The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, has awarded approximately $208 million to two programs that support research to better understand the human immune response to emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases, including those that may be introduced into a community through acts of bioterrorism.

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, has renewed the contract to continue studying asthma in children living in lower-income, inner-city environments.

Less restrictive dietary options, better detection, targeted avoidance measures, educational directives and potential new therapies are improving food allergy management and giving hope to the more than 12 million Americans affected according to experts at the thirteenth international food allergy conference held during the annual meeting of the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI) in Miami Beach, Fla.

Heavy traffic corridors in the cities of Long Beach and Riverside are responsible for a significant proportion of preventable childhood asthma, and the true impact of air pollution and ship emissions on the disease has likely been underestimated, according to researchers at the University of Southern California (USC).

The World Health Organization recently declared H1N1 swine flu a global pandemic, resulting in the creation of rigorous vaccination programs worldwide. Children are among those considered particularly susceptible to contracting swine flu and are viewed as a top priority in receiving this vaccine. Most H1N1 swine flu vaccines are prepared from virus grown in chicken's eggs, resulting in a vaccine that contains remnants of egg proteins.