MIT coping with statewide delivery delays for seasonal flu vaccine
Statewide delivery delays for seasonal flu vaccine won't change plans for the Oct. 15 student-only walk-in vaccination clinic in the Stratton Student Center, says Kristine Ruzycki, A.N.P.-B.C., chief...
View ArticleMIT Center for Engineering Systems Fundamentals presents new 'Flu 101' web site
On its new "Flu 101" web site, the MIT Center for Engineering Systems Fundamentals (CESF) presents new research results and educational materials related to planning for and responding to the H1N1 flu...
View ArticleMIT Medical now limiting seasonal flu vaccinations to high-risk patients
Due to a statewide shortage of seasonal flu vaccine, MIT Medical has begun limiting seasonal flu vaccines to MIT Health Plan members and students who are at high risk for complications from flu. A...
View ArticleThe Center for Engineering Systems Fundamentals lecture: Reflections on the...
In this Center for Engineering Systems Fundamentals event, John M. Barry brings unsettling news from the frontlines of H1N1 research: this novel influenza virus is very hard to pin down. In spite of...
View ArticleNorm Augustine: The Mysterious Field of Engineering Systems
Engineering Systems DivisionInternational Engineering Systems SymposiumOne of the nation’s revered technology leaders dispenses anecdotes and wisdom on the slippery subject of engineering systems (or...
View ArticleMore jabs needed
The seasonal influenza virus is extremely adaptable: each year, it evolves ways to evade vaccines, forcing vaccine makers to come up with new formulations.That evolution, known as antigenic drift,...
View ArticleUndergraduate student H1N1 flu vaccine clinic on Nov. 17
MIT Medical will hold a free undergraduate H1N1 influenza vaccination walk-in clinic on Tuesday, Nov. 17, in the dining room at MacGregor House (W61) from 11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. or until vaccine supplies...
View ArticleOf Note: Biologist Ploegh to discuss H1N1 at MIT Museum’s ‘Soap Box’
MIT Professor of Biology Hidde Ploegh will discuss the H1N1 flu pandemic at the MIT Museum’s first Soap Box event of the fall season. The interactive discussion will begin at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov....
View ArticleSnacks on a plane? Staying healthy during holiday travel
MIT Tech TVVideo transcript:Howard M. Heller, MD, MPH, Chief of Medicine, MIT Medical, shows how to try to avoid flu and colds during air travel. Video consists mainly of Dr. Heller on camera,...
View ArticleNearly 2,000 H1N1 vaccine shots given by MIT Medical so far
MIT Medical has administered almost 2,000 doses of H1N1 vaccine during two clinics this month — and more are in the works. Many MIT Medical staff worked on the Veterans Day holiday at a pediatric...
View ArticleH1N1 walk-in clinic to be held at MIT on Dec. 16
MIT Medical will host a walk-in clinic this Wednesday, Dec. 16 from 10 a.m.–4 p.m. in the Stratton Student Center (Mezzanine; 3rd floor) to administer H1N1 vaccinations, as long as supplies last,...
View ArticleBiology professor Hidde Ploegh on global pandemics
The MIT MuseumSoap Box series presentsHidde Ploegh, Professor of Biology and Member, Whitehead InstituteGlobal PandemicsIn his role as a biochemist, Hidde Ploegh explains the "essential features of...
View ArticleMIT responding to H1N1 flu pandemic
On Wednesday, Dec. 16, MIT Medical, with support from MIT Emergency Operations Center (EOC) volunteers, held its third walk-in clinic to provide vaccinations against the H1N1 influenza virus. In six...
View ArticleH1N1 flu clinic set for Jan. 14
At MIT's last H1N1 walk-in clinic in December, more than 1,800 people got shots — with an average wait time of just six minutes. Organizers are anticipating similarly smooth operations at the upcoming...
View ArticleCampus flu clinics scheduled
MIT Medical has scheduled several flu vaccination clinics this fall, with the first occurring on Sept. 28. The 2010-2011 flu vaccine is a single shot that will protect against three different flu...
View ArticleFlu shots on campus at an all-time high
After two flu clinics on campus, MIT Medical is headed for a record year for vaccinations.At the first clinic for patients of MIT Medical’s Pediatrics Service on Sept. 28, medical staff administered...
View ArticleCountering ‘memory loss’ in the immune system
After recovering from a cold or other infection, your body’s immune system is primed to react quickly if the same agent tries to infect you. White blood cells called memory T cells specifically...
View ArticleKeeping an eye on H1N1
In the fall of 1917, a new strain of influenza swirled around the globe. At first, it resembled a typical flu epidemic: Most deaths occurred among the elderly, while younger people recovered quickly....
View ArticleRecord number of flu shots given at Sept. 30 campus clinic
At their first campus-wide flu vaccination clinic of the year, clinical staff from MIT Medical administered nearly 3,000 flu shots in six hours — a new one-day record for MIT.Despite the large volume...
View ArticleHow to stop the flu
Between 1918 and 1920, an influenza epidemic swept across the globe, infecting more than a quarter of the world’s population and killing 50 to 100 million people. If a similar outbreak occurred today,...
View ArticleStopping influenza evolution before it starts
If you get vaccinated against the flu and then become infected with the virus, your body mounts an immune response that prevents you from getting sick. However, that pressure from the immune system can...
View ArticleWalk-in flu shot clinic this Friday
MIT Medical wants to help you stay healthy this fall and winter with a walk-in flu-shot clinic this Friday, Sept. 28, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., on the third floor of the Stratton Student Center (Building...
View ArticleMIT Medical sets new single-day record for flu shots
At the first campus-wide flu vaccination clinic of the year, clinical staff from MIT Medical administered more than 3,000 flu shots in six hours — a new one-day record for MIT. “We all thought last...
View ArticleMIT administers a record number of flu shots at the 2012 walk-in clinics
After a record-breaking 3,200 patients lined up to receive shots on Sept. 28, MIT Medical administered another 2,200 vaccines during its clinic on Oct. 11.“This year was tremendously successful,” says...
View ArticleProtect yourself against flu
As news organizations have reported, the United States has seen an early start to this year’s flu season, combined with an especially virulent H3N2 influenza strain. But the MIT community is...
View ArticlePotential flu pandemic lurks
In the summer of 1968, a new strain of influenza appeared in Hong Kong. This strain, known as H3N2, spread around the globe and eventually killed an estimated 1 million people. A new study from MIT...
View ArticleKeeping an eye on bird flu
Influenza viruses that emerge from birds or pigs can create pandemic flu if they gain the ability to spread from person to person. New research from MIT shows that two recently emerged bird flu...
View ArticleAllocating flu vaccines to maximize number of people remaining healthy
Flu and similar respiratory diseases start and peak at different times in different geographical locations. In 2009 in the United States, the H1N1 flu first started in August in the Southeast, as...
View ArticleNanoparticle vaccine offers better protection
Many viruses and bacteria infect humans through mucosal surfaces, such as those in the lungs, gastrointestinal tract and reproductive tract. To help fight these pathogens, scientists are working on...
View ArticleMIT Medical sets single-day record for flu shots — again
Given its timing, perhaps the comparisons were inevitable: With MIT’s first campus flu clinic of 2013 coinciding with the first full day of the U.S. government shutdown on Oct. 2, MIT Medical staff and...
View ArticleIt’s not too late to protect yourself against the flu
With more than 7,000 flu shots administered during two walk-in clinics at the Stratton Student Center this month, the MIT community is exceptionally well prepared for flu season, says Howard Heller,...
View ArticleBiotech to the rescue
MIT professor Ram Sasisekharan’s three biotech companies — Momenta Pharmaceuticals, Cerulean Pharma, and Visterra — share a similar goal. “It’s about the impact we can have on patient care,” says...
View ArticleMIT Medical sets third-straight, single-day record for flu shots
It didn’t start out looking like a record-shattering kind of day. Aside from concerns that the rainy weather would diminish attendance, Associate Medical Director David Diamond admits to being somewhat...
View ArticleSwine flu outbreak in India raises concern
Since December, an outbreak of swine flu in India has killed more than 1,200 people, and a new MIT study suggests that the strain has acquired mutations that make it more dangerous than previously...
View ArticleImproving prevention of and responses to flu outbreaks
How can we better avoid the flu? A new paper co-authored by researchers at MIT examines the best ways to reduce the likelihood that individuals and groups will become infected with the flu, both by...
View ArticleMore than 5,000 shots given at first campus flu clinic of the semester
With 5,028 shots administered in six hours, MIT Medical’s first campus flu clinic of 2015, held in Walker Memorial on Oct. 1, lived up to its reputation as one of the most efficient operations at the...
View ArticleIt’s not too late to protect yourself against flu
With roughly 8,200 flu shots administered during two walk-in clinics on campus and another 1,730 people vaccinated at MIT Lincoln Laboratory in Lexington, the Institute community is exceptionally well...
View ArticleSneezing produces complex fluid cascade, not a simple spray
Here’s some incentive to cover your mouth the next time you sneeze: New high-speed videos captured by MIT researchers show that as a person sneezes, they launch a sheet of fluid that balloons, then...
View ArticleEngineers design programmable RNA vaccines
MIT engineers have developed a new type of easily customizable vaccine that can be manufactured in one week, allowing it to be rapidly deployed in response to disease outbreaks. So far, they have...
View ArticleNearly 5,000 shots given at first campus flu clinic of 2016
MIT Medical’s first campus flu clinic of 2016, held in Walker Memorial on Oct. 5, lived up to its reputation as one of the most efficient operations at the Institute, administering 4,873 vaccines in...
View ArticleTracking the spread of bird flu
A new paper from an MIT-led team demonstrates that Alaska can offer a significant foothold for Asian flu viruses, enabling them to enter North America. The research also shows that the region serves as...
View ArticleBiochemists discover mechanism that helps flu viruses evolve
Influenza viruses mutate rapidly, which is why flu vaccines have to be redesigned every year. A new study from MIT sheds light on just how these viruses evolve so quickly, and offers a potential way to...
View ArticleMIT Medical shatters one-day flu shot record
On Tuesday, Oct. 24, social media lit up with photos and updates from MIT’s annual flu shot clinic in Walker Memorial, as “#10Kin1Day” rapidly became the top-trending Twitter hashtag in Cambridge,...
View ArticleCholesterol helps flu virus escape through host cell’s membrane
After a flu virus infects a host cell and hijacks its inner workings to create copies of itself, these copies gather into viral buds that break free from the host cell to infect again. A new study from...
View ArticleMIT Medical shatters previous one-day flu-shot record
When MIT Medical decided to take a run at their 2017 one-day flu-shot record this year, they knew it would require a special effort from virtually every member of their staff. “Ultimately, we chose to...
View ArticleStudy: To slow an epidemic, focus on handwashing
A new study estimates that improving the rates of handwashing by travelers passing through just 10 of the world’s leading airports could significantly reduce the spread of many infectious diseases. And...
View ArticleCovid-19 diagnostic based on MIT technology might be tested on patient...
As more Covid-19 cases appear in the United States and around the world, the need for fast, easy-to-use diagnostic tests is becoming ever more pressing. A startup company spun out from MIT is now...
View ArticleA step toward a universal flu vaccine
Each year, the flu vaccine has to be redesigned to account for mutations that the virus accumulates, and even then, the vaccine is often not fully protective for everyone.Researchers at MIT and the...
View ArticleChemists gain new insights into the behavior of water in an influenza virus...
In a new study of water dynamics, a team of MIT chemists led by Professor Mei Hong, in collaboration with Associate Professor Adam Willard, has discovered that water in an ion channel is anisotropic,...
View ArticleUltrasound has potential to damage coronaviruses, study finds
The coronavirus’ structure is an all-too-familiar image, with its densely packed surface receptors resembling a thorny crown. These spike-like proteins latch onto healthy cells and trigger the invasion...
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