Giving people age 65 and older a dose four times larger than the standard flu vaccine boosts the amount of antibodies in their blood to levels considered protective against the flu, more so than the standard flu vaccine does. The findings from a study of nearly 4,000 people were presented Oct. 26 at a national meeting on infectious diseases.

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have identified a potential new way to vaccinate against avian flu.

The high costs of hospitalizing young children for influenza creates a significant economic burden in the United States, underscoring the importance of preventive flu shots for children and the people with whom they have regular contact, according to research led by Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center and presented May 4 at the Pediatric Academic Society annual meeting in Honolulu, Hawaii.

New York City’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene today has asked the law makers of the state to pass a bill allowing pharmacists to give flu and pneumonia shots.

New research from a scientist at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, has uncovered information that may someday lead to a better flu vaccine.

In what is believed to be the first peer-reviewed study of its kind involving human subjects, researchers at the University of Kentucky College of Pharmacy and the Georgia Institute of Technology have demonstrated that patches coated on one side with microscopic needles can facilitate transdermal delivery of clinically-relevant doses of a drug that normally cannot pass through the skin.

Significant public attention has recently been focused on the development of new anti-influenza (flu) vaccines that provide protection against a broad spectrum of viral strains. One proposed strategy is to utilize conserved viral protein, M2. Clinical trials of M2-containing influenza vaccines were recently initiated by US and European companies.

The influenza vaccine is recommended for all patients with COPD, including those with alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency (AATD). However, a new study shows that while people with AATD receive adequate vaccination, it may not have a significant impact on disease exacerbations.

Flu vaccine delivered through painless microneedles in patches applied to the skin could soon be an alternative to delivery through hypodermic needles, according to researchers at Emory University and the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta.

Flumist, approved by FDA, is the first and Only Nasal Spray Influenza Vaccine for Young Children in U.S. Available for 2007-2008 Flu Season

A universal influenza vaccine that has been pioneered by researchers from VIB and Ghent University is being tested for the first time on humans by the British-American biotech company Acambis. This vaccine is intended to provide protection against all ‘A’ strains of the virus that causes human influenza, including pandemic strains.

Bans on smoking at home may have greater influence on health status than those at work, according to a first-study-of-its kind study published in the May/June 2007 issue of The Journal of Urban Health (JUH) , a bi-monthly publication of The New York Academy of Medicine.