Your health, your choices
Information navigation
Main navigation
Services explained
See what the NHS offers
Choose the right service
Your guide to the science that makes the news
Wednesday Jun 28 2017
"A 'painless' sticking plaster flu jab that delivers vaccine into the skin has passed important safety tests in the first trial in people," BBC News reports. Results of a small phase 1 trial were encouraging, with no serious side effects reported…
Tuesday Aug 25 2015
"Universal flu vaccine comes closer, scientists says," BBC News reports after two independent teams of researchers each found ways to target multiple strains of the influenza virus – but, as yet, the research has only involved animals...
Tuesday Jun 16 2015
"Four in 10 Britons immune to flu symptoms, leading to hopes of a new vaccine," The Independent reports. A survey of around 1,400 people found 43% of them had a type of immune cell – T cells – that helps protect against infection…
Tuesday Jan 13 2015
"Scientists…believe that a nasal spray could be produced which boosts a protein so sufferers could sleep off the flu," The Daily Telegraph reports. As yet, the research has been confined to assessing the role of one protein in mice...
Thursday Apr 10 2014
“Ministers blew £650 MILLION on useless anti-flu drugs,” the Daily Mail reports. The paper cites a large study, which investigated the effectiveness of the antiviral drugs Tamiflu (oseltamivir) and Relenza (zanamivir).
Monday Mar 17 2014
"Over three-quarters of flu infections contracted last year did not have any symptoms, researchers found," ITV News reports. While this may be good news for people free from symptoms it raises concerns about controlling the spread of any future epidemic…
Wednesday Feb 5 2014
“Experts are concerned about the spread of a new strain of bird flu that has already killed one woman in China,” BBC News reports. The new strain, which has evolved from an existing bird flu virus called H10N8…
Friday Jan 3 2014
"Drug companies accused of holding back complete information on clinical trials," The Guardian reports. MPs have published a report expressing concern that drug companies are withholding evidence about how effective drugs such as Tamiflu actually are…
Tuesday Nov 12 2013
"Swine flu risk was inflated by experts with links to drugs industry," The Independent reports. The claim has been made by the authors of a study that analysed newspaper reporting of the swine flu pandemic in 2009…
Wednesday Nov 6 2013
"Wonder cure for killer flu," is the headline on the front page of the Daily Express. What the headline fails to tell you is that the "cure" – bacteria found in suguki, a type of pickled turnip – has only been tested in mice…
Share:
Save:
Print:
We give you the facts without the fiction. Professor Sir Muir Gray, founder of Behind the Headlines, explains more...
We examine the evidence behind the health claims made about the most popular superfoods
Clinical trials explained, including how to take part in one and why medical research is important
Download our Strength and Flexibility podcast series and get a free personal trainer
Your health, your choicesYour health, your choices