Virology News and Research

Latest Virology News and Research

New study links chicken pox and shingles virus to giant cell arteritis in elderly

A new study links the virus that causes chicken pox and shingles to a condition that inflames blood vessels on the temples and scalp in the elderly, called giant cell arteritis. The study is published in the February 18, 2015, online issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. The condition can cause sudden blindness or stroke and can be life-threatening.

19 Feb 2015

Natalizumab drug helps scientists confirm how 'viral reservoirs' form in HIV patients

A drug used to treat patients with Crohn's disease and multiple sclerosis has helped scientists confirm how "viral reservoirs" form in patients living with HIV and also proven effective in animal trials at blocking the pathways to those reservoirs in the brain and gut, a team of researchers reported recently in the journal PLOS Pathogens.

19 Feb 2015

Novasep selected to commercially biomanufacture Celladon's Mydicar API

Novasep, a leading supplier of services and technologies for the life sciences industry, today announces that it has entered into an agreement with Celladon, a clinical-stage biotechnology company. Novasep will prepare to supply the drug substance for MYDICAR®.

19 Feb 2015

UT Dallas study reports new gene therapy approach

Bioengineers at The University of Texas at Dallas have created a novel gene-delivery system that shuttles a gene into a cell, but only for a temporary stay, providing a potential new gene-therapy strategy for treating disease.

19 Feb 2015

New molecule shows promise in controlling HIV without using daily antiretroviral drugs

Scientists have created a new molecule that shows promise for controlling HIV without daily antiretroviral drugs. The molecule foils a wider range of HIV strains in the laboratory than any known broadly neutralizing HIV antibody and is more powerful than some of the most potent of these antibodies.

19 Feb 2015

MD Anderson, CATCH Global Foundation partner to lower cancer risk in children

Cancer prevention experts at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center have allied with the CATCH Global Foundation, whose comprehensive child health program reaches children and their families in more than 10,000 educational settings nationwide, to promote behavior that will lower children's lifelong risk of developing cancer.

19 Feb 2015

San Francisco AIDS Foundation unveils new mobile testing unit

On Valentine's Day, San Francisco AIDS Foundation unveiled a new mobile testing unit, an essential element in the plan to eliminate HIV transmission in San Francisco. The new unit—a 33-foot-long vehicle outfitted specifically for HIV and STI testing—will increase the availability of free testing in neighborhoods across the city at times when other HIV testing sites are closed.

19 Feb 2015

TDF monotherapy ‘reasonable’ option in entecavir-resistant HBV

Researchers from the Republic of Korea have found that the efficacy of tenofovir disoproxil fumarate monotherapy is comparable to that of TDF plus entecavir in chronic hepatitis B patients with genotypic resistance to entecavir.

18 Feb 2015

Long-term TDF ‘promising’ in Chinese HBV patients after multiple antiviral failures

Long-term tenofovir disoproxil fumarate therapy is effective in Chinese patients with chronic hepatitis B virus infection who have relapsed after treatment with multiple nucleos(t)ide analogues, research suggests.

18 Feb 2015

TSRI scientists develop new drug candidate against HIV

In a remarkable new advance against the virus that causes AIDS, scientists from the Jupiter, Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute have announced the creation of a novel drug candidate that is so potent and universally effective, it might work as part of an unconventional vaccine.

18 Feb 2015

UNICEF and UNAIDS go ‘All In’ to end the AIDS epidemic among adolescents

AIDS has become the second leading cause of death among adolescents globally. Just one in four children and adolescents under the age of 15 have access to life-saving antiretroviral treatment. Deaths are declining in all age groups, except among 10–19 year olds.

17 Feb 2015

Researchers describe new family of bacteria common in malaria mosquitoes

A new family of bacteria that are common in malaria mosquitoes has been described by researchers at Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU) and Uppsala University in Sweden, Justus-Liebig-Universität Giessen, Germany, and the Veterinärmedizinische Universität, Austria.

17 Feb 2015

Rutgers patient gets second chance at life following liver transplant

Mati Muñoz is 65 years old - filled with the enthusiastic energy that comes with a second chance at life. A decade ago, says Muñoz, who lives in Woodbridge Township, N.J., her liver was being destroyed by hepatitis C, a viral disease she believes she contracted as a girl in her native Cuba from a poorly sterilized needle used in a medical procedure.

17 Feb 2015

Discovery offers much needed information about how virulent insect-borne diseases cause infection

For decades, scientists have thought the bacteria that cause the bubonic plague hijack host cells at the site of a fleabite and are then taken to the lymph nodes, where the bacteria multiply and trigger severe disease. But UNC School of Medicine researchers discovered that this accepted theory is off base. The bacteria do not use host cells; they traffic to lymph nodes on their own and not in great numbers.

16 Feb 2015

KU Leuven researchers find aggressive form of HIV in Cuba

Engaging in unprotected sex with multiple partners increases the risk of contracting multiple strains of HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. Once inside a host, these strains can recombine into a new variant of the virus. One such recombinant variant observed in patients in Cuba appears to be much more aggressive than other known forms of HIV.

16 Feb 2015

Researchers report first evidence of Seoul hantavirus in wild rats in the Netherlands

In a paper just published in the peer reviewed journal Infection, Ecology & Epidemiology, researchers report discovering the first evidence of Seoul hantavirus (SEOV) in the wild rat population in the Netherlands. The discovery comes on the heels of similar ones in France, Belgium and the United Kingdom in recent years, and has some researchers concerned about the potential spread of the virus to humans.

16 Feb 2015

Climate change causes emergence of more infectious diseases

The appearance of infectious diseases in new places and new hosts, such as West Nile virus and Ebola, is a predictable result of climate change, says a noted zoologist affiliated with the Harold W. Manter Laboratory of Parasitology at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

16 Feb 2015

Consortium formed to develop program to improve health outcomes for Ebola patients

Scripps Translational Science Institute will lead a consortium of four partners to develop a program through which wearable, wireless health sensors, a wireless vital signs monitoring platform and advanced analytics technology will be tested in a new "precision medicine" approach designed to improve health outcomes for Ebola patients, increase the safety of health care workers and reduce risk of spreading the virus to others.

16 Feb 2015

Door-to-door campaing encourages people to get tested for hepatitis C and to get linked to care

In Philadelphia, as in many cities, neighborhoods with high rates of hepatitis C virus (HCV) often also have limited access to screening and treatment. A new study in the Journal of General Internal Medicine shows that when expert advocates made a focused effort in a medically underserved area, they were able to help vulnerable patients leap each of the many hurdles that often keep people out of care.

15 Feb 2015

Cervarix effective against other common cancer-causing HPVs

According to a multinational clinical trial involving nearly 20,000 young women, the human papilloma virus vaccine, Cervarix, not only has the potential to prevent cervical cancer, but was effective against other common cancer-causing human papillomaviruses, aside from just the two HPV types, 16 and 18, which are responsible for about 70 percent of all cases.

15 Feb 2015

Virology News and Research

Latest Virology News and Research

New study links chicken pox and shingles virus to giant cell arteritis in elderly

Natalizumab drug helps scientists confirm how 'viral reservoirs' form in HIV patients

Novasep selected to commercially biomanufacture Celladon's Mydicar API

UT Dallas study reports new gene therapy approach

New molecule shows promise in controlling HIV without using daily antiretroviral drugs

MD Anderson, CATCH Global Foundation partner to lower cancer risk in children

San Francisco AIDS Foundation unveils new mobile testing unit

TDF monotherapy ‘reasonable’ option in entecavir-resistant HBV

Long-term TDF ‘promising’ in Chinese HBV patients after multiple antiviral failures

TSRI scientists develop new drug candidate against HIV

UNICEF and UNAIDS go ‘All In’ to end the AIDS epidemic among adolescents

Researchers describe new family of bacteria common in malaria mosquitoes

Rutgers patient gets second chance at life following liver transplant

Discovery offers much needed information about how virulent insect-borne diseases cause infection

KU Leuven researchers find aggressive form of HIV in Cuba

Researchers report first evidence of Seoul hantavirus in wild rats in the Netherlands

Climate change causes emergence of more infectious diseases

Consortium formed to develop program to improve health outcomes for Ebola patients

Door-to-door campaing encourages people to get tested for hepatitis C and to get linked to care

Cervarix effective against other common cancer-causing HPVs

Small solutions for big problems in drug discovery and delivery

Professor Nancy Ip: Pioneering New Paths in Neurodegenerative Therapy

Utilizing process Raman in optimizing cultivated meat production