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Over the past few weeks there has been a flurry of bad news regarding Avian bird flu including the death of a 15 year old girl in Laos. There have been various outbreaks especially in the Middle East and several countries including China reporting fresh cases.

However, behind all those headlines (all of which you can read in our “Current Headlines” section) there were also so interesting stories about vaccines being developed.

Just days ago, GlaxoSmithKline reported that tests of the company’s bird flu vaccine candidate indicate the treatment works for other versions of the virus as well. This would work as a type of primer to help the bodies immune system adjust according to GSK’s England office.

Also being reported is that scientists in Perth, Australia have had promising results from their hard work (although a few scientists had to be quarantined for fear they had been breathing the virus).

Of course vaccine trials are always going on with various companies involved. However, it is good to see that behind the bad news headlines of H5N1 spreading, some good news is emerging as well.