Tag Influenza

Scientists isolate genes that made 1918 flu lethal

December 29, 2008

By mixing and matching a contemporary flu virus with the "Spanish flu" - a virus that killed between 20 and 50 million people 90 years ago in history's most devastating outbreak of infectious disease - researchers have identified a set of three genes that helped underpin the extraordinary virulence of the 1918 virus.

Curiosities: How do public health officials determine which strain of influenza to create vaccines for each year?

November 6, 2008

This year’s influenza vaccine in the United States contains three strains of the influenza virus. Last March, experts at the U.S. Centers for Disease…

Flu-infected fly cells reveal dependencies of the virus

July 9, 2008

By giving fly cells the flu, scientists have identified scores of host genes the pathogen requires for successful infection, revealing a raft of potential new pressure points to thwart the virus.

WARF licenses influenza vaccine technology to FluGen

May 8, 2008

The Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation and FluGen have signed license agreements for a technology that has the potential to significantly improve the way influenza vaccines are manufactured.

WARF, UW–Madison influenza researcher, Lentigen agree to donate technology

March 25, 2008

The University of Wisconsin–Madison has received a $1.3 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to support research aimed at understanding the molecular features that lead to influenza pandemics. UW–Madison will collaborate with Maryland-based Lentigen Corp. on the project.

Researchers identify key step bird flu virus takes to spread readily in humans

October 5, 2007

Since it first appeared in Hong Kong in 1997, the H5N1 avian flu virus has been slowly evolving into a pathogen better equipped to infect humans. The final form of the virus, biomedical researchers fear, will be a highly pathogenic strain of influenza that spreads easily among humans.

Drug-resistant flu virus emerges in untreated patients

April 3, 2007

Flu viruses with reduced sensitivity to the front-line drugs used to thwart and treat infection have been found in patients who were not treated with the drugs, according to an international team of researchers.

UW researcher and spinoff company to receive MIT technology awards

March 6, 2007

The MIT Club of Wisconsin, a state association for alumni of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, is recognizing a University of Wisconsin–Madison influenza researcher and a bioscience spinoff company on Friday at its annual Technology Achievement Awards banquet.

Flu season in full swing in Wisconsin

February 26, 2007

Influenza activity is currently considered to be "widespread" in Wisconsin, indicating we are reaching the peak of this year's influenza season. Practitioners at University Health Services (UHS) are seeing many students with the flu. To minimize chances of getting the flu, students are encouraged to get a flu shot and to practice basic hygiene.

Study uncovers a lethal secret of 1918 influenza virus

January 17, 2007

In a study of nonhuman primates infected with the influenza virus that killed 50 million people in 1918, an international team of scientists has found a critical clue to how the virus killed so quickly and efficiently.

Scientists find mutations that let bird flu adapt to humans

November 15, 2006

By comparing influenza viruses found in birds with those of the avian virus that have also infected human hosts, researchers have identified key genetic changes required for pandemic strains of bird flu.

New drug blocks influenza, including bird flu virus

October 4, 2006

Opening a new front in the war against flu, researchers at the University of Wisconsin–Madison have reported the discovery of a novel compound that confers broad protection against influenza viruses, including deadly avian influenza.

Conference to advise businesses on pandemic preparation

September 14, 2006

A University of Wisconsin–Madison conference on Thursday, Oct. 12, "Surviving the Pandemic," is designed to help representatives from small- and medium-sized companies and nonprofit organizations assess their levels of preparedness and begin to develop their own company-specific plans.

Badgerland presence at BIO 2006

April 6, 2006

Following Monday's blockbuster announcement of a $150 million public-private investment in the Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery, the University of Wisconsin–Madison will have considerable momentum as it vies for attention at BIO 2006 this weekend in Chicago.

Cell barrier slows bird flu’s spread among humans

March 22, 2006

Although more than 100 people have been infected with the H5N1 avian influenza virus, mostly from close contact with infected poultry, the fact that the virus does not spread easily from its pioneering human hosts to other humans has been a biomedical puzzle.

UW scientists unravel mystery of how flu viruses replicate

January 25, 2006

With the help of a long-studied flu virus, an electron microscope and a novel idea of how the virus aligns segments of RNA as it prepares to make virions, the particles a virus creates and sends forth to infect cells, one major puzzle of flu virus replication has been resolved.

Tracking a case study for avian flu preparedness

December 6, 2005

As public health experts discuss how best to prevent an avian flu epidemic in the United States, La Follette School of Public Affairs assistant professor Donald P. Moynihan says a recent avian disease outreak offers important clues.

Scientists report a new method to speed bird flu vaccine production

October 31, 2005

In the event of an influenza pandemic, the world's vaccine manufacturers will be in a race against time to forestall calamity. But now, thanks to a new technique to more efficiently produce the disarmed viruses that are the seed stock for making flu vaccine in large quantities, life-saving inoculations may be available more readily than before. The work is especially important as governments worldwide prepare for a predicted pandemic of avian influenza.

Flu virus reported to resist drug envisioned for pandemic

October 14, 2005

An avian influenza virus isolated from an infected Vietnamese girl has been determined to be resistant to the drug oseltamivir, the compound better known by its trade name Tamiflu, and the drug officials hope will serve as the front line of defense for a feared influenza pandemic.

Researchers studying ramifications of equine influenza in dogs

September 26, 2005

A paper published in Science today (Sept. 26) describes the recent emergence of equine influenza virus, first recognized in racing greyhounds in January 2004, as a pathogen in dogs. During the past year, cases of the virus have been reported in pet dogs in Florida and New York, which raises concern that the virus is spreading.