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

Children under the age of 5 who receive an annual flu shot have a greatly reduced risk of needing to see their doctor or be admitted to the hospital because of flu-related illness.

Certain types of bacteria have sunlight-sensing molecules similar to those found in plants, according to a new study. Surprisingly, at least one species—responsible for causing the flu-like disorder Brucellosis—needs light to maximize its virulence. The work suggests an entirely new model for bacterial virulence based on light sensitivity.

Scientists at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital have found key features that distinguish influenza viruses found in birds from those that infect humans.

Scientists at Cure Lab, Inc., a biotechnology company based in Canton, Massachusetts, in collaboration with researchers at Boston University and Harvard Medical School have discovered a potential new target for the development of anti-influenza (flu) drugs, including those that may be effective against potentially pandemic influenza strains like H5N1.

Most flu immunization plans in the United States do not address how to vaccinate hard-to-reach populations (HTR)--undocumented immigrants, substance users, the homeless, homebound elderly, and minorities--and this potentially dangerous omission can lead masses of people to become ill during an outbreak of pandemic flu or other contagious disease, according to a new study by The New York Academy of Medicine in the current issue of the Journal of Urban Health.

Move on mosquitoes. Step aside sweat bees. Before long, another unwelcome, but predictable, pest will return: the dreaded, oft-spotted flu bug.

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.

Scientists studying the potential spread of a flu pandemic must be careful to distinguish the different rates of infection among different groups, including the sociable and the shy, those most susceptible to infection and those less so, according to a new study in the "O.R. Forum" section of Operations Research, a flagship journal of The Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS®).

Regular as clockwork, the flu arrives every year.

Regular as clockwork, the flu arrives every year. And, according to the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 5 to 20 percent of the U.S. population on average will come down with it. About 36,000 people will die.