Virology News and Research

Latest Virology News and Research

Resistance to prior antiviral agents impacts TDF response

Taiwanese researchers find that virological response to tenofovir disoproxil fumarate in treatment-experienced patients with chronic hepatitis B virus infection can vary depending on the nucleos(t)ide analogue the patient is resistant to.

10 Mar 2016

Novel nanoparticle technology can decipher protein structures and help access drug targets

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet, Sweden, have developed a nanoparticle technology that can be used to stabilise membrane proteins so that their structure can be studied in a lipid environment. The method, described in Nature Methods, makes it possible to access drug targets that previously could not be investigated and therefore potentially allows for the development of novel drugs, therapeutic antibodies and vaccines.

9 Mar 2016

Mayo Clinic develops 'The ABCs of Influenza' flash cards

Influenza is a serious viral infection that causes illness, hospitalizations and thousands of deaths every year in the U.S. Mayo Clinic recommends getting a vaccine each year to prevent illness and protect the people around you.

9 Mar 2016

Study: 2.3 million people living with HIV co-infected with HCV

An estimated 2.3 million people living with HIV are co-infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV) globally, a new study by the University of Bristol and the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine has found.

9 Mar 2016

Researchers report first case of acute myelitis due to Zika virus infection

A first case of acute myelitis following infection with Zika virus has been reported for the first time by a research team from Inserm Unit 1127 Brain and Spinal Cord Institute (Inserm/CNRS/Sorbonne University) and neurologists at Pointe-à-Pitre University Hospital and the University of the Antilles.

9 Mar 2016

Drug-incorporated nanoparticle platforms allow for selective targeting of cancer cells

Cancer is a group of diseases characterized by the uncontrolled growth and spread of abnormal cells. It is a leading cause of death and the burden is expected to grow worldwide due to the growth and aging of the population, mainly in less developed countries, in which about 82% of the world's population resides. By 2030, the global burden is expected to grow to 21.7 million new cancer cases and 13 million cancer deaths simply due to the growth and aging of the population. Current cancer therapy approaches are based in surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy, being the chemotherapy the one that shows the greater efficiency for cancer treatment, mainly in more advanced stages. A major problem with this conventional chemotherapy is its toxicity and it also destroys healthy tissues resulting in systemic toxicity besides beneficial characteristics of killing cancer cells. Anticancer drugs also destroy healthy tissues resulting in systemic toxicity.

8 Mar 2016

SC Johnson delivers over 60,000 units of OFF! insect repellent to help protect families from Zika virus

Today, as part of its commitment to provide at least $15 million to help protect families from the Zika virus, SC Johnson announced a donation of more than 60,000 cans and bottles of OFF! personal insect repellent to the CDC Foundation, in partnership with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

8 Mar 2016

Bonn scientists identify immune factor partially responsible for chronic viral infection

Many viral diseases tend to become chronic - including infections with the HI virus. In persons affected, the immune response is not sufficient to eliminate the virus permanently.

8 Mar 2016

Boosting the body's natural defences to stop RSV infection

Babies at risk of a serious lung infection could be helped by a therapy based on the body's natural immune defences.

8 Mar 2016

NIHR HPRU announces new round of funding to support Zika virus research

A round of funding to support research on the emerging Zika virus was announced this week by the National Institute for Health Research Health Protection Research Unit in Emerging and Zoonotic Infections at the University of Liverpool.

8 Mar 2016

Zika virus can cause a range of abnormalities in pregnant women, study finds

New research presents strong evidence that the Zika virus can indeed cause a range of abnormalities in pregnant women infected with the virus -- with the effects manifesting any time during pregnancy. Some of the abnormalities noted have not been reported in connection with the virus.

7 Mar 2016

First atomic-scale view of interaction between HIV capsid and host protein cyclophilin A

A new study offers the first atomic-scale view of an interaction between the HIV capsid - the protein coat that shepherds HIV into the nucleus of human cells - and a host protein known as cyclophilin A. This interaction is key to HIV infection, researchers say.

7 Mar 2016

Researchers solve structure of key protein in coronaviruses, like MERS and SARS

When the respiratory illness SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) emerged in 2003, it killed at least 775 people before it was contained. Nine years later, MERS (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome) began circulating in the human population—and has gone on to have a 36 percent case fatality rate.

7 Mar 2016

Researchers identify how Zika virus may cause microcephaly in fetuses

Working with lab-grown human stem cells, a team of researchers suspect they have discovered how the Zika virus probably causes microcephaly in fetuses. The virus selectively infects cells that form the brain's cortex, or outer layer, making them more likely to die and less likely to divide normally and make new brain cells.

7 Mar 2016

FSU researchers make major breakthrough in Zika virus research

Florida State University researchers have made a major breakthrough in the quest to learn whether the Zika virus is linked to birth defects with the discovery that the virus is directly targeting brain development cells and stunting their growth.

7 Mar 2016

Scientists track rare potent antibodies in HIV-infected individual

One of the most crucial and elusive goals of an effective HIV vaccine is to stimulate antibodies that can attack the virus even as it relentlessly mutates.

4 Mar 2016

Women need antiviral medication Truvada more than men to prevent HIV infection

Women need daily doses of the antiviral medication Truvada to prevent HIV infection while men only need two doses per week due to the way the drug accumulates in different body tissues, according to a new study from pharmacy researchers the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

4 Mar 2016

Google gives UNICEF $1 million to help fight Zika

Google is providing UNICEF with a $1 million grant to support the charity’s efforts to combat the Zika virus.

3 Mar 2016

Unlocking H5N1 virus replication: an interview with Martin Blackledge

We were able to show that one small domain of the polymerase, the part that is essential for entry of a piece of the polymerase into the cell nucleus, changes its conformation to allow it to interact with the transporter protein than takes it into the nucleus.

3 Mar 2016

State laws increase vaccination rates among health care workers

State laws mandating influenza immunization for people who work in health care increase their vaccination rates, according to new research led by the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.

3 Mar 2016