Cold and Flu News

November 20, 2024

Top Headlines

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 than ...

Researchers Use Biophysics to Design New Vaccines Against RSV and Related Respiratory Viruses

Nov. 19, 2024 — In most people, the lung-infecting pathogens known as respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and human metapneumovirus (hMPV) trigger mild cold-like symptoms. But in infants and seniors, these viruses can ...

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 benefits of both ...

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 ...

Latest Headlines

updated 10:45pm EST

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 ...

Nasal Swab Tests Predict COVID-19 Disease Severity, Study Finds

Nov. 6, 2024 — New research is providing a more precise prediction of COVID-19 severity that can be found by looking at autoantibodies in the nasal cavity, leading to more personalized treatment ...

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, ...

RSV Vaccines Effective, but More People Need to Get Them

Oct. 28, 2024 — Doctors detail what we learned after the first season following the approval of RSV vaccines. The vaccine effectively prevented severe illness in older, but only 24 percent of eligible US adults ...

New Images of RSV May Expose Stubborn Virus's Weak Points

Oct. 1, 2024 — The complex shape of respiratory syncytial virus is one hurdle limiting the development of treatments for an infection that leads to hospitalization or worse for hundreds of thousands of people in ...

Could a Bout of COVID Protect You from a Severe Case of Flu?

Sep. 30, 2024 — New findings on how past viral respiratory infections affect future, unrelated ones could lead to therapies for boosting general antiviral immunity -- and potentially pandemic ...

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 ...

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 ...

Hep C: We're Closer Than Ever to Solving Mystery of Deadly Virus

Sep. 9, 2024 — Around 300,000 people die from hepatitis C every year. A new study has mapped the protein complex that enables the virus to infect our cells, potentially paving the way for an effective ...

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 ...

Saline Nasal Drops Reduce the Duration of the Common Cold in Young Children by Two Days

Sep. 6, 2024 — Using hypertonic saline nasal drops can reduce the length of the common cold in children by two days, according to a new study. They can also reduce the onward transmission of colds to family ...

Immune Cells Prevent Lung Healing After Viral Infection

Sep. 4, 2024 — Researchers have discovered a pathway by which immune cells prevent the lungs' protective barrier from healing after viral infections like ...

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 ...

Late Start of COVID Treatment May Still Benefit Immunocompromised Patients, Study Finds

Sep. 3, 2024 — Starting antiviral treatment as late as 14 days after infection with SARS-CoV-2 may still be beneficial in hosts with compromised immune systems, who are at greatest risk of developing severe ...

Universal Flu Vaccine Candidate Protects Against Infection in Mice

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

T Helper Cells May Be the Key to Improving Annual Influenza Vaccines

Aug. 20, 2024 — Scientists have discovered why the flu vaccine can perform poorly. They found that a specific type of immune cell, called T follicular helper cells, indirectly controls the anti-influenza response. ...

New Insights on How Bird Flu Crosses the Species Barrier

Aug. 19, 2024 — The avian influenza virus needs to mutate to cross the species barrier and to infect and replicate within mammalian cells. Scientists have now deciphered the structure of the avian influenza ...

Nasal Spray Flu Vaccine Candidate Shows Promise When Administered Alongside High Dose Annual Shot

Aug. 15, 2024 — A unique influenza vaccine candidate that's inhaled appears safe and could bolster protection against seasonal and pandemic influenza for people vulnerable to severe disease when they receive it ...

New Two-Step Flu Vaccine Strategy Shows Promise in Pig Model

Aug. 9, 2024 — A new, two-step flu vaccination strategy that pairs intramuscular injection of a viral vectored flu vaccine with nasal spray administration of a novel attenuated live flu virus appears to be safe and ...

Saliva Indicates Severity of Recurrent Respiratory Infections in Children

Aug. 8, 2024 — A saliva test can more accurately indicate the severity of recurrent respiratory infections in children than the standard blood test. If saliva contains too few broadly protective antibodies, a child ...

Researchers Create New Treatment and Vaccine for Flu and Various Coronaviruses

Aug. 6, 2024 — Researchers have discovered new ways of preventing and treating respiratory viruses. In two new papers, the team reports the development and validation of NanoSTING, a nasal spray, as a ...

Nasal COVID-19 Vaccine Halts Transmission, Animal Study Finds

July 31, 2024 — A nasal COVID-19 vaccine blocks transmission of the virus, according to an animal study. The findings suggest that vaccines delivered directly to the nose or mouth could play a critical role in ...

Fetal Brain Impacted When Mom Fights Severe Flu: New Mouse Study Explains How

July 29, 2024 — New research using live mouse-adapted influenza virus improves upon previous mouse experiments to explain how maternal infection impacts fetal brain development. The study also indicates fetal brain ...

New Study Confirms Mammal-to-Mammal Avian Flu Spread

July 24, 2024 — A new study provides evidence that a spillover of avian influenza from birds to dairy cattle across several U.S. states has now led to mammal-to-mammal transmission -- between cows and from cows to ...

Study Shows Promise for a Universal Influenza Vaccine

July 19, 2024 — New research reveals a promising approach to developing a universal influenza vaccine -- a so-called 'one and done' vaccine that confers lifetime immunity against an evolving virus. The ...

Influenza Viruses Can Use Two Ways to Infect Cells

July 17, 2024 — Most influenza viruses enter human or animal cells through specific pathways on the cells' surface. Researchers have now discovered that certain human flu viruses and avian flu viruses can also ...

Receptors Make Dairy Cows a Prime Target for Influenza

July 15, 2024 — A study helps explain why dairy cows infected by highly pathogenic avian influenza are shedding the virus in their milk. Their findings could help develop biosecurity measures aimed at slowing the ...

Nanoparticle Vaccines Enhance Cross-Protection Against Influenza Viruses

July 10, 2024 — To offer cross-protection against diverse influenza virus variants, nanoparticle vaccines can produce pivotal cellular and mucosal immune responses that enhance vaccine efficacy and broaden ...

Raw Milk Is Risky, but Airborne Transmission of H5N1 from Cow's Milk Is Inefficient in Mammals

July 8, 2024 — While H5N1 avian influenza virus taken from infected cow's milk makes mice and ferrets sick when dripped into their noses, airborne transmission of the virus between ferrets -- a common model ...