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EPIDEMICS' TIMING DETERMINED BY LATITUDEGoing back to 1945, Hope-Simpson discovered that influenza epidemics above 30 degrees latitude in both hemispheres occurred during the six months of least solar radiation and that outbreaks in the tropics almost always occured during the rainy season. He thus concluded, "Latitude alone broadly determines the timing of the epidemics in the annual cycle, a relationship that suggests a rather direct effect of some component of solar radiation acting positively or negatively upon the virus, the human host, or their interaction." That is, something may be regularly reducing our immunity every fall and winter. In 2003 researchers confirmed that influenza epidemics in the tropics occur, with few exceptions, during the rainy season, when vitamin D levels should be falling

Feb 23, 2009 (CIDRAP News) - In a development that could create new tools to prevent and treat seasonal and pandemic influenza, researchers have identified and tested human monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) that can neutralize influenza A viruses, including lethal H5N1 avian influenza.\n\nThe findings raise hopes for a universal flu vaccine and shed light on new options for preventing and treating influenza infections, researchers from Dana-Farber Cancer Center, Burnham Institute for Medical Research, and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported yesterday in an early online edition of Nature Structural and Molecular Biology. The study was supported by a grant from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID).

WASHINGTON, Feb 26 (Reuters) - An antibody being developed by a Dutch drug company chokes off both seasonal flu and the H5N1 avian flu virus and might offer a way to develop better treatments and vaccines, researchers reported on Thursday.

Leiden, The Netherlands (February 26, 2009) - Dutch biopharmaceutical company Crucell N.V. (Euronext, Nasdaq: CRXL; Swiss Exchange: CRX) announces that the journal Science today published a study showing why Crucell's novel anti-influenza antibody is so effective against such a broad range of influenza virus subtypes. These characteristics make the Crucell antibody CR6261 a potentially revolutionary therapy against seasonal and pandemic flu.

One of the first things a seasoned dieter might notice about the Zone Diet is that it's not a diet that tries to be restrictive.

This one targets the elderly.

Vitamin D production in human skin occurs only when UV radiation exceeds a threshold. From simulations of UV irradiances, the VitD www page ( http://zardoz.nilu.no/~olaeng/fastrt/VitD.html) computes the daily duration of dermal vitamin D production at midday when UV radiation exceeds the required threshold. The daily duration depends on latitude, time, total ozone, clouds, aerosols, surface reflectivity and altitude all of which can be specified by the user

Heaney RP, Davies KM, Chen TC, Holick MF, Barger-Lux MJ. Human serum 25-hydroxycholecalciferol response to extended oral dosing with cholecalciferol.Am J Clin Nutr. 2003 Jan;77(1):204-10. Erratum in: Am J Clin Nut