Once a go-to treatment for chronic respiratory failure in France, Portugal, and Poland, almitrine no longer passes the benefit/risk test, say European drug regulators. News Alerts (Source: Medscape Today Headlines)

(University Hospitals Case Medical Center) The American Thoracic Society has released new clinical practice guidelines on sleep apnea, sleepiness, and driving risk on non-commercial drivers. The new guidelines appear in June 1, 2013 American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine. "Up to 20 percent of crashes that occur on monotonous roads can be attributed to sleepiness, and the most common medical cause of excessive daytime sleepiness is obstructive sleep apnea," said Kingman P. Strohl, M.D., program director, sleep medicine, University Hospitals Case Medical Center. (Source: EurekAlert! - Social and Behavioral Science)

Mucus clearance is an important component of the lung's innate defense system. A failure of this system brought on by mucus dehydration is common to both cystic fibrosis (CF) and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Mucus clearance rates are regulated by the volume of airway surface liquid (ASL) and by ciliary beat frequency (CBF). Chronic treatment with macrolide antibiotics is known to be beneficial to both CF and COPD patients. However, chronic macrolide usage may induce bacterial resistance. We have developed a novel macrolide, 2'-desoxy-9-(S)-erythromycylamine (GS-459755), that has significantly diminished antibiotic activity against Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus pneumonia, Moraxella catarrhalis, and Haemophilus influenzae. Since neutrophilia frequently occurs in chron...

A detailed clinical description of two cases of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) in France, published online in The Lancet today, suggests that the incubation period for the virus may be longer than previously thought, and longer quarantine periods may be required to rule out infection among patient contacts. MERS-CoV - a novel virus, similar to that which caused the SARS outbreak of 2002-03 - was first identified in two patients suffering from severe respiratory illness in September 2012. As of 23 May, 2013, there have been 44 cases worldwide [1]... (Source: Health News from Medical News Today)