Science

Google's Flu Trends Tool Aids Swine Flu Surveillance, Researchers Find Google Flu Trends, the influenza- monitoring service of Google Inc.’s philanthropic arm, tracked swine flu almost as well as the surveillance systems maintained by health-care workers, scientists in New Zealand found.

Severely Ill Swine Flu Patients May Spend Weeks in ICU, Irish Doctors Find Swine flu sufferers who developed life-threatening complications during the pandemic’s initial wave in Ireland occupied intensive-care beds for weeks, pointing to a potential area of strain from any winter surge in cases.

Gene Therapy Advance Saves Two Boys From Rare Fatal Brain Disease Two 7-year-old boys with a fatal brain disease who couldn’t get bone marrow transplants were saved by scientists whose gene therapy technique may let doctors treat other incurable disorders.

Complete Genomics Gets Cost of Gene Sequencing Under $5,000 in New Method Complete Genomics, a Silicon Valley company backed by venture capitalists, produced complete sequences of three people’s DNA at an average cost of $4,500, accelerating the race to develop faster, cheaper gene-mapping systems.

Deforestation Loses Ground to Fossil Fuels as Carbon-Emissions Culprit Deforestation’s relative contribution to global carbon emissions has declined as pollution from fossil fuels increased, according to a researcher at the faculty of earth and life sciences at VU University in Amsterdam.

Novartis's Celtura Cell-Culture Based Swine Flu Shot Wins German Backing Novartis AG won German regulatory approval for its Celtura swine flu vaccine.

Breast Cancer Vaccine Puts German Merck's $1 Billion Strategy to the Test Merck KGaA of Germany is gambling an unproven therapy that spurs the immune system to attack cancer cells will increase its share of a $48 billion oncology market.

Swine Flu Killed Older Adults More Than Young in California's Hospitals Swine flu is almost three times more likely to kill patients older than 50 once they become hospitalized than those younger than 18, a study found.

Prostitutes, Migrant Workers Spur China's Syphilis Epidemic, Official Says Cases of syphilis are rising about 30 percent a year in China, spread mainly by poorly educated migrant workers and prostitutes, a health official from the world’s most populous nation said in a report.

Glaxo, Human Genome Sciences's Lupus Drug Reduces Symptoms at Higher Dose GlaxoSmithKline Plc. and Human Genome Sciences Inc.’s experimental lupus drug Benlysta worked in a higher dose to reduce symptoms in a study.