Virology News and Research

Latest Virology News and Research

H7 influenza may spillover repeatedly into humans, say scientists

The H7N9 avian flu strain that emerged in China earlier this year has subsided for now, but it would be a mistake to be reassured by this apparent lull in infections. The virus has several highly unusual traits that paint a disquieting picture of a pathogen that may yet lead to a pandemic, according to lead scientists from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

10 Jul 2013

UBC researchers develop vaccine to halt spread of West Nile Virus in birds

University of British Columbia researchers have developed a vaccine that may halt the spread of West Nile Virus among common and endangered bird species.

10 Jul 2013

McMaster University researchers identify three factors that influence pandemic influenza

Three waves of the deadliest influenza pandemic in history, known as the Spanish flu, hit England and Wales in 1918, just as World War 1 was coming to an end.

10 Jul 2013

Sorrento Therapeutics, BGN partner to develop therapeutic antibodies for Hepatitis C Virus

Sorrento Therapeutics, Inc. and B.G. Negev Technologies and Applications Ltd., the technology transfer company of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, have announced an option and license agreement to develop therapeutic products to treat Hepatitis C Virus.

10 Jul 2013

Age-old practice of annual screening exams for cervical cancer may be harmful than helpful

For decades, women between the ages of 21 and 69 were advised to get annual screening exams for cervical cancer. In 2009, however, accumulating scientific evidence led major guideline groups to agree on a new recommendation that women be screened less frequently: every three years rather than annually.

10 Jul 2013

Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus currently unlikely to cause a pandemic, finds study

New estimates of the transmissibility of the Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) in humans suggest that it does not yet have pandemic potential, according to research published in The Lancet.

9 Jul 2013

Young patient survives deadly virus with minimal neurological deficits

Rhode Island Hospital successfully treated a 21-year-old patient with severe neuroinvasive Eastern Equine Encephalitis (EEE), minimizing neurological deficits and resulting in a very positive outcome. The findings from this treatment are published online in advance of print in the journal Neurocritical Care.

9 Jul 2013

Oklahoma Norman campus researchers receive OCAST grants for health research projects

Four University of Oklahoma Norman campus researchers were awarded OCAST grants for health research projects on subjects that range from the development of bone grafts using adult stem cells to the identification of genes to block parasite development in mosquitoes to new drug development pipelines to improvements in limb movement.

9 Jul 2013

ERC awards grants to boost research on vaccines

Vaccination has achieved huge success in controlling many devastating infectious diseases. However, there are still many such diseases, or 'pathogens', against which we cannot generate life-long protective immunity.

9 Jul 2013

Study shows very few physicians follow HPV and cervical cancer prevention guidelines

Recent breakthroughs in cervical cancer prevention have resulted in new vaccination and cervical cancer screening guidelines. Recommendations do not always translate into practice, however.

9 Jul 2013

Seattle researchers map critical molecules that regulate inflammation during flu infection

The influenza virus' ability to mutate quickly has produced new, emerging strains that make drug discovery more critical than ever. For the first time, researchers at Seattle BioMed, along with collaborators at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital and the University of Washington, have mapped how critical molecules regulate both the induction and resolution of inflammation during flu infection.

6 Jul 2013

Assay identifies T cells as most capable of fighting infections and cancers

The idea of fighting infections and even cancers by inducing protective immune responses may now be a step closer to clinical practice. Researchers have removed a major obstacle to widespread use of so-called adoptive transfer therapy, in which a patient receives "killer" immune cells targeting a disease agent. Existing technologies can easily provide T cells that will recognize a specific antigen, but it has been challenging to identify individual cells most likely to succeed in fighting the disease - until now.

4 Jul 2013

Research shows lower daily dose of HIV drug therapy suppresses virus

Millions more people could get access to life-saving HIV drug therapy, following a landmark study led by Australian researchers based at the Kirby Institute at the University of New South Wales (UNSW).

4 Jul 2013

Key HIV drug prices continue to fall, but newer medicines still priced too high

International medical humanitarian organisation Médecins Sans Frontières today released its annual report Untangling the Web of ARV Price Reductions,at the International AIDS Society conference in Kuala Lumpur.

3 Jul 2013

Researchers study existence of cross-protection between multiple strains of infectious disease

Using a unique data set spanning 40 years of dengue fever incidence in Thailand, an international team led by biostatistician Nicholas Reich at the University of Massachusetts Amherst has for the first time estimated from data that after an initial dengue infection, a person is protected from infection with other strains for between one and three years.

3 Jul 2013

Study shows smokers, single men more likely to acquire cancer-causing oral HPV

Smokers and single men are more likely to acquire cancer-causing oral human papillomavirus (HPV), according to new results from the HPV Infection in Men (HIM) Study. Researchers from Moffitt Cancer Center, the National Cancer Institute, Mexico and Brazil also report that newly acquired oral HPV infections in healthy men are rare and when present, usually resolve within one year.

3 Jul 2013

Researchers identify two promising candidates for development of drugs to combat adenovirus

Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory have identified two promising candidates for the development of drugs against human adenovirus, a cause of ailments ranging from colds to gastrointestinal disorders to pink eye.

3 Jul 2013

Researchers report that aerobic exercise can lessen or worsen ulcerative colitis symptoms

Aerobic exercise can lessen - or worsen - the symptoms of inflammatory bowel diseases such as ulcerative colitis, depending on the circumstances under which the exercise is undertaken, researchers report.

3 Jul 2013

NIDA grants $3.3M to design vaccine conferring immunity to nicotine

A chemical component present in the nightshade family of plants is one of the world's most tenaciously addictive substances. It is the nicotine contained in tobacco and found in high concentrations in cigarettes. Smoking remains a global scourge; in the U.S. it is the leading source of preventable death.

3 Jul 2013

Gene therapy developed by UAB cures pediatric Sanfilippo Syndrome A in animal models

A single session of a gene therapy developed by the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) cures Sanfilippo Syndrome A in animal models. This syndrome is a neurodegenerative disease that affects between 1 and 9 out of every 100,000 children, and causes the death of the child on reaching adolescence.

3 Jul 2013

Virology News and Research

Latest Virology News and Research

H7 influenza may spillover repeatedly into humans, say scientists

UBC researchers develop vaccine to halt spread of West Nile Virus in birds

McMaster University researchers identify three factors that influence pandemic influenza

Sorrento Therapeutics, BGN partner to develop therapeutic antibodies for Hepatitis C Virus

Age-old practice of annual screening exams for cervical cancer may be harmful than helpful

Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus currently unlikely to cause a pandemic, finds study

Young patient survives deadly virus with minimal neurological deficits

Oklahoma Norman campus researchers receive OCAST grants for health research projects

ERC awards grants to boost research on vaccines

Study shows very few physicians follow HPV and cervical cancer prevention guidelines

Seattle researchers map critical molecules that regulate inflammation during flu infection

Assay identifies T cells as most capable of fighting infections and cancers

Research shows lower daily dose of HIV drug therapy suppresses virus

Key HIV drug prices continue to fall, but newer medicines still priced too high

Researchers study existence of cross-protection between multiple strains of infectious disease

Study shows smokers, single men more likely to acquire cancer-causing oral HPV

Researchers identify two promising candidates for development of drugs to combat adenovirus

Researchers report that aerobic exercise can lessen or worsen ulcerative colitis symptoms

NIDA grants $3.3M to design vaccine conferring immunity to nicotine

Gene therapy developed by UAB cures pediatric Sanfilippo Syndrome A in animal models

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