Fujifilm’s Flu Drug Turned Ebola Drug Avigan Proven Effective

Fujifilm Holdings Corp.’s drug Avigan, which has shown signs of efficacy against the Ebola virus, has drawn interest from about 20 countries and the company stands ready for large orders, its chief executive said. “We can provide as much as we are asked for,” said Shigetaka Komori in an interview Friday. The company has enough of the drug’s basic ingredient on hand to manufacture pills for 300,000 people and will ramp up production if necessary,...

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Asian Herb Holds Promise as Treatment for Ebola Virus Disease

New research that focuses on the mechanism by which Ebola virus infects a cell and the discovery of a promising drug therapy candidate is being published February 27, 2015, in the journal Science. Dr. Robert Davey, scientist and Ewing Halsell Scholar in the Department of Immunology and Virology at Texas Biomedical Research Institute announced today that a small molecule called Tetrandrine derived from an Asian herb has shown to be a potent small...

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Ebola Vaccine: Human Antibodies Target Marburg & Ebola Viruses

One step closer to Ebola vaccine: Researchers at Vanderbilt University, the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston and The Scripps Research Institute for the first time have shown how human antibodies can neutralize the Marburg virus, a close cousin to Ebola. Their findings, published this week in two papers in the journal Cell, should speed development of the first effective treatment and vaccine against these often lethal viruses, said...

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What You Need to Know About the Flu Vaccine

This year’s annual flu shot will offer protection against H1N1 flu (swine flu) virus, in addition to two other influenza viruses that are expected to be in circulation this flu season. A vaccine that protects against four strains of the virus will also be available, as will a high-dose flu vaccine for adults age 65 and older. As you can see there are many different flu vaccines and the general population believes that there is just one. This...

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Ebola Orphanage Worker Dies in Sierra Leone

A Sierra Leonean who worked with children orphaned by Ebola has died of the disease himself. Augustine Baker had been admitted to an Ebola treatment centre after becoming ill last week. The orphanage where he worked is run by a UK charity in Sierra Leone and was quarantined after Baker was diagnosed with the deadly ebola virus. He was said to be in stable condition when admitted to a local treatment centre after becoming ill last week. A report...

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Funding For Development of Microneedle Patch Polio Vaccine

The Georgia Institute of Technology and Micron Biomedical have been awarded $2.5 million in grants from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to advance the development of dissolvable microneedle patches for polio immunization. The patches will be studied to evaluate their potential role as part of the worldwide efforts to eradicate polio. The funds will support research and development of vaccine-filled microneedles that are designed to dissolve...

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The Course of Ebola Virus Disease

When a glycoprotein in the Ebola virus envelope binds to a receptor on an antigen-presenting cell, the activated cell goes right to a lymph node and “presents” the antigen (the virus) to cells in the immune system. Thus, like the AIDS virus, Ebola begins by attacking the body’s defenders. Then as it spreads through the body, it also attacks endothelial cells (the lining of blood vessels), liver cells, and many other cells. Cells that are most seriously...

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8 of 10 Americans Polled Support Mandatory Measles Vaccines

A new CNN/ORC poll shows nearly 8 of 10 Americans believe parents should be required to vaccinate their healthy children against preventable diseases such as measles, mumps, rubella and polio. If the children are not vaccinated, most agree the child should not be allowed to attend public school or day care. These results come as the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is reporting a total of 154 cases of measles in the country, from...

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Forgotten Bacterium Is the Cause of Many Severe Sore Throats

New research from the University of Alabama at Birmingham suggests that Fusobacterium necrophorum more often causes severe sore throats in young adults than streptococcus — the cause of the much better known strep throat. The findings, published today in the Annals of Internal Medicine, suggest physicians should consider F. necrophorum when treating severe sore throat, known as pharyngitis, in young adults and adolescents that worsens. In an analysis...

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Chicken Pox Virus May Be Linked to Serious Condition of Elderly

A new study links the virus that causes chicken pox and shingles to a condition that inflames blood vessels on the temples and scalp in the elderly, called giant cell arteritis. The study is published in the February 18, 2015, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. The condition can cause sudden blindness or stroke and can be life-threatening. The varicella zoster virus, of the herpes virus family,...

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