News stories tagged with "flu"

(04/26/10) You might think the flu season is over, but H1N1 flu is still around. Rebecca Williams reports health officials still want you to get vaccinated against the virus. more

(10/30/09) Public health officials want people to get vaccinated for swine flu. But only half of parents nationwide say they plan to get their kids vaccinated. Many say they're worried about vaccine side-effects. Julie Grant reports some government policies may have inadvertently made people concerned about vaccine safety. more

(10/15/09) The H1N1 virus, or swine flu, claimed its first victim in the North Country this week. Health officials in Clinton County say an adult who was not immunized with the H1N1 vaccine died after being admitted to the CVPH Medical Center with a flu-like illness. Martha Foley has more.

(10/12/09) Researchers from around the world gathered in Saranac Lake over the weekend to talk about disease. The conference at Trudeau Institute focused on efforts to develop new vaccines, and a better understanding of the human immune system. As Brian Mann reports, the meeting was held against the backdrop of the growing swine flu pandemic.

(09/30/09) New York state will get its first doses of swine flu vaccine next week, with many reserved for health care workers, some of whom oppose the mandatory inoculations. Martha Foley has more.

(05/05/09) The state health commissioner says cases of swine flu are scattered across Upstate New York, with no clear pattern. Martha Foley has more.

(05/04/09) State health officials say two suspected cases of swine flu in Lewis County have tested negative. Martha Foley has more.

(02/29/08) State health officials say a fourth resident from a nursing home in Elizabethtown is being treated in an area hospital following a deadly viral outbreak. But spokeswoman Claudia Hutton, with New York's Department of Health, says the patient has been released from intensive care and appears to be recovering. Three other residents of the Horace Nye nursing home died last week. The facility is owned and operated by Essex County. Hutton says state officials were informed in a timely fashion about the deaths. She praised the staff at Horace Nye for "doing everything right to contain this outbreak." Researchers are still trying to identify the exact nature of the illness, which causes severe gastrointestinal distress and dehydration. At the peak of the outbreak, more than seventy residents and staff were infected. But Hutton says the viral outbreak appears to be waning, with no new cases reported in recent days. It remains unclear why the illness wasn't reported to the public for more than a week after the first patient died. On Thursday, administrators at the nursing home didn't return phone calls. Essex County officials directed all questions about the Horace Nye situation to an attorney Dan Manning, who also serves as the county public information officer. Manning spoke with Brian Mann.

(11/16/07) Scientists from Saranac Lake's Trudeau Institute and the U.S. Navy will be working together to develop a pandemic influenza vaccine. The defense appropriations bill signed into law this week by President Bush includes $1.6 million over two years for the research, which is meant to benefit both the general population and the military. Chris Knight reports.

(11/13/07) Researchers have known for a long time that cold weather brings the flu season. But they haven't known exactly why. Now, they think they know why cold weather affects how flu is spread. Mark Brush has more.