The US FDA (Food and Drug Administration) has approved vaccines for the 2010-2011 USA influenza season, protecting against three strains of influenza, including the H1N1 virus which caused the 2009 pandemic. In 2009, because the H1N1 virus appeared after seasonal vaccine production commenced, two separate vaccines were required to protect against the seasonal flu and the 2009 H1N1 pandemic flu virus. The FDA says that only one vaccine is needed for this year…

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced that it has approved vaccines for the 2010-2011 influenza season in the United States. Seasonal influenza vaccine protects against three strains of influenza, including the 2009 H1N1 influenza virus, which caused the 2009 pandemic. Last year because the 2009 H1N1 virus emerged after production began on the seasonal vaccine, two separate vaccines were needed to protect against seasonal flu and the 2009 H1N1 pandemic flu virus, but this year, only one vaccine is necessary…

WHO Questions Validity Of Amnesty Report On N. Korea’s Health System The WHO is questioning the validity of the findings of a recent Amnesty International report which highlighted the dire needs of North Korea’s health system, “contradict[ing] the rosier picture given by WHO chief Margaret Chan after her April trip there,” the Associated Press reports. Although WHO spokesman Paul Garwood “insisted he wasn’t criticizing Amnesty’s work … he said Thursday’s report was anecdotal, with stories dating back to 2001,” which “[h]e contrasted …

Brand-Nu Laboratories, a leading US-based high purity chemical manufacturer and distributor, has introduced Chlophedianol Hydrochloride, also known as Clofedanol Hydrochloride JP, to its product portfolio of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs). Chlophedianol Hydrochloride has been recognized as a possible replacement for Dextromethorphan in cough and cold formulations. Dextromethorphan has been under review by the FDA based on a request from the DEA for an evaluation…

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: ALNY), a leading RNAi therapeutics company, announced today the publication of new research findings in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) by Alnylam scientists and collaborators from Mount Sinai School of Medicine. In the new study, Alnylam and Mount Sinai scientists discovered a novel class of virus-produced small non-coding RNAs, called small viral RNAs (svRNAs), which play a critical role in the replication of influenza A virus. Antagonism of these svRNAs resulted in decreased viral mRNA and blocked viral infectivity…

Amarillo Biosciences, Inc. (ABI) (OTCBB: AMAR) today announced additional positive results from a Phase 2 clinical trial conducted at the University of Western Australia. A total of 200 healthy volunteers were enrolled in this study to take a once daily dose of oral interferon or placebo for 16 weeks as prevention of influenza-like illness during the 2009 Australian cold and flu season…

Nausea in pregnant women tends to fade after the first three months, but during the second and third trimesters it can be a sign of flu, researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have found in a study of expectant women who sought medical care. “People don’t necessarily think of influenza when you include the symptoms of nausea or vomiting, but our study showed that they are common with influenza in pregnancy,” said Dr. Vanessa Rogers, assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology and lead author of the study, which appears in the May edition of Obstetrics and Gynecology…

Bioject Medical Technologies Inc. (OTCBB:BJCT), a leading developer of needle-free injection therapy systems (NFITS), announced that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and its collaborating institutions presented the latest results of its clinical trial of the Biojector® 2000 at the 13th Annual Conference on Vaccine Research, sponsored by the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases and held in Bethesda, Maryland April 26 - 28, 2010…

Practicing non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) such as hand-washing and mouth covering may help limit the transmission of the pandemic flu, but more research on these measures is critical according to a new study appearing in the May issue of AJIC: American Journal of Infection Control, the official publication of the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, Inc. (APIC)…

Amarillo Biosciences, Inc. (ABI) (OTCBB: AMAR) today announced that Dr. Manfred Beilharz, Chair of Microbiology and Immunology, School of Biomedical, Biomolecular and Chemical Sciences, The University of Western Australia, has submitted a final report on the recently completed 200 subject low-dose oral interferon (IFN) Phase 2 clinical trial in Perth, Australia. Dr. Beilharz was one of two principal investigators of the study for which ABI provided the oral interferon…