Virology News and Research

Latest Virology News and Research

Researchers identify how Ebola virus dodges the body's antiviral defenses

Researchers at the Washington University School of Medicine have identified one way the Ebola virus dodges the body's antiviral defenses, providing important insight that could lead to new therapies, in research results published in the journal Cell Host & Microbe.

30 Aug 2014

Semi-soft vaginal suppository provides drug-delivery vehicle to prevent spread of HIV

A unique method for delivering compounds that could positively impact the global battle against HIV and AIDS may be possible, thanks to researchers in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences.

30 Aug 2014

Viewpoints: GOP's 2015 Obamacare opportunities; the need for community health workers; WHO's Ebola response

In another sign that the politics of Obamacare continue to shift, the Medicaid expansion is now all but certain to come to another big state whose Republican governor had previously resisted it: Pennsylvania. ... The details of the final deal will matter. But broadly speaking this looks like another sign of just how hard it is for Republican governors in non-deep-red states to resist the expansion -; and of how the politics of this issue continue to change (Greg Sargent, 8/28).

30 Aug 2014

Blend of three monoclonal antibodies can protect monkeys against Ebola virus, says UTMB researcher

A leading U.S. Ebola researcher from the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston has gone on record stating that a blend of three monoclonal antibodies can completely protect monkeys against a lethal dose of Ebola virus up to 5 days after infection, at a time when the disease is severe.

30 Aug 2014

New paper highlights ways to improve outcomes of Ebola virus infection

The largest-ever Ebola virus disease outbreak is ravaging West Africa, but with more personnel, basic monitoring, and supportive treatment, many of the sickest patients with Ebola virus disease do not need to die, note the authors of a new paper published ahead of print publication in the American Thoracic Society's American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.

30 Aug 2014

Researchers make surprising discoveries about the body's early responses to HIV infection

Researchers at UC Davis have made some surprising discoveries about the body's initial responses to HIV infection. Studying simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV), the team found that specialized cells in the intestine called Paneth cells are early responders to viral invasion and are the source of gut inflammation by producing a cytokine called interleukin-1 beta (IL-1β).

30 Aug 2014

NIH to begin trials for experimental Ebola vaccine

The announcement about the testing comes as the outbreak in West Africa grows. The World Health Organizations says it could have infected more than 20,000 people.

30 Aug 2014

Researchers receive encouraging results from two historic pediatric HIV vaccine trials

Applying the benefit of hindsight, researchers at Duke Medicine have reanalyzed the findings of two historic pediatric HIV vaccine trials with encouraging results. The vaccines had in fact triggered an antibody response -- now known to be associated with protection in adults -- that was previously unrecognized in the infants studied in the 1990s.

29 Aug 2014

Researchers reveal transmission rate of MERS coronavirus

The MERS coronavirus has caused disease outbreaks across the Arabian Peninsula and spread to Europe several times. The severe pneumonia virus has claimed the lives of several hundred people since its discovery in 2012.

29 Aug 2014

First Edition: August 29, 2014

Today's early morning highlights from the major news organizations, including reports about the Obama administration and Pennsylvania reaching an agreement to expand Medicaid in that state.

29 Aug 2014

International consortium to accelerate collaborative multi-site trials of potential Ebola vaccine

A candidate Ebola vaccine could be given to healthy volunteers in the UK, The Gambia and Mali as early as September, as part of an series of safety trials of potential vaccines aimed at preventing the disease that has killed more than 1,400 people in the current outbreak in West Africa.

29 Aug 2014

NIH to start initial human testing of investigational Ebola vaccine next week

Initial human testing of an investigational vaccine to prevent Ebola virus disease will begin next week by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health.

29 Aug 2014

New treatment fights respiratory syncytial virus

The New England Journal of Medicine published research results on Aug. 21 from a clinical trial of a drug shown to safely reduce the viral load and clinical illness of healthy adult volunteers intranasally infected with respiratory syncytial virus (RSV).

29 Aug 2014

Researchers develop potential antibody therapy for Sudan ebolavirus

Researchers from Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University and other institutions have developed a potential antibody therapy for Sudan ebolavirus (SUDV), one of the two most lethal strains of Ebola.

29 Aug 2014

Respiratory infection control measures being adopted for Ebola patients are unnecessary and may heighten public panic

Respiratory infection control measures – which have been adopted by most health agencies to deal with the Ebola epidemic in west Africa – are unnecessary, and may heighten panic and fear among the public, according to the authors of a new letter, published in The Lancet, and written by Professor Jose M. Martin-Moreno from the University of Valencia in Spain, and colleagues.

28 Aug 2014

Researchers report possible therapy that could help treat patients infected with SUDV

Ebola is a rare, but deadly disease that exists as five strains, none of which have approved therapies.

28 Aug 2014

Study: Many HIV infected African-Americans may not be receiving effective doses of maraviroc drug

Many African-Americans may not be getting effective doses of the HIV drug maraviroc, a new study from Johns Hopkins suggests. The initial dosing studies, completed before the drug was licensed in 2007, included mostly European-Americans, who generally lack a protein that is key to removing maraviroc from the body.

28 Aug 2014

Zebrafish and virus help scientists map the living brain

A virus and a zebrafish are helping scientists map the living brain. "You can kinda draw a diagram and see how cells within it are connected in a functioning brain," said Dr. Albert Pan, neuroscientist at the Medical College of Georgia at Georgia Regents University.

26 Aug 2014

Viewpoints: Spreading Ebola treatments; Dems can win running on health law

A radical but promising proposal to help treat victims of the Ebola epidemic in West Africa appears to be gaining support among knowledgeable experts.

26 Aug 2014

TIM-family proteins also have ability to block release of HIV and other viruses

A family of proteins that promotes virus entry into cells also has the ability to block the release of HIV and other viruses, University of Missouri researchers have found.

26 Aug 2014

Virology News and Research

Latest Virology News and Research

Researchers identify how Ebola virus dodges the body's antiviral defenses

Semi-soft vaginal suppository provides drug-delivery vehicle to prevent spread of HIV

Viewpoints: GOP's 2015 Obamacare opportunities; the need for community health workers; WHO's Ebola response

Blend of three monoclonal antibodies can protect monkeys against Ebola virus, says UTMB researcher

New paper highlights ways to improve outcomes of Ebola virus infection

Researchers make surprising discoveries about the body's early responses to HIV infection

NIH to begin trials for experimental Ebola vaccine

Researchers receive encouraging results from two historic pediatric HIV vaccine trials

Researchers reveal transmission rate of MERS coronavirus

First Edition: August 29, 2014

International consortium to accelerate collaborative multi-site trials of potential Ebola vaccine

NIH to start initial human testing of investigational Ebola vaccine next week

New treatment fights respiratory syncytial virus

Researchers develop potential antibody therapy for Sudan ebolavirus

Respiratory infection control measures being adopted for Ebola patients are unnecessary and may heighten public panic

Researchers report possible therapy that could help treat patients infected with SUDV

Study: Many HIV infected African-Americans may not be receiving effective doses of maraviroc drug

Zebrafish and virus help scientists map the living brain

Viewpoints: Spreading Ebola treatments; Dems can win running on health law

TIM-family proteins also have ability to block release of HIV and other viruses

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