Cambridge, MA (PRWEB) June 23, 2009

Bio Economic Research Associates, or bio-era (http://www.bio-era.net), a leading independent research and advisory firm providing analysis on the future of the global bio economy, today announced the launch of a multi-client service to track the potential impacts of H1N1 pandemic influenza for service participants, markets and industries.

The service will provide independent, expert research and analysis on the on-going crisis, and the possible financial and business implications of the H1N1 influenza pandemic – both generally, and for the specific interests and markets of participating clients.

The service will provide:

Independent, expert analysis integrating the latest developments on the evolution of the disese event, public, media, and government perceptions of the degree of threat posed by the disease, and the reactions and responses – and the associated economic and business impacts
Scenarios for the evolution of pandemic influenza and the key implications for participating businesses, market participants, and investors.
Regular teleconferences with bio-era experts and participants to present and discuss the latest developments and bio-era analysis.
Occasional roundtables to share best practices
Under the leadership and direction of bio-era President, Stephen Aldrich, the service will deliver a steady stream of bio-era research and analysis from a distinguished expert faculty, as well as highly plausible scenarios for the evolution of the novel H1N1 pandemic, how government and public health agencies and institutions are responding, the implications for service participants – and how they can adapt.

Participants are expected to include companies with significant market exposure to trade and economic disruptions, investors, public health officials, researchers and analysts engaged in business planning, risk management, market analysis, and trading.

Novel H1N1 and the Risks of a Global Pandemic:

Now that the World Health Organization has declared the outbreak of novel variant H1N1 “swine” influenza to be a pandemic, the issue is “so what?” How will the spread of this pandemic influenza affect human societies and economies — even specific markets, industries, and companies?

We know from past experience with SARS and H5N1, and from many studies carried out over the past few years (see attached bio-era Senate Testimony), that pandemic influenza can have enormous consequences for global trade and travel, with extremely large economic impacts. Precisely because this is so, a systematic approach to developing an “early warning” system with respect to the evolution of the disease event – its current and future trajectory, the local and global implications, and the reactions these provoke – can provide enormous benefits and opportunities to those prepared to act.

Learning What to Watch

This service is designed to help stakeholders address the following questions:

What indicators should the business community be watching with respect to the unfolding H1N1 pandemic?
What specific actions (travel advisories, quarantines, travel restrictions, etc.) are governments and public health authorities initiating, and what should we expect going forward?
How are local outbreaks of novel H1N1 changing perceptions and the degree of fear generally? How are perceptions and fears driving the response to the disease?
How and when will fears and the responses they provoke impact regional and global economies and the businesses operating within and/or interconnected with these regions?
How should businesses and market participants adapt?
By delivering a scenarios framework and logic to bound plausible outcomes, and providing continuous, expert evaluation of new developments in a manner which directly relates back to the scenarios framework – referencing key signposts, and signaling important forks in the road — the service aims to improve commercial and business decision-making ahead of time – particularly in an environment likely to see a heightening of conflicting information, rumor, and fear.

To enroll in the service, or for more information, please visit http://www.bio-era.net or contact Stephen Aldrich or Grant Hastings at 617 876-2400.

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Boston, MA (PRWEB) April 7, 2008

Replikins, Ltd. has found that the Replikin Count™ of the H1N1 strain of influenza virus has recently increased to 7.6 (plus/minus 1.4), its highest level since the 1918 H1N1 pandemic (p value less than 0.001). A rising Replikin Count of a particular influenza strain, indicating rapid replication of the virus, is an early warning which has been followed consistently by an outbreak of the specific strain. The current increase appears to be specific to H1N1; there was a concurrent 80% decline in the Replikin Count of H3N2, for instance.

The current H1N1 appears to be rapidly replicating simultaneously in the U.S. and Austria. It may succeed H5N1 as the leading candidate for the next expected overdue pandemic. However, the same virus replikin structures detected by FluForecast® software in all three previous pandemics, namely 1918 H1N1, 1957 H2N2, and 1968 H3N2, as well as in H5N1, have not yet been detected in the currently evolving H1N1.

There is evidence that many factors, including virus structure, host receptivity, and the environment, together with infectivity and rapid replication, need to converge for a pandemic to occur. For H5N1, the high human mortality rate, which peaked at over 80% in 2006-07 in Indonesia, as well as current low infectivity, both appear to limit H5N1′s ability to produce a pandemic. Furthermore, the H5N1 rapid replication cycle which began in 1996 now appears to be over. The H5N1 virus produced less than 300 World Health Organization confirmed deaths over the past 10 years.

On the other hand, H1N1, with an estimated human mortality rate of only 2.5 to 10%, but with much higher infectivity, produced an estimated 50 million deaths in the 1918 pandemic. A number of countermeasures exist today which did not exist in 1918, however. Among these is Replikins’ ability to manufacture synthetic vaccines based on current sequences, with a seven day production turnaround.

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©Copyright 1997-

, Vocus PRW Holdings, LLC.
Vocus, PRWeb, and Publicity Wire are trademarks or registered trademarks of Vocus, Inc. or Vocus PRW Holdings, LLC.

Find More Influenza Press Releases

Jefferson, Wisconsin (PRWEB) September 11, 2009

No longer will Schools and Business have to worry about their H1N1 (Swine Flu) response efforts. There is now a pandemic influenza response plan which details step-by-step the response efforts needed to be taken in the various stages of a pandemic.

With the U.S. Government estimating the possibility of 30,000 to 90,000 deaths and the possibility of 40% of the population becoming infected with the H1N1 (Swine Flu) virus, many schools and business find themselves in a quandary calculating their response efforts. After last April’s outbreak many schools and business realized the need to have a plan in place. Now with the advent of the fall season quickly coming upon us, many schools and business are still not prepared to deal with the possibilities of widespread infection amongst the population and in particular, students and employees.

Integrated Planning Services, L.LC has solved this problem. The plan that they have created provides a step-by-step process that can be followed based upon the severity of the pandemic at any given time. It is immediately ready to put into operation. There are no following links in order to find out what needs to be done and when. The plan is comprehensive with all the latest information provided by public health organizations as well as the World Health Organization and is written in laymen’s terms.

The plans can be found at their website: http://www.pandemicsupport.com. This website also provides plethora of information as well. Without proper planning, schools and business might be left to “improvise”. This will lead to “rushed” decision making at a time when composure is needed. Managers may become frantic as they must decide quickly what response efforts they need to employ. Procedures to mitigate the spread of the virus, along with a host of other issues will be unfortunately dealt with spontaneously rather than strategically. Integrated Planning Services, LLC can provide that peace of mind to know that everything that can be done, is being done.

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, Vocus PRW Holdings, LLC.
Vocus, PRWeb, and Publicity Wire are trademarks or registered trademarks of Vocus, Inc. or Vocus PRW Holdings, LLC.

More Swine Flu Press Releases

Minneapolis, MN (PRWEB) August 17, 2006

The Minnesota Safety Council has invited Ken Wilson to present a program on how companies can prepare for the Pandemic Influenza. Most companies are woefully unprepared for a possible bird flu pandemic and this presentation will address what steps a company can take to prepare and to minimize the risk.

Ken Wilson will present a program entitled What If 30% of Your Workers Called in Sick? This session will discuss how a bird flu pandemic would affect business operations, and he will outline how companies can minimize that operational and financial impact and what steps companies can take to protect their employees.

Ken Wilson is a CMC® (Certified Management Consultant), trainer, writer, educator, and speaker with more than 30 years of experience in helping companies grow and prosper. Ken is an expert in planning and on preparing organizations for the Pandemic Influenza. He is president of the Wilson Marketing Group, Inc., and also a member of the adjunct faculty at the University of St. Thomas, teaching courses in the MBA program. Ken is available for interviews and comments on business preparedness and planning for the bird flu pandemic.

About the Wilson Marketing Group, Inc.

The Wilson Marketing Group, Inc. is a management consulting specializing in planning and strategy. The Wilson Marketing Group works with management to formulate and implement strategies that yield sustainable results – those that produce profitable growth and manage risk. Based in Minneapolis, MN, the Wilson Marketing Group, Inc. was founded in 1986 and serves clients across the United States and Canada.

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©Copyright 1997-

, Vocus PRW Holdings, LLC.
Vocus, PRWeb, and Publicity Wire are trademarks or registered trademarks of Vocus, Inc. or Vocus PRW Holdings, LLC.

Long Beach, NY, (PRWEB) November 14, 2005

The Bird Flu Handbook: What Is Avian Influenza, And What Do We Need To Know To Be Prepared For A Pandemic? is the new title to be published and released under the Vayu Publishing brand. Written and compiled by Manoj Kunda and Ward Lin, this is a very timely book that achieves Vayu Publishing’s mission statement of publishing books in an expeditious fashion, with a focus on the important current events or topics of the moment that consumers want to be informed about.

Written in a convenient, concise, and easy to read format, The Bird Flu Handbook is an excellent resource guide that provides extremely valuable and up to date information concerning one of the most serious issues in the global news today…Avian Influenza, or Bird Flu, and the impending threat of a worldwide pandemic that could cost millions of lives and cripple the global economy.

The Bird Flu Handbook was compiled using extensive current information and research obtained from many of the U.S. Government Agencies that have had significant experience in dealing with viruses, pandemics, and similar crisis issues and, therefore, are able to inform us of what we need to know to prepare ourselves.

To highlight the importance of this issue, President Bush has announced $ 7.1 billion in emergency funding in order to prepare our country for a possible pandemic. The U.S. Government is right to be concerned, and so should we, considering that the Bird Flu has already spread to birds in 16 countries, while infecting 121 people and killing 62 people, according to the World Health Organization.

Anyone who has read the newspapers, or watches the news, and wants to learn more about this potential crisis will find The Bird Flu Handbook to be an extremely valuable resource. Among the issues covered in the book are: information about avian influenza (what it is, and how it spreads); information about influenza pandemics and what we can do to help protect ourselves; how influenza is spread from animal to human, and human to human; and a very extensive chapter answering the most commonly asked questions about avian influenza.

Especially susceptible to avian influenza are the elderly, children, and anyone with a weak immune system. The Bird Flu Handbook could prove to be a valuable addition to your library, and could help you to take the necessary precautions should the need arise.

In addition, the complete Table of Contents will be made available on Vayu Publishing’s web site to any interested party who wants to get a better understanding of the type of content available in the book. http://www.vayupublishing.com

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©Copyright 1997-

, Vocus PRW Holdings, LLC.
Vocus, PRWeb, and Publicity Wire are trademarks or registered trademarks of Vocus, Inc. or Vocus PRW Holdings, LLC.

Chicago, IL (PRWEB) November 11, 2005

Bird flu is disease found in birds. The H5N1 bird flu in Asia has a hard time spreading person to person like the common flu virus, but according to a leading medical information company it’s a leading contender to be the next pandemic flu bug. Nobody says that this bird flu will be the flu that causes the next pandemic for people. Research shows bird flu could in fact change from birds to humans in a couple of different ways. First, if a person was infected with the flu virus and also contracted bird flu at the same time the genes could mix and a human version could than emerge. Second, the bird flu could learn how to spread to humans on its own, the viruses will to survive. Scientists have confirmed that this has already begun, but the bird flu virus is not having lots of success at the present time. This is what happened in 1918 with another bird flu virus that caused a pandemic.

The World Health Organization says they’ve observed this bird flu virus changing very rapidly, but they also say it hasn’t progressed as much as they expected in the last 18 months. The WHO is uncertain whether a pandemic can happen next year, or next week, or at all. They simply suggest continuing with research to prepare. The H5N1 bird flu is resistant to an older class of flu drugs, but remains sensitive to Tamiflu and Relenza.

While all of this is happening around us, CaluTech UV Air Purification in Illinois has been working desperately to find alternative ways to protect against this bird flu virus. “It scares me, I’m afraid for my little guy” said Doug Freitag, one of the specialists working on the project over the summer at CaluTech. “What we were trying to develop to help give an extra sense of protection from bird flu, should it become an airborne spread flu virus, we already had. We found that out during our research. This flu virus dies from ultraviolet germicidal irradiation at 3,400 microwatts under a pure UV-C wavelength of 253.7 nanometers. We’ve got about 7 times that much power, an easy kill.”

UV-C light is germicidal. It destroys DNA & RNA in microorganisms such as bacteria, viruses & mold. It’s so effective the U.S. Government requires it in all new buildings. CaluTech’s most popular system, called the ‘Blue’, produces 24,000 microwatts of UV-C radiation. The system mounts in the air duct in an average 10 or 15 minutes and sterilizes the air as it recirculates through the HVAC system. Adding this air sterilization system in homes and business buildings can greatly reduce the chance of infection should bird flu become a human to human airborne flu illness.

About the CaluTech Product

The Blue UV air system is certified to U.S. & Canadian Standards, used in homes in every state & Canada, even overseas. When the United Nations chose CaluTech for UV air purification over many other companies the competition took notice of this small company just outside of Chicago. Today the company has distribution points in Illinois, Georgia, New York and New Jersey as well as many overseas clients. Recently Saudi Arabia starting using their systems for sterile air within the Kingdom of Bahrain. CaluTech is committed to offering advanced air purification systems to the general public to improve the air we breathe and reduce the risks of infection from various microbes in our daily environments.

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Attachments

©Copyright 1997-

, Vocus PRW Holdings, LLC.
Vocus, PRWeb, and Publicity Wire are trademarks or registered trademarks of Vocus, Inc. or Vocus PRW Holdings, LLC.

Bethesda, MD (PRWEB) October 8, 2005

With the avian flu pandemic looming ahead of us FLAVORx, Inc.(http://www.flavorx.com), the industry standard for the flavoring of prescription and OTC drugs, announced that it is preparing in case this deadly strain of the flu spreads west and causes a pandemic infection. The company is testing formulations in Thailand for the anti retroviral drugs that will be necessary for recovery if a pandemic hits. Children and the elderly are especially susceptible to the virus and the medications that are used to treat this type of disease are extremely bitter and hard to take. Due to this, many young and old patients will fall prey to non-compliance which will jeopardize their recovery and can put their long term health at risk.

Testing in Thailand started over three months ago and has been extremely successful in helping Thai children take their ARV medications with far less rejection (non-compliance) and trauma. Prior to FLAVORx, compliance without the help of flavoring was very low, below 50%. Studies on flavored medicines show that compliance increases to over 90%. FLAVORx (http://www.flavorx.com) has donated all supplies and efforts to this project free of charge, “We feel that it is our social responsibility to help in any kind of situation like this where lives are at stake,” says Woodie Neiss, CFO of FLAVORx, Inc.

“The Flu whether avian or not can be fatal,” says Kenny Kramm, President and CEO of FLAVORx. “Pharmacies are going to be more critical than ever this year in making sure that the supply of medicines can meet the demand. Given an outbreak, these medications must also be made palatable so the patient can swallow them and stick to their medication regimen as the doctor prescribed, that is our priority.” Care for those individuals most at risk, children and the elderly, will also be critical.

Already this new strain of flu has proven to be more virulent than either the 1968 Hong Kong flu which claimed nearly a million lives and the Spanish flu outbreak of 1918 that killed an estimated 50 million people worldwide.

Even though an individual cannot be inoculated against the avian flu, it is still recommended that everyone get the flu shot. If you do get the flu there are several prescription and OTC remedies that can help alleviate the symptoms. Above all water and rest are most necessary. If children are infected it is highly recommended that they have their medicines flavored. Flavoring not only increases a child’s acceptance of a medicine but it ensures accurate dosing and relieves parental stress. Liquid flavored medications are also more quickly absorbed into the patient’s system and thus recovery is more immediate. In an American Academy of Pediatrics study, nearly 90% of pediatricians recommend flavoring prescription medications to boost compliance.

About FLAVORx

FLAVORx (http://www.flavorx.com) is the leading provider of the FLAVORx medical flavoring system to pharmacies worldwide. All FLAVORx flavors are FDA tested and approved. Currently available in more than 30,000 pharmacies, such as Walgreens, Rite Aid, CVS, Target, Alberton’s, Kmart and Safeway, FLAVORx has flavored more than 50 million prescriptions worldwide. The company develops, manufactures and markets its flavoring system that is used to flavor more than 600 medications. FLAVORx does not make medicine taste like candy, but makes it more palatable for children, adults and even animals. Founded in 1995, the company is on a mission to “take the yuck out of medicine.”

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©Copyright 1997-

, Vocus PRW Holdings, LLC.
Vocus, PRWeb, and Publicity Wire are trademarks or registered trademarks of Vocus, Inc. or Vocus PRW Holdings, LLC.

A Smoker Enjoying an Electronic Cigarette

Stamford, CT (PRWEB) November 2, 2009

The ingredients in most electronic cigarette cartridges manufactured today include propylene glycol, nicotine, and a flavoring. The 1942 study by Dr. Oswald Hope Robertson of the University of Chicago’s Billings Hospital showed that Propylene glycol, the most prevalent ingredient in electronic cigarette cartridges, was found to possibly prevent pneumonia, influenza, and other respiratory diseases when vaporized and inhaled.

Additional studies in monkeys and other animals were undertaken to determine long-term effects, especially the potential for accumulation in the lungs. After a few months of treatment, no ill effects were discovered.

Now the electronic cigarette may not only help individuals to reduce and quit smoking regular cigarettes, but it also may help to prevent some of the respiratory diseases caused by the harmful “cancer sticks”. Additionally with the pandemic H1N1 influenza virus expected to cause a record number of deaths this season there is no better time for smokers to cut back or quit with the aid of the electronic cigarette.

Electronic cigarettes are a relatively new tool in the battle against cigarette smoking. A smoker can enjoy all the engrained habits of smoking; hand-to-mouth, throat hit, visual smoke, nicotine delivery, etc… with none of the negative effects of inhaling the dangerous smoke and 4000+ toxic chemicals created by smoking regular cigarettes.

While using electronic cigarettes as a smoking cessation device/method has not yet been evaluated by the FDA, several quit smoking non-profit organizations, like Action on Smoking and Health UK (ASH) an international antismoking & nonsmokers’ rights organization have all but endorsed electronic cigarettes as a healthy and viable alternative to smoking.

To find the right electronic cigarette for you or a loved one visit the electronic cigarette review site.

About e-CigCompare.com

e-CigCompare.com provides unbiased electronic cigarette reviews, including images, video and articles, on major manufacturers electronic cigarettes. Also provided are a quit smoking savings calculator and quit meter images showing the number of days a user has been cigarette free all free of charge. Visit http://e-CigCompair.com today to find the right electronic cigarette for you.

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©Copyright 1997-

, Vocus PRW Holdings, LLC.
Vocus, PRWeb, and Publicity Wire are trademarks or registered trademarks of Vocus, Inc. or Vocus PRW Holdings, LLC.

Boston, MA (PRWEB) December 11, 2007

Replikins, Ltd. today announced its latest findings regarding the virus replikin count in human H5N1 influenza virus. The company’s software-driven analysis has found that the prevalence of these sequences has remained high in Indonesia; in addition, higher counts now have been found in China. These statistics reflect an “upregulation” of this gene which has been linked to the lethality of influenza viruses. When factored in with previous findings, this suggests that the H5N1 outbreak in Indonesia is not over and that the next country to show an increase in human cases and mortality rate will be China.

This is the second of a series of reports on the use of a new methodology to isolate ‘in silico’ and to track and control specific replikin gene activity in several disease states.

A software method, called FluForecast®, has been designed to measure Replikins(TM), a class of proteins containing high concentrations of amino acids lysine and histidine, that have been determined to be related to rapid replication and virulence. Rather than being evenly distributed in the virus genome, replikins have been found to be concentrated in specific genomic areas. The area of each genome with the highest concentration of continuous replikin peptides has been isolated in silico and named a Replikin Peak Gene (RPG). Using proprietary computer algorithms constructed to identify, count, and track historically this class of proteins, replikins have now been analyzed in 130,488 protein and genome sequences. These include all the accession numbers for common strains of influenza and other lethal virus isolations published between 1917 and 2007 in the PubMed repository. The method is being applied to the diagnostic and therapeutic control of virus and bacterial diseases.

When the replikin count of the SARS virus dropped in 2003, it signalled correctly that the SARS outbreak shortly would be over. Similarly for each of the influenza pandemics and epidemics of the last century, for which the replikin count had been elevated before and during those outbreaks, decrease in the strain-specific replikin count which was causing the outbreak gave advance notice that the outbreak was over. For H5N1 influenza, each of the onsets and cessations of the outbreaks from 1997 to the present were correctly predicted by the replikin count. In 2006 a drop in the number of human H5N1 cases gave rise to optimism that the H5N1 human outbreak might be over; the replikin counts rose at that point, however, and the outbreak has continued. In addition, comparison of replikin counts for virus specimens in several countries showed that the highest counts were in Indonesia. In 2006 Replikins also announced its prediction that the percent mortality in humans due to this virus, rather than declining, would in fact increase, and that the first country in which this would occur would be Indonesia. In 2007, both of these predictions made in 2006 were shown to be correct.

The current persistence of the upregulation of the H5N1 replikin peak gene in Indonesia, and its additional increase in China, support continuing efforts to organize public health measures and to prepare appropriate anti-viral drugs and vaccines.

Detailed data from these studies are published in issued and pending patents. FluForecast® is a product and service of Replikins Ltd. and Replikins,LLC., 38 The Fenway, Boston MA 02215. See also http://www.replikins.com.

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©Copyright 1997-

, Vocus PRW Holdings, LLC.
Vocus, PRWeb, and Publicity Wire are trademarks or registered trademarks of Vocus, Inc. or Vocus PRW Holdings, LLC.

London, UK (PRWEB) May 1, 2009

Replikins, Ltd. has announced that it has produced a synthetic H1N1 swine flu vaccine, Replikins PanFlu™, which is ready for testing worldwide.

The company has developed the vaccine based on the same Replikins peptide technology which provided the surprise advance warning one year ago that the current H1N1 outbreak/pandemic was on its way.

In April 2008, Replikins, Ltd announced the likelihood of H1N1 outbreaks based on the company’s patented Replikin Count™ genomics technology, which examines specific regions in virus genes that have been linked with past epidemics. The company’s chairman, Dr. Samuel Bogoch, found that the regions have been conserved for decades. In H1N1 last year the company detected the highest concentrations of these specific regions ever seen, except for those from the 1918 flu pandemic which killed tens of millions of people. To date, no other method has been able to predict whether and what strain of a given organism will threaten a human or animal population.

The company is producing the new product after achieving test results against two previous viral outbreaks: the lethal Taura virus with shrimp populations and the avian flu (H5N1) with chicken populations. The company’s closely related Replikins vaccine against avian flu, produced in a 7 day period, was recently tested at the University of Georgia and shown to block H5N1 virus entry, replication, and excretion in chickens (paper submitted for publication).

Institutions requesting Replikins’ H1N1 vaccine for testing should contact: jmckenney @ replikins.com

http://www.replikins.com

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©Copyright 1997-

, Vocus PRW Holdings, LLC.
Vocus, PRWeb, and Publicity Wire are trademarks or registered trademarks of Vocus, Inc. or Vocus PRW Holdings, LLC.