Immunology

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

Thanks To Vaccination, Chickenpox Continues To Decline

Since the chickenpox vaccine became available in the U.S. in 1995, there has been a large reduction in chickenpox cases. Hospitalizations and outpatient visits for chickenpox have continued their decline after a second dose of the vaccine was recommended ...

Article - News Staff - Aug 13 2015 - 1:52pm

Lice Show Resistance To Common Treatments

For students, the start of the school year means new classes, new friends, homework and sports. It also brings the threat of head lice. The itch-inducing pests lead to missed school days and frustrated parents, who could have even more reason to be wary o ...

Article - News Staff - Aug 19 2015 - 12:13pm

Flu Vaccines Provide Protection Throughout The Entire Flu Season

Individuals who received the flu vaccine were protected for up to 6 months post-vaccination, the duration of most flu seasons, according to a study presented at the 2015 International Conference on Emerging Infectious Diseases. Each flu season, researcher ...

Article - News Staff - Aug 30 2015 - 5:00pm

African Dams Linked To Over 1 Million Malaria Cases Annually

Over one million people in sub-Saharan Africa will contract malaria this year because they live near a large dam, according to a new study which, for the first time, has correlated the location of large dams with the incidence of malaria and quantified im ...

Article - News Staff - Sep 15 2015 - 6:30am

Immune System Pathway Between Nature And Health

Research has found evidence that spending time in nature provides protections against a startling range of diseases, including depression, diabetes, obesity, ADHD, cardiovascular disease, cancer, and many more. How this exposure to green space leads to bet ...

Article - News Staff - Sep 17 2015 - 7:30am