Immunology

Why Do We Need One Vaccine For Measles And A Yearly One For The Flu?

Measles needs only a two-dose vaccine during childhood for lifelong immunity while the influenza virus mutates constantly and requires a yearly shot to get even a certain percentage of protection. What explains that? Surface proteins that the measles virus ...

Article - News Staff - May 21 2015 - 11:54am

Soy Supplements Don't Help With Asthma Severity

The supplements industry has embraced claims suggesting a link between soy intake and decreased asthma severity,  but a randomized, double-blind study, where half of the participants took a soy isoflavone supplement twice daily for six months, and the othe ...

Article - News Staff - May 26 2015 - 11:04am

Evidence-Based Predictors Of Biphasic Allergic Reactions In Children

Children are more likely to have a repeat, delayed anaphylactic reaction from the same allergic cause, depending on the severity of the initial reaction.  Anaphylaxis is a severe, allergic reaction that is rapid in onset and can result in death. Some chil ...

Article - News Staff - Jun 28 2015 - 10:30am

You Are A Citizen Scientist Researcher In The Genetic Arms Race Between Humans And Mosquitoes

Every time you put on bug spray this summer, you're another front in the ongoing war between humans and mosquitoes- and being a citizen scientist in a complex evolutionary experiment. Scientists have found that between 5 and 20 percent of a mosquito ...

Article - News Staff - Jul 2 2015 - 10:30am

A Single Mutation Helped Last Year's Flu Virus Gain An Advantage Over The Vaccine

The 2014-2015 flu vaccine didn't work as well compared to previous years because the H3N2 virus recently acquired a mutation that concealed the infection from the immune system. A study published on June 25 in Cell Reports reveals the major viral mut ...

Article - News Staff - Jul 2 2015 - 10:14am

Why Flu Seasons Seem To Be Getting Worse

Although we know influenza viruses circulate in temperate, populated parts of Australia every winter, predicting the precise timing and relative intensity of flu seasons is a fraught undertaking. ...

Article - The Conversation - Jun 28 2015 - 12:15pm

Treating Girls-Only Epilepsy

A research group has made a breakthrough discovery which could help thousands of young girls worldwide who are suffering from a rare yet debilitating form of epilepsy. The United States pharmaceutical company Marinus Pharmaceuticals is now recruiting affe ...

Article - News Staff - Jul 9 2015 - 8:30am

Toward A Universal Flu Vaccine

Flu vaccines can be a shot in the dark- they must they be given yearly and there's no guarantee the strains against which they protect will be the ones circulating once the season arrives.  New research suggests it may be possible to harness a previo ...

Article - News Staff - Jul 7 2015 - 5:21am

Why It's Hard To Make A Bunny Mad: Prion Disease Resistance In Rabbits

Rabbits have long been considered immune to prion disease, but recently scientists have shown that they can--under certain circumstances--get transmissible spongiform encephalopathy (or TSE, the scientific term for the fatal brain disease caused by prions ...

Article - News Staff - Aug 10 2015 - 7:47am

Why Predicting A Flu Outbreak Is Like Flipping A Coin

We humans have an innate tendency to recognize patterns. This ability has helped us survive by learning important skills such as how to distinguish danger (predators and poisonous plants, for instance) from important resources (food sources and safe shelt ...

Article - The Conversation - Aug 11 2015 - 11:00am