Influenza News

December 9, 2025

Top Headlines

A Routine Shingles Shot May Offer Powerful Defense Against Dementia

Dec. 3, 2025 A unique vaccine rollout in Wales gave researchers an accidental natural experiment that revealed a striking reduction in dementia among seniors who received the shingles vaccine. The protective effect held steady across multiple analyses and was ...

Bird Flu’s Surprising Heat Tolerance Has Scientists Worried

Nov. 28, 2025 Researchers discovered why bird flu can survive temperatures that stop human flu in its tracks. A key gene, PB1, gives avian viruses the ability to replicate even at fever-level heat. Mice experiments confirmed that fever cripples human-origin flu ...

Scientists Shocked to Find E. Coli Spreads as Fast as the Swine Flu

Nov. 4, 2025 Researchers have, for the first time, estimated how quickly E. coli bacteria can spread between people — and one strain moves as fast as swine flu. Using genomic data from the UK and Norway, scientists modeled bacterial transmission rates and ...

Large-scale Immunity Profiling Grants Insights Into Flu Virus Evolution

June 3, 2025 A new study shows how person-to-person variation in antibody immunity plays a key role in shaping which influenza (flu) strains dominate in a ...

Two HIV Vaccine Trials Show Proof of Concept for Pathway to Broadly Neutralizing Antibodies

May 16, 2025 A decades-long scientific challenge in HIV vaccine development has been finding a way to train the immune system to produce antibodies that can target many variants of the virus. Traditional ...

People with Critical Cardiovascular Disease May Benefit from Palliative Care

May 16, 2025 Palliative care is specialized medical care focused on easing symptoms, addressing psychological and spiritual needs, and helping patients and caregivers make critical decisions aligned with their ...

Novel, Needle-free, Live-attenuated Influenza Vaccines with Broad Protection Against Human and Avian Virus Subtypes

May 9, 2025 A research team has achieved a significant breakthrough in developing broadly protective, live-attenuated influenza vaccines (LAIV). These innovative LAIV platforms offer potential to develop ...

Experimental Bird Flu Vaccine Excels in Animal Models

Apr. 23, 2025 A vaccine under development has demonstrated complete protection in mice against a deadly variant of the virus that causes bird flu. The work focuses on the H5N1 variant known as 2.3.4.4b, which has caused widespread outbreaks in wild birds and ...

Nasal Spray H5N1 Avian Influenza Vaccine Developed

Apr. 8, 2025 Scientists have pioneered an influenza virus vector-based nasal spray vaccine platform and developed a nasal spray H5N1 avian influenza vaccine. During the early COVID-19 pandemic, this platform enabled the rapid development of a nasal spray vaccine ...

Viral 'Backbone' Underlies Variation in Rotavirus Vaccine Effectiveness

Apr. 8, 2025 Researchers have shown that differences in the entire rotavirus genome -- not just its two surface proteins -- affect how well vaccines work, helping to explain why some strains are more likely to infect vaccinated ...

An Antiviral Chewing Gum to Reduce Influenza and Herpes Simplex Virus Transmission

Apr. 4, 2025 Low vaccination rates for influenza viruses and the lack of an HSV vaccine underscore the need for a new approach to reduce viral transmission. Researchers have now used a clinical-grade antiviral ...

Precision Medicine Could Be Possible in the Fight Against Antibiotic Resistance

Apr. 3, 2025 Certain antibiotic-resistant infections could be treated with precision medicine in the future, thanks to a new resource mapping plasmids the ultimate vehicle of rapid bacterial ...

Latest Headlines

updated 10:46am EST

Bird Flu Hiding in Cheese? The Surprising New Discovery

Oct. 21, 2025 Researchers discovered that avian influenza (H5N1) can survive in raw milk cheese made from contaminated milk, even after the 60-day aging process required by the FDA. However, highly acidic cheeses ...

Study Strengthens Link Between Shingles Vaccine and Lower Dementia Risk

Apr. 2, 2025 A unique vaccination rollout in Wales offered researchers a natural experiment: some older adults qualified for the shingles vaccine, while others just missed the cutoff. The results were striking ...

Current Antivirals Likely Less Effective Against Severe Infection Caused by Bird Flu Virus in Cows' Milk

Mar. 21, 2025 Existing antivirals may be less effective against this H5N1 bird flu strain, and prevention measures, such as avoiding raw milk consumption and ...

New Data on Mpox Vaccine Effectiveness

Mar. 20, 2025 A study has found that a single dose of the Imvanex vaccine provides protection against Mpox with 84% effectiveness. For people with HIV, however, a single dose of the vaccine fails to offer ...

Older Adults Might Be More Resistant to Bird Flu Infections Than Children

Mar. 15, 2025 Older adults who were exposed to seasonal flu viruses that circulated prior to 1968 are more likely to have some protection against H5N1, and children would benefit more from H5N1 ...

An Aerosol Test for Airborne Bird Flu

Mar. 7, 2025 Recent outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza (also known as bird flu) have created a need for rapid and sensitive detection methods to mitigate its spread. Now, researchers have developed a ...

New Biosensor Can Detect Airborne Bird Flu in Under 5 Minutes

Mar. 3, 2025 As highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza continues to spread in the U.S., posing serious threats to dairy and poultry farms, both farmers and public health experts need better ways to monitor for ...

Immunity Against Seasonal H1N1 Flu Reduces Bird Flu Severity in Ferrets, Study Suggests

Feb. 27, 2025 Pre-existing immunity against seasonal H1N1 flu might help explain why most reported human cases of H5N1 bird flu in the U.S. have not resulted in ...

Antibody Treatment Prevents Severe Bird Flu in Monkeys

Jan. 30, 2025 The antibody targets a stable part of the bird flu virus, ensuring that the immune protection can resist new variants and offer long-term protection against the globally spreading airborne ...

Bird Flu Is Mutating, but Antivirals Still Work

Jan. 15, 2025 Researchers have identified nine mutations in a bird flu strain from a person in Texas. Bad news: this strain is more capable of causing disease and replicates better in the brain. Good news: ...

Simple Ways to Improve the Wellbeing of Pediatric Critical Care Staff

Jan. 28, 2025 Researchers have developed two simple, easy-to-deliver sessions to improve the wellbeing of staff in pediatric critical care (PCC) units in UK ...

Officials Assess Threat of H5N1 Avian Flu

Jan. 2, 2025 Highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza A virus (HPAI H5N1) remains a low risk to the general public, and public health experts in the United States believe that available treatments and vaccines, as ...

Public Shows Greater Acceptance of RSV Vaccine as Vaccine Hesitancy Appears to Have Plateaued

Dec. 23, 2024 A year after becoming available, vaccines to protect against RSV in newborns and older adults are being more widely accepted by the American public, according to a new health ...

Scientists Design Workaround That Improves Response to Flu Vaccine

Dec. 19, 2024 Stitching together four molecules found in the standard flu vaccine ensures an immune response to all of them, scientists have ...

Single Mutation in H5N1 Influenza Surface Protein Could Enable Easier Human Infection

Dec. 6, 2024 A single modification in the protein found on the surface of the highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5N1 influenza virus currently circulating in U.S. dairy cows could allow for easier ...

Scientists Identify Mutation That Could Facilitate H5N1 'Bird Flu' Virus Infection and Potential Transmission in Humans

Dec. 5, 2024 Avian influenza viruses typically require several mutations to adapt and spread among humans, but what happens when just one change can increase the risk of becoming a pandemic virus? A recent study ...

Possible Colon Cancer Vaccine Target Uncovered in Bacteria

Dec. 4, 2024 By comparing cancer incidence rates with genomic surveillance data, researchers suggest that higher rates of certain cancers in the UK and other countries may be linked to two bacterial strains. ...

Eradivir's EV25 Therapeutic Reduces Advanced-Stage Influenza Viral Loads Faster, More Thoroughly in Preclinical Studies Than Current Therapies

Nov. 19, 2024 A research article shows that Eradivir's patent-pending antiviral therapeutic called EV25 reduces lung viral loads of advanced-stage influenza in preclinical studies quicker and more effectively ...

New Roles in Infectious Process for Molecule That Inhibits Flu

Nov. 14, 2024 Researchers have identified new roles for a protein long known to protect against severe flu infection -- among them, raising the minimum number of viral particles needed to cause ...

Potential Single-Dose Smallpox and Mpox Vaccine Moves Forward

Nov. 13, 2024 An FDA-approved vaccine for smallpox and mpox is effective but causes side effects. The other requires multiple doses. An experimental single-dose vaccine uses the horsepox virus to harness the ...

Key Influenza-Severity Risk Factor Found Hiding in Plain Sight on Our Antibodies

Nov. 13, 2024 Why do some people develop severe flu symptoms? A study points the finger at an unsung portion of the antibodies our immune systems generate to fend off invading ...

New Study Traces Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Global Movement and Evolution of Seasonal Flu

Nov. 7, 2024 Increased capabilities for genomic surveillance have offered new insights into global viral evolution. Seasonal flu showed a 'remarkable' bounce back to pre-pandemic levels once ...

H5N1 Virus Isolated from Infected Dairy Worker Is 100% Lethal in Ferrets, but Does Not Appear to Be Circulating in Nature Anymore

Oct. 28, 2024 A strain of H5N1 avian influenza virus found in a Texas dairy worker who was infected this spring was able to spread among ferrets through the air, although inefficiently, and killed 100% of infected ...

Getting the Flu and Then Your Shot May Benefit Immunity

Sep. 30, 2024 Researchers found that natural immunity from previous flu infections has a significant impact on how well future influenza vaccinations ...

'Food Theft' Among Seabirds Could Be Transmission Point for Deadly Avian Flu

Sep. 16, 2024 If seabirds can catch avian flu by stealing food from infectious birds, it gives scientists a clue where to monitor for outbreaks among these vulnerable ...

Researchers Develop Promising Lassa Fever Vaccine

Sep. 12, 2024 A promising Lassa fever vaccine shows potential to prevent severe disease and death in ...

Avian Flu Found in Wastewater of 10 Texas Cities Through Virome Sequencing

Sep. 11, 2024 Avian influenza A(H5N1) virus, which spread to cattle and infected 14 people this year, was detected using virome sequencing in the wastewater of 10 Texas ...

Investigational Mpox mRNA Vaccine Reduces Disease Severity in Primates Compared to Available Vaccines

Sep. 4, 2024 The most frequently used mpox vaccine provides partial immunity to the disease but isn't always able to prevent severe symptoms or disease transmission. A new vaccine candidate from Moderna, ...

H5 Influenza Vaccines: What Needs to Be Done to Reduce the Risk of a Pandemic

Sep. 4, 2024 As the global threat of H5N1 influenza looms with outbreaks across species and continents including the U.S., three international vaccine and public health experts say it is time to fully resource ...

Universal Flu Vaccine Candidate Protects Against Infection in Mice

Aug. 22, 2024 A new flu vaccine candidate incorporates proteins from 8 strains of ...