Origins of an epidemic.
"Megadeath in Mexico" [February] by Bruce Stutz was a fascinating detective story. But two likely perpetrators go scot-free: yellow fever and mosquitoes. Yellow fever is a hemorrhagic fever endemic to the Americas. Epidemics occurred throughout the 18th and 19th centuries in the United States, fueling the slave trade, decimating...

Top Ten Viruses Most Frequently Detected by Panda ActiveScan in 2006.
GLENDALE, Calif., Dec. 29 /PRNewswire/ -- A report by Panda Software, US, finds that the absence of large-scale virus epidemics has, once again, been the most notable characteristic of the year. In fact, the list of frequently detected viruses during 2006 has varied little throughout the year. ...

Pharma firms can reap $2b from AIDS, TB.
Byline: Rupali Mukherjee NEW DELHI: The global emergence and resurgence of epidemics such as AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria is expected to translate into a $2 billion opportunity for Indian generic players, particularly early movers such as Cipla, Aurobindo and Lupin. The average available global funding...

In flu epidemics, empiric antivirals benefit kids.
Empiric therapy with antiviral medication during an influenza epidemic is superior to both rapid diagnostic test-based therapy and no therapy in symptomatic pediatric patients, according to an analysis based on hypothetical scenarios. "We found no role for rapid diagnostic testing during local outbreaks, because clinical diagnosis is...

XXL from too few Zs? Skimping on sleep might cause obesity, diabetes.
Widespread sleep deprivation could partly explain the current epidemics of both obesity and diabetes, emerging data suggest. Too little sleep may contribute to long-term health problems by changing the concentrations of hormones that control appetite, increasing food intake, and disrupting the biological clock, according to Eve Van...

Statins may offer protection during flu outbreaks.
NICE, FRANCE -- A provocative study has identified an association between the use of statins and favorable outcomes during influenza epidemics. In the retrospective cohort analysis, statin therapy was associated with substantial reductions in mainly respiratory diseases, but also in death from all causes, Dr. Theo Verheij...

Trending in the right direction: with educators, businesses, and legislators collaborating, signs suggest that the recognition of technology's vital role in education is reaching critical mass.
YOU PROBABLY HAVE heard of The Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell's 2000 book about understanding change and why change happens quickly. As Gladwell writes on his website (www.gladwell.com): "Ideas and behavior and messages and products sometimes behave just like outbreaks of infectious disease. They are social epidemics. The Tipping Point...

Crossing the species barrier: the threat of an avian influenza pandemic.
Avian influenza (H5N1) has recently been recognized as a new emerging infectious disease that may pose a threat to international public health. Most recent developments lead to the belief that H5N1 could become the cause of the next influenza pandemic. This review discusses the characteristics of H5N1 avian influenza...

Rising H5N1 'Bird Flu' High-Virulence Sequences Found By Replikins, Ltd.
BOSTON, Nov. 6 /PRNewswire/ -- Replikins, Ltd. has completed a comprehensive quantitative analysis of H5N1 "bird flu" peptide sequences found in humans infected with H5N1 in the past nine years. The data, obtained from public sources, included 1,455 complete sequences from human specimens. The company has found...