Respiratory Infections

A recent review article on the status of influenza vaccines, their short-comings, and ways to improve them suggests the potential for significant improvements in the performance of future influenza vaccines.

Because certain viral sub-types are associated with higher rates of morbidity and mortality than others, efforts to improve the effectiveness of influenza vaccines remain an important focus of future research.

Rohit Bhalla, DO, Chief of the Section of Infectious Diseases at the University Medical Center of Princeton, explains what the public can do to protect themselves from contracting mumps.

From Friday April 22, 2016 to Tuesday, April 26, 2016, the number of confirmed mumps cases at Harvard University rose from 34 to 40.

The impact of the water crisis in Flint, Michigan now includes an infectious disease component—namely, an outbreak of Legionnaire’s disease—and it has sparked a debate among health officials and infectious disease experts.

Seasonal influenza results in nearly 50,000 deaths each year in the United States alone, and 5 to 10 times as many deaths in all industrialized countries combined.

The untimely passing of pop music icon, Prince, is a somber reminder of the serious risks that can accompany an influenza infection.

Rohit Bhalla, DO, Chief of the Section of Infectious Diseases at the University Medical Center of Princeton, discusses whether or not the public should be concerned about the recent mumps outbreaks.

Rohit Bhalla, DO, Chief of the Section of Infectious Diseases at the University Medical Center of Princeton, explains why we are seeing a recent resurgence of mumps in the United States.

Human metapneumovirus (hMPV), of the paramyxovirus family, was discovered in 2001. hMPV can affect people of all ages, however, older adults, children and individuals with weak immune systems are at highest risk of contracting the virus.

Since approximately 340,000 Europeans had TB infections in 2014, in order to meet its ultimate goal of eliminating the prevalence of TB altogether, Europe still has to overcome many obstacles.

Mycobacterium tuberculosis is an airborne bacteria known to cause tuberculosis (TB), a disease that mainly attacks the lungs, but can also affect other organs, sometimes resulting in death.

A recent study attributes the rise in infections of preventable infectious diseases to the growing number of individuals who are refusing vaccines.

Because ARIs are common in infants and can negatively impact their health beyond infancy, simple and objective measures of the level of severity are necessary for clinical management decisions.

Each year 20,000 children are hospitalized due to the flu. In the 2014/2015 winter season alone, 148 children lost their lives to the virus.

As has recently been seen in Flint, MI, it is vital to know the risk for this deadly disease and the steps to take to prevent Legionella bacteria from flourishing.

Recent outbreaks of mumps in 14 US cities have prompted health alerts from local officials.

Researchers from the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, MA have, for the first time, identified a link between a person's genetic make-up, as well as their ethnic background, and their response to influenza vaccine.

The 2015-2016 flu season started off slow but diagnoses have become more prominent and 10% of cases were confirmed during the first week of February.

Two more people have been verified with the tuberculosis (TB) germ in Alabama

The findings differed from those in animal models, bringing to light new information on the virus.

Although some meta-analyses have called into question the efficacy of antiviral treatment, the Centers for Disease Control recommends empirical use of antiviral medications in patients with symptoms suggestive of influenza.

A team of researchers at George Washington University has reported that next-generation sequencing of sputum samples taken from patients in the intensive care unit can accurately identify the strain of ventilator-associated pneumonia a patient is infected with.

Among patients aged 65 years or older who are hospitalized with community-acquired pneumonia, azithromycin lowers the risk of 90-day mortality in exchange for slightly increased odds of myocardial infarction compared to other antibiotic regimens.