BACKGROUND Seasonal flu epidemics in the European region cause high numbers of cases and deaths. Flu-associated mortality has been estimated but morbidity studies are necessary to understand the burden of disease in the population. Our objective was to estimate the excess hospital admissions in Spain of diseases associated with influenza during four epidemic influenza periods (2000-2004). MET...

BACKGROUND Several clinical reports have documented a beneficial effect of the addition of a low dose of risperidone to the ongoing treatment with antidepressants, in particular selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, in the treatment of drug resistant depression. The aim of our study was to understand the mechanism of the clinical efficacy of a combination of fluoxetine (FLU) and risperidone ...

Data in humans indicate that individuals with orthostatic hypotension that are refractory to other traditional forms of therapy are responsive to selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) treatment. We tested the hypothesis that SSRI administration would help correct the attenuated baroreflex control of sympathetic nervous system activity in the hindlimb-unloaded (HU) rat model of cardiovas...

OBJECTIVE To investigate antiviral activity of maca to reduce viral load in Madin-Darby canine kidney (MDCK) cells infected with influenza type A and B viruses (Flu-A and Flu-B, respectively). METHODS Maca were extracted with methanol (1:2, v/v). The cell viability and toxicity of the extracts were evaluated on MDCK cells using method MTT assay. Antiviral activity of compounds against Flu-A a...

Using the 2009 Swine Flu outbreak as a contemporary example of pandemic fears, this study examined the relationship between various symptoms related to anxiety sensitivity and Swine Flu fears. It was hypothesized that both obsessive–compulsive (OC) beliefs and OC symptoms would significantly predict Swine Flu fears. It was also hypothesized that symptoms of anxiety, including measures of anxiet...

Seasonal influenza outbreaks and pandemics of new strains of the influenza virus affect humans around the globe. However, traditional systems for measuring the spread of flu infections deliver results with one or two weeks delay. Recent research suggests that data on queries made to the search engine Google can be used to address this problem, providing real-time estimates of levels of influenz...

Background. In order to track influenza activity, flu-like patient records collected from health care providers are combined to generate an estimate every week during the flu season. However, this estimate is problematic in terms of timeliness and granularity. A promising alternative is to infer flu activity with fine-grained, timely digital surveillance data. Fitting these extra measurements o...