Dangerous Progeny Can Result When Flu Strains 'Hook Up'
A new University of Maryland-led study finds that 'sex' between the virus responsible for the 2009 flu pandemic ( H1N1 ) and a common type of avian flu virus (H9N2) can produce offspring - new combined flu viruses - with the potential for creating a new influenza pandemic. Of course, viruses don't actually have sex, but University of Maryland Virologist Daniel Perez, who directed the new study, says new pandemic viruses are formed mainly through a process called reassortment, which can best be described as viral sexual reproduction.
New NHS Staff Flu Vaccination Figures, Responses To Be Published By Department Of Health, UK
The Department of Health is publishing national NHS staff member responses to new data regarding the participation in the seasonal Flu Vaccination campaign. NB: Managed by the NHS Employers organization on behalf of the Social Partnership Forum, The National NHS Staff Seasonal Flu Vaccination Campaign brings together NHS employers, trade unions and the Department of Health. Dean Royles, director of the NHS Employers organization commented: "It is critical that we all do more to increase the vaccination rates, which is in the interests of patients and staff.
African Sleeping Sickness: First Field-Based Molecular Diagnostic Test In Sight
The Geneva-based not-for-profit foundation FIND and Japanese diagnostics company Eiken have announced that a next-generation molecular test designed specifically for sleeping sickness - a deadly parasitic disease also known as human African trypanosomiasis (HAT) - is ready to enter accelerated field trials in sites across the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda. If all goes well, the LAMP (Loop-mediated Isothermal Amplification) test - which has completed design and development phases - will be available for clinical use in 2012.