Friday, 24 May, 2013

Classroom Activity Page: Each year, as influenza season approaches, medical authorities must scramble to predict which strains of flu will be most important, and then grow enough vaccine to inoculate the population. Why does this take so much time, and what are some alternative strategies that might speed the process?

Flu virus can fly on aerosols after a sneeze, cough, even a breath. They can stay aloft for hours, long enough to find another victim.

How is flu vaccine is made in eggs and animal cells? What is being done to protect us against a fast-changing, deadly virus?

Virologists have been working late since swine flu appeared in April. With flu running amok in South America, what can we expect when the epidemic returns north this fall?

The epidemic fades, with 61 confirmed deaths and 5,251 cases so far. Were the public health warnings overdone? Or did they help stem the pandemic? Your guide to the time of finger-pointing, flu-style.

This year’s influenza vaccine in the United States contains three strains of the influenza virus. Last March, experts at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the World Health Organization chose those strains based on the varieties of flu virus that were present at the end of North America’s flu season. The [...]

Use a cellphone? Love nature? Fear cancer? Then how can you hate science? Epidemics, environment, technology: We’ve got questions for the marathoners running (still?) for prexydent.

What is bird flu, and why don’t we have a vaccine yet? How can we contain this influenza? Would a poorly matched vaccine be worth making?

Bird flu is spreading like mad in poultry and wild birds. It’s killed more than 60 people. What can we do if it starts spreading directly between people?

Common influenza infects people around the world. What are the dangers of pandemic bird flu, and what can we do to avoid them? What are the roles of vaccines, international cooperation, and national governments?

Monkeypox, AIDS, SARS: Are more diseases jumping from animals to people, or is it just our imagination?