Avian Flu news from FierceHealthcare

If your hospital is counting on having help from nursing homes when emergencies hit, think again. A new study suggests that more than half of nursing homes won't be prepared to accept hospital Read more...

If terrorism, avian flu, hazmat incidents or other calamities struck your community, would your hospital be ready to handle the challenge? According to a recent Institute of Medicine report, few hospitals are prepared. But there are strategies which can boost a hospital's readiness for disasters substantially. Dr. George Beranek, an emergency physician with Rockford Health System, suggests that hospitals are far more likely to manage disasters well if they plan collaboratively with …

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> Observers speculate that as the options-backdating scandal broadens, criminal charges become more likely. Could UnitedHealth Group's McGuire be at risk? Article

> Information services giant Thomson formalizes its deal with MercuryMD, the Research Triangle based maker of MData Enterprise. Article

> GE …

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China said that local officials have withheld information on suspected cases of avian flu, raising concerns that the disease may be far more widespread in the country than Beijing has conceded. The Wall Street Journal quotes a source inside the country's Ministry of Health who says officials are furious after having learned that provincial authorities have been withholding information. Article (sub. req.)

Cancer researchers and advocacy groups are fighting the Bush administration's plans to cut funding for the National Cancer Institute this year. Researchers have launched an Op-Ed campaign and cancer groups are planning an email and internet campaign to convince lawmakers to abandon the idea. The cuts themselves aren't particularly high--overall funding will drop from $4.75 billion to $4.5 billion, but critics say the move would be a symbolic defeat. Much of the money that could have gone …

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A pair of new studies suggests that the avian flu is unlikely to develop the ability to spread from human to human, a finding that could mean the risks of a pandemic are far lower than had been believed. The reports, published in Nature and Science, argue that the disease is unlikely to spread in its present from because it targets the deepest branches of the human respiratory tract. Yoshihiro Kawaoka, a virologist at the University of Tokyo and the University of Wisconsin, …

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With H5N1 now officially in Europe and governments scrambling to develop effective response plans, expect to hear a lot more about the avian flu in weeks to come. A good indication that things are getting serious: Wall Street is starting to ante up. Silicon Valley venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers said it has created a $200 million fund to invest in companies that develop technologies designed to fight pandemics. The fund will target late stage companies that are …

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A new study raises doubts about the effectiveness of major flu drugs, particularly those being stockpiled to fight an avian flu outbreak. The report, which appears in the British medical journal The Lancet today, argues that the older generation of influenza drugs (rimantadine and amantadine) has largely lost its effectiveness. Lead author Dr. Tom Jefferson warns that newer drugs like Tamiflu and Relenza are likely to become less useful if they are used to fight seasonal …

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> The Associated Press reports from Turkey that efforts to control the spread of avian flu in the country appear dangerously inept. Article

> On the other hand, there are encouraging signs as well. The WHO thinks one reason the fatality rate seems to be lower is that patients are being given Tamiflu.  …

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French pharmaceutical company Sanofi-Aventis said that early stage trials of its experimental avian flu vaccine have produced promising results, triggering a good immune response in trial participants. The latest version of the vaccine appears to work well at low dosages, a sign that plans to stretch the available supply developed by public health officials could work. Officials admit that the vaccine will need to be tweaked to offer protection against a new strain of the H5N1 virus if a …

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