http://cache.io9.com/assets/base/img/thumbs140x140/io9.com.png http://io9.com/tag/flu http://io9.com/tag/flu

If you're about to fly somewhere for Thanksgiving, you're probably dreading the possibility that you'll catch a bug along the way. And you're not alone. Many people report coming down with something in the days following an airplane flight. It's not like we're all lining up to lick the lavatory handles — so why can't our immune systems handle a plane trip? What are our bodies really up against? More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5862234&view=rss&microfeed=true

To be more specific, people's immune response killed them. The virus was especially deadly to young and middle-aged adults because their immune systems were primed to kick into a fatal, antiviral overdrive. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5705908&view=rss&microfeed=true

Imagine a single vaccine that could protect you from all flu strains for decades. It looks like we might actually make it a reality in the near future, thanks to a major breakthrough in combating the rapidly mutating disease. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5589883&view=rss&microfeed=true

Google doesn't just help you find the nearest pizza place anymore - now it helps doctors find where flu epidemics are going to strike next. Working with a group of epidemiologists, the tech megacorp has revealed a new system for tracking disease outbreaks by checking what people are searching for. By tracking the rise in searches on phrases like "cold/flu remedy," Google said yesterday in a Nature article that it can predict with almost total accuracy where flu outbreaks are occurring, far more quickly than the American Centers for Disease Control can. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5094627&view=rss&microfeed=true Two mutations in the H1N1 avian flu virus were responsible for killing 50 million people all over the world during the 1918 outbreak of so-called Spanish Flu. Now researchers at MIT have analyzed 90-year-old blood samples from people who survived the flu, and the blood still contains antibodies that react to H1N1 viruses. Could this be the key to preventing another outbreak of this deadly avian flu? [Daily Galaxy] More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5038415&view=rss&microfeed=true