Cold and Flu News

April 28, 2025

Top Headlines

Single-Dose Baloxavir Reduces Household Influenza Transmission

Apr. 25, 2025 — A landmark study reveals that a single oral dose of baloxavir marboxil (baloxavir) significantly reduces the transmission of influenza within households, marking a major advancement in influenza management. The trial provides robust evidence that an ...

Bacteria Killing Material Creates Superbug Busting Paint

Apr. 23, 2025 — A bacteria killing coating created by scientists has been used in trials of a new paint that can be applied to a range of surfaces to effectively kill bacteria and viruses, including difficult to kill species such as MRSA, flu and ...

Experimental Bird Flu Vaccine Excels in Animal Models

Apr. 17, 2025 — A vaccine under development has demonstrated complete protection in mice against a deadly variant of the virus that causes bird flu. The work focuses on the H5N1 variant known as 2.3.4.4b, which has caused widespread outbreaks in wild birds and ...

Empowering Antibodies to Better Activate the Immune System

Apr. 22, 2025 — Antibodies are best known for their ability to latch onto and neutralize bacteria, viruses and other pathogens. But these immune proteins can do more than that: They also activate other components of the immune system, which then go to work to clear ...

Latest Headlines

updated 7:12pm EDT

Study Reveals Gaps in Flu Treatment for High-Risk Adults

Apr. 22, 2025 — A multi-state study reveals that many high-risk adults diagnosed with influenza (flu) in emergency departments and urgent care centers are not receiving timely antiviral treatment. Researchers found ...

Americans Don't Think Bird Flu Is a Threat, Study Suggests

Apr. 18, 2025 — A team led by researchers say public ignorance and apathy towards bird flu (highly pathogenic avian influenza, or HPAI) could pose a serious obstacle to containing the virus and preventing a ...

Nasal Spray H5N1 Avian Influenza Vaccine Developed

Apr. 8, 2025 — Scientists have pioneered an influenza virus vector-based nasal spray vaccine platform and developed a nasal spray H5N1 avian influenza vaccine. During the early COVID-19 pandemic, this platform ...

An Antiviral Chewing Gum to Reduce Influenza and Herpes Simplex Virus Transmission

Apr. 4, 2025 — Low vaccination rates for influenza viruses and the lack of an HSV vaccine underscore the need for a new approach to reduce viral transmission. ...

'Low-Sugar' Vaccine Can Provide Broad Immunity Against Coronavirus Variants

Mar. 25, 2025 — Early animal studies show that a single vaccine could protect the recipient from different variants of the coronaviruses that cause COVID-19, the flu and the common cold. In addition to creating ...

Current Antivirals Likely Less Effective Against Severe Infection Caused by Bird Flu Virus in Cows' Milk

Mar. 17, 2025 — Existing antivirals may be less effective against this H5N1 bird flu strain, and prevention measures, such as avoiding raw milk consumption and ...

Older Adults Might Be More Resistant to Bird Flu Infections Than Children

Mar. 13, 2025 — Older adults who were exposed to seasonal flu viruses that circulated prior to 1968 are more likely to have some protection against H5N1, and children would benefit more from H5N1 ...

COVID-19 Discovery Opens Door to New Treatments for Chronic Lung Problems

Mar. 13, 2025 — A discovery about how severe COVID-19 damages lung cells suggests that an existing drug could treat lingering respiratory problems not just from COVID but influenza and other respiratory ...

An Aerosol Test for Airborne Bird Flu

Mar. 7, 2025 — Recent outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza (also known as bird flu) have created a need for rapid and sensitive detection methods to mitigate its spread. Now, researchers have developed a ...

Smartwatches Could End the Next Pandemic

Mar. 4, 2025 — Everyday smartwatches are extremely accurate in detecting viral infection long before symptoms appear -- now, research shows how they could help stop a pandemic before it even ...

New Biosensor Can Detect Airborne Bird Flu in Under 5 Minutes

Mar. 3, 2025 — As highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza continues to spread in the U.S., posing serious threats to dairy and poultry farms, both farmers and public health experts need better ways to monitor for ...

Cold Sore Discovery IDs Unknown Trigger for Those Annoying Flare-Ups

Feb. 28, 2025 — Scientists have a new target to prevent cold sores -- and genital herpes flare-ups caused by the same virus -- after researchers discovered an unexpected way the herpes virus re-activates in the ...

Immunity Against Seasonal H1N1 Flu Reduces Bird Flu Severity in Ferrets, Study Suggests

Feb. 26, 2025 — Pre-existing immunity against seasonal H1N1 flu might help explain why most reported human cases of H5N1 bird flu in the U.S. have not resulted in lethal ...

Backyard Poultry Face Bird Flu Risk When Migrating Mallards Stop to Rest

Feb. 24, 2025 — Knowing where, when and for how long mallard ducks -- natural carriers of avian influenza -- stop and rest as they migrate can help predict the probability that they will spread bird flu to backyard ...

Influenza A Viruses Adapt Shape in Response to Environmental Pressures

Feb. 10, 2025 — Influenza A virus particles strategically adapt their shape -- to become either spheres or larger filaments -- to favor their ability to infect cells depending on environmental conditions, according ...

Antibody Treatment Prevents Severe Bird Flu in Monkeys

Jan. 30, 2025 — The antibody targets a stable part of the bird flu virus, ensuring that the immune protection can resist new variants and offer long-term protection against the globally spreading airborne ...

Bird Flu Is Mutating, but Antivirals Still Work

Jan. 15, 2025 — Researchers have identified nine mutations in a bird flu strain from a person in Texas. Bad news: this strain is more capable of causing disease and replicates better in the brain. Good news: ...

Officials Assess Threat of H5N1 Avian Flu

Jan. 2, 2025 — Highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza A virus (HPAI H5N1) remains a low risk to the general public, and public health experts in the United States believe that available treatments and vaccines, as ...

System to Auto-Detect New Variants Will Inform Better Response to Future Infectious Disease Outbreaks

Jan. 1, 2025 — Researchers have come up with a new way to identify more infectious variants of viruses or bacteria that start spreading in humans -- including those causing flu, COVID, whooping cough and ...

Public Shows Greater Acceptance of RSV Vaccine as Vaccine Hesitancy Appears to Have Plateaued

Dec. 23, 2024 — A year after becoming available, vaccines to protect against RSV in newborns and older adults are being more widely accepted by the American public, according to a new health ...

Scientists Design Workaround That Improves Response to Flu Vaccine

Dec. 19, 2024 — Stitching together four molecules found in the standard flu vaccine ensures an immune response to all of them, scientists have ...

Study Shows Drop in Use of Antiviral Medications in Young Children With Influenza

Dec. 17, 2024 — Despite national medical guidelines supporting the use of antiviral medications in young children diagnosed with influenza, a recent study reports an underuse of the ...

Influenza Virus Genome: Finally Discovered in Its Coat

Dec. 16, 2024 — To fight the virus that causes influenza, one of the avenues being explored by scientists is the development of drugs capable of destabilizing its genome, made up of RNA molecules. But the challenge ...

Flu Virus Remains Infectious in Refrigerated Raw Milk, Study Reveals

Dec. 16, 2024 — Influenza or flu virus remains infectious in refrigerated raw milk for up to five days, according to a new study. The findings come at a time when outbreaks of bird flu -- a different subtype of the ...

Single Mutation in H5N1 Influenza Surface Protein Could Enable Easier Human Infection

Dec. 6, 2024 — A single modification in the protein found on the surface of the highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5N1 influenza virus currently circulating in U.S. dairy cows could allow for easier ...

Innovative Immunotherapy Shows Promise in Early Clinical Trial for Breast Cancer

Dec. 5, 2024 — A groundbreaking phase one clinical trial explored a novel cell-based immunotherapy for breast cancer. The study focuses on a new treatment approach that aims to harness the body's immune system ...

Scientists Identify Mutation That Could Facilitate H5N1 'Bird Flu' Virus Infection and Potential Transmission in Humans

Dec. 5, 2024 — Avian influenza viruses typically require several mutations to adapt and spread among humans, but what happens when just one change can increase the risk of becoming a pandemic virus? A recent study ...

Pregnancy Enhances Natural Immunity to Block Severe Flu

Dec. 2, 2024 — Scientists have discovered that pregnancy may trigger a natural immunity to boost protection against severe flu infection. Contrary to the common belief that pregnancy increases vulnerability to ...

Researchers Find That Intestinal Infections Change Bile Composition

Nov. 26, 2024 — Researchers have identified a new axis of host defense by studying what happens during enteric infection -- a term that encompasses all types of intestinal infections including so called ...

Cigarette Smoke Alters Microbiota, Aggravates Flu Severity

Nov. 20, 2024 — A new study shows that cigarette-smoke induced changes to the microbiota resulted in increased severity of disease in mice infected with influenza A ...