Pneumonia News and Research

Latest Pneumonia News and Research

New IDSA/PIDS guidelines can thwart pneumonia in children

Immunizations, including a yearly flu vaccine, are the best way to protect children from life-threatening pneumonia, according to new guidelines from the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society and the Infectious Diseases Society of America.

2 Sep 2011

High risk of serious complications or death in children with SP-HUS

Hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) caused by infection with pneumococcal bacteria leads to severe illness—with a high rate of irreversible kidney damage—in infants and young children, reports a study in the September issue of The Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal.

30 Aug 2011

Bird flu on the rise again

Avian or bird flu is showing signs of a resurgence, while a mutant strain – that cannot be prevented by vaccination - could be spreading in Asia, the United Nations has warned. This mutant strain appeared in Vietnam and China and its risk to humans cannot be predicted, veterinary officials said.

30 Aug 2011

Statins protect people against death from respiratory illness, infections

The death rate among patients prescribed a statin in a major trial that ended in 2003 is still lower than those given a placebo, even though most participants in both groups have been taking statins ever since. ASCOT, the Anglo-Scandinavian Cardiac Outcomes Trial, was stopped early because the statin was so effective at preventing heart attacks and strokes, but a new analysis has shown that eight years on, the most significant difference between the groups is a reduction in deaths from infection and respiratory illness.

29 Aug 2011

Azithromycin can help reduce wheezing, other acute symptoms of COPD

A common antibiotic can help reduce the severe wheezing and other acute symptoms of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, according to a large, multicenter clinical trial sponsored by the National Institutes of Health and conducted at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF).

29 Aug 2011

ABC News features six videos on global health issues

ABC News on Thursday posted six videos in its "World In 3" health series. The three-minute videos examine malaria in Uganda, neglected tropical diseases in Niger, pneumonia in the Philippines, sleeping sickness in the Democratic Republic of Congo, tuberculosis in South Africa and parasitic worms in Brazil.

26 Aug 2011

A.U. pledges $46M for Horn of Africa; USAID official discusses U.S. response

At a meeting of the African Union (A.U.) in Ethiopia on Thursday, "African governments ... pledged $46 million for the crisis in the Horn of Africa amid warnings that the emergency stretches far beyond hunger to encompass health, security and livelihood," the Guardian reports.

26 Aug 2011

HHS awards $137M to fund key state and local public health programs

HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius today awarded up to $137 million, partly supported by the Affordable Care Act, to states to strengthen the public health infrastructure and provide jobs in core areas of public health.

26 Aug 2011

IOM report: Few health problems are clearly associated with vaccines

An analysis of more than 1,000 research articles concluded that few health problems are caused by or clearly associated with vaccines.

26 Aug 2011

PLoS One publishes data from recent animal studies of NanoBio's intranasal RSV vaccine

NanoBio Corporation announced today that data from recent animal studies of its NanoStat-based intranasal respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccine have been published in PLoS One, an international peer-reviewed online publication.

25 Aug 2011

Azithromycin can effectively reduce acute COPD exacerbations

A common antibiotic added to the usual treatment plan for some patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease can reduce acute exacerbations — sudden onsets of worsened cough, wheezing and labored breathing — and improve quality of life, according to findings from the COPD Clinical Research Network reported in the Aug. 25, 2011, issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

25 Aug 2011

GetWellNetwork doing well with hospitals

In other health IT news, a study found that Google-type word searches of hospital medical records are better at detecting patient safety issues than searches using numerical billing codes.

24 Aug 2011

Measles exposure in Philadelphia and Lancaster counties

The Pennsylvania Department of Health and the Philadelphia Department of Public Health are advising the public of exposure to a case of measles in Lancaster and Philadelphia counties.

24 Aug 2011

HRS, KGH reduce bed rental expenditures by 83%

Leveraging their membership with Amerinet affiliate Health Resource Services (HRS), Kennewick General Hospital (KGH), a 101-bed acute care facility in southeastern Washington state, decreased its bed rental expenditures by 83 percent, and positively impacted quality patient care through the economical acquisition of Hill-Rom critical care and bariatric beds.

23 Aug 2011

No effective treatment yet for acute lung injury

Patients can essentially drown in their own fluids when trauma and infection prompt blood vessels to leak, flooding millions of air sacs in their lungs.

22 Aug 2011

Multi-country study of severe pneumonia in hospitalized children

The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health announced on Tuesday the launch of "a groundbreaking new study called the Pneumonia Etiology Research for Child Health (PERCH) study … a large multi-country case-control study of severe pneumonia in hospitalized children under five years of age … being conducted in Bangladesh, The Gambia, Kenya, Mali, South Africa, Thailand, and Zambia," according to a JHSPH press release.

18 Aug 2011

PERCH study to look at current and likely future causes of childhood pneumonia

Pneumonia kills more children around the world than any other disease, but the last major effort to study the causes of childhood pneumonia across many countries was conducted in the 1980's. This week, a groundbreaking new study called the Pneumonia Etiology Research for Child Health (PERCH) study gets off the ground.

17 Aug 2011

Coalition announces 2011 Small Grants Program for World Pneumonia Day

The Global Coalition against Child Pneumonia recently announced the World Pneumonia Day 2011 Small Grants Program, aimed at funding innovative events and activities on or around World Pneumonia Day that address gaps in prevention and control of the disease, according to a press release.

10 Aug 2011

Vitamin D, UVB may help prevent dental caries

Large geographical variations in dental health and tooth loss among U.S. adolescents and young adults have been reported since the mid-1800s. The first study finding a north-south gradient in dental caries was a report of men rejected from the draft for the Civil War for lost teeth, from 8 per 1000 men in Kentucky to 25 in New England.

10 Aug 2011

CMS unveils updated website to help consumers compare quality data

Officials from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said Friday that site includes updated data to help consumers compare hospitals, physicians, nursing homes, home care or dialysis providers.

8 Aug 2011