Schools, a Deadly Scourge--Stick a Child and Save Lives!
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| Monster at the Door? Seed of the Next Pandemic? (Image from Flickr, by Olaf) |
Flu season is quickly approaching and, as usual, only a small fraction of Americans will get vaccinated. Yet seasonal influenza continues to be one of the deadliest diseases in the world, killing an average of 35,000 people per year in the U.S. alone, while every 20-40 years, a particularly deadly new pandemic variety of influenza evolves killing far more than this. The
Researchers Discover Antibody That Fights Multiple Flu Strains
In a major new discovery that could help prevent or treat influenza, researchers have identified an antibody that blocks the flu virus from entering its hosts’ cells and that can be used to cure already infected animals. The findings were reported in the most recent edition of the journal Nature.
Before a virus can make us sick, it must first adsorb (bind) to the surface of our cells and then get its DNA or RNA into our cells. Influenza A viruses use a protein on their surface called Hemagglutinin to attach to their hosts’ cells. Hemagglutinin is abbreviated “H” and the