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.

Sanford Burnham Prebys announces research agreement with Lilly to characterize COVID-19 antibodies

Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute today announced a research agreement with Eli Lilly and Company (Lilly) to characterize Lilly's next-generation anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies.

30 Jun 2020

Existing drugs could disrupt SARS-CoV-2 from hijacking cells

An international team of researchers has analyzed how SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, hijacks the proteins in its target cells.

30 Jun 2020

Study shows how viruses steal genetic signals from hosts to expand their own genomes

Scientists have demonstrated that a large class of viruses, such as the influenza viruses, expand their genomes by stealing genetic signals from their hosts.

19 Jun 2020

A protein that helps to fight viruses can also inhibit lung tissue repair

Researchers at the Francis Crick Institute have found that a protein which is initially helpful in the body’s immune response to a virus, can later interfere with the repair of lung tissue.

12 Jun 2020

Lungs' immune cells can be activated more easily than previously thought

A significant site of damage during COVID-19 infection is the lungs. Understanding how the lungs' immune cells are responding to viral infections could help scientists develop a vaccine.

12 Jun 2020

Study shows how a fat cell's immune response exacerbates obesity

When obesity occurs, a person's own fat cells can set off a complex inflammatory chain reaction that can further disrupt metabolism and weaken immune response--potentially placing people at higher risk of poor outcomes from a variety of diseases and infections, including COVID-19.

8 Jun 2020

Scientists aim to develop a gene-targeting, antiviral agent to combat COVID-19

A team of scientists from Stanford University is working with researchers at the Molecular Foundry, a nanoscience user facility located at the Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab), to develop a gene-targeting, antiviral agent against COVID-19.

5 Jun 2020

Fate-seq technique shows structural differences between COVID-19 and SARS viruses

Scientists have discovered certain segments of the genetic codes of the SARS and COVID-19 viruses that may support the lifecycle of the viruses.

4 Jun 2020

Study reveals how respiratory syncytial virus breaks into cells to cause infection

New research from University of Alberta microbiologists has shed new light on how the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV)--one of the most common viral infections--breaks into our cells to cause infection.

4 Jun 2020

Approach used against flu could benefit COVID-19 drug development

A new study from researchers at The University of Texas at Austin has found that some antivirals are useful for more than helping sick people get better -- they also can prevent thousands of deaths and hundreds of thousands of virus cases if used in the early stages of infection.

3 Jun 2020

EKF secures COVID-19 novel sample collection kit manufacturing and supply contracts

EKF Diagnostics, the global in vitro diagnostics company, announces it has secured new contracts for the manufacture and supply of a novel, patented sample collection device which allows COVID-19 samples to be rapidly inactivated in the collection tube, avoiding contamination and preserving RNA without need for refrigeration.

From EKF Diagnostics 26 May 2020

Smokers More Likely To Express ACE2 Protein That SARS-COV-2 Uses

Researchers report that smoking increases the gene expression of ACE2, the protein that binds SARS-CoV-2, which may promote COVID-19 infection.

19 May 2020

Coronavirus attacking microRNA numbers reduce with age

A group of tiny RNA that should attack the virus causing COVID-19 when it tries to infect the body are diminished with age and chronic health problems, a decrease that likely helps explain why older individuals and those with preexisting medical conditions are vulnerable populations, investigators report.

14 May 2020

New type of antigen-presenting immune cell discovered

With a discovery that could rewrite the immunology textbooks, an international group of scientists, including the teams of Bart Lambrecht, Martin Guilliams, Hamida Hammad, and Charlotte Scott (all from the VIB-UGent Center for Inflammation Research) identified a new type of antigen-presenting immune cell.

12 May 2020