victims of the 1918 flu virus that killed 50m still have protection, which may help in new bird flu treatments.

UK experts developing a testing machine for bird flu say it could save lives by cutting the time it takes to detect outbreaks.

(DOE/Argonne National Laboratory) Scientists and researchers have taken a big step closer to a cure for the most common strain of avian influenza, or "bird flu," the potential pandemic that has claimed more than 200 lives and infected nearly 400 people in 14 countries since it was identified in 2003.

(Society for General Microbiology) Scientists have discovered how bird flu adapts in patients, offering a new way to monitor the disease and prevent a pandemic, according to research published in the August issue of the Journal of General Virology.

(University of California - San Diego) As the specter of a worldwide outbreak of avian or "bird flu" lingers, health officials recognize that new drugs are desperately needed since some strains of the virus already have developed resistance to the current roster of anti-flu remedies.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Fears of bird flu are slumping and so have sales of the anti-flu drug Tamiflu. Now its maker is offering a deal to U.S. employers: Pay an annual fee and reserve enough to protect every worker if a new super-flu strikes....

The first experimental bird flu vaccine made from lab-grown cells instead of chicken eggs shows promise in blocking the highly lethal virus, scientists report....