From the category archives:

Swine Flu Test

Indian companies develop H1N1 detection kit

The nation has developed an indigenous swine flu detection kit, which comes close on the heels of an homegrown swine flu vaccine.  As the country reels under a fresh H1N1 swine flu outbreak — 548 fresh cases were reported only last week that is the highest for this year along with 38 deaths between July [...]

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China, US open disease study center in Shanghai

American and Shanghai health authorities opened an epidemiology center in the Chinese city Tuesday to train experts in sleuthing out ways to prevent chronic and epidemic diseases. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is helping with training and technical assistance at the center that will be “driven by what are the major public [...]

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H1N1 Flu Tests Lose Emergency Use Status from FDA

A number of molecular diagnostic tests that were cleared by the US Food and Drug Administration for emergency use during the height of the 2009 H1N1 influenza outbreak last year have had those authorizations terminated as of last week, according to government officials. The US Department of Health and Human Services, using an assessment from [...]

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New Test Approved for Swine Flu

A new and improved diagnostic test for the 2009 swine flu was approved Tuesday by the Food and Drug Administration. The new kit, developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, has been shown to be 96 percent accurate on samples taken from nasal swabs, which can be done in a doctor’s office. It [...]

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Survivors of 1918 Flu Pandemic Immune 90 Years Later

People who lived through the 1918 flu pandemic that killed 50 million worldwide are still producing antibodies to the virus 90 years later, researchers report. “Most people have a notion that elderly people have very weak immunity or they have lost immunity,” said lead researcher Dr. James E. Crowe Jr., a professor of pediatrics, microbiology [...]

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FDA approves influenza A (H1N1) test for general use

The FDA has approved the Simplexa Influenza A H1N1 (2009) assay from Focus Diagnostics for use in patients with signs and symptoms of respiratory infection. Before this approval, tests for 2009 influenza A (H1N1) were only cleared through an Emergency Use Authorization, which allows the FDA to authorize use of unapproved products or uses of [...]

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FDA grants emergency approval to IQuum for H1N1 assay

Marlborough-based IQuum Inc. today said it has gained approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to enable laboratory use of its Liat Influenza A/2009 H1N1 Assay in identifying and differentiating H1N1 flu virus samples within 30 minutes.Last year, IQuum was awarded $1.1 million in National Institutes of Health funds to develop a test to [...]

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Rapid flu tests – caution needed

We compared the QuickVue Influenza Test with PCR for diagnosing pandemic (H1N1) 2009 in 404 persons with influenza-like illness. Overall sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values were 66%, 84%, 84%, and 64%, respectively. Rapid test results should be interpreted cautiously when pandemic (H1N1) 2009 virus is suspected. via A TIME’S MEMORY: Rapid Influenza [...]

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Rapid Flu Tests Work Better In Kids Than In Adults

A new study, “Sensitivity of Rapid Influenza Diagnostic Testing for Swine-Origin 2009 A (H1N1) Influenza Virus in Children,” published in the March issue of Pediatrics (appearing online February 15), examined RIDTs in a large pediatric cohort and found the tests may be more effective at diagnosing influenza in children than in adults. A total of [...]

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India set to have new secure flu test lab

The Mumbai-based Haffkine Institute’s Bio Safety Level (BSL)3 laboratory, which is the ideal lab for H1N1 influenza flu virus testing, will be ready for operation as soon as the lab is in the last phase of development. The government has invested around Rs 4.5 crore for the upgradation of the laboratory which will enable it [...]

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