Word: currented
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...hovering in the background of the current pandemic is the possibility that H1N1's virulence might suddenly change. Flu's hardiness as a recurring human scourge is the result of its unstable genetic structure. One flu virus can easily swap genetic information with another, or mutate as it reproduces in the human respiratory tract. The World Health Organization tracks flu viruses for changes in their genetic makeup that would make them more deadly. But even exhaustive 21st century virology can only help health officials react to what's already happened. The best laboratory in which to study the flu virus...
While the World Health Organization concocts the recipe for the flu vaccine, private companies manufacture and sell the doses, mostly to governments. At current capacity, they can produce around 900 million doses of H1N1 vaccine a year: a total that is "woefully inadequate for a world of 6.8 billion people," according to WHO head Margaret Chan. While some companies have donation schemes for the developing world - British pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline, for example, is donating 50 million doses to WHO - the lion's share will go to wealthy countries, despite the fact that underlying health conditions make populations in the developing...
...issue that may dog Specter is health care. In two town-hall meetings this month, he has been confronted by angry constituents who claim the current proposal in Congress tramples on their constitutional rights. At a particularly turbulent meeting in Lebanon, Pa., on Tuesday, one man yelled that "One day God is going to judge you and the rest of your damn cronies on the Hill." But it's not clear that voter anger over health-care reform will help the challenger either - Sestak is himself an outspoken backer of President Obama's efforts to reform the health-care system...
...House members who favored acquiring the new planes argued that they were needed replacements for aging aircraft, and would be less costly to fly. The current Gulfstream C-20 costs $6,100 an hour to operate, compared with $2,700 for the more modern Gulfstream C-37. The Air Force VIP fleet is usually reserved for work-related foreign travel, which is a double-edged sword for lawmakers. While some boast they avoid it to save taxpayers money, others argue it is needed to visit foreign leaders and conflict zones to get a firsthand look at the impact...
...African-American Republican who has been the state house's majority whip and deputy majority leader. A rising star in the Florida GOP, Carroll, 49, served 20 years in the U.S. Navy and retired as a lieutenant commander. Another is GOP state representative Anitere Flores of Miami. Flores, the current deputy majority leader, is only 32, and she's the legislature's only Hispanic female - which itself is a comment on both the Democratic and the Republican parties in Florida. Flores, who has also been mentioned as a possible candidate for lieutenant governor in 2010, would draw the younger, female...