Virology News and Research

Latest Virology News and Research

Gene variants associated with survival advantage in African Americans with HIV

From the start of the HIV epidemic, it appeared that some of the people who were infected with the virus were able to ward off the fatal effects of the disease longer than others.

20 Jul 2009

FDA approves vaccine for 2009-2010 flu season

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today announced that it has approved a vaccine for 2009-2010 seasonal influenza in the United States.

20 Jul 2009

Airlines blocking travellers suspected of having swine flu

According to the World Health Organization (WHO) the H1N1 influenza A pandemic (swine flu) has killed around a total of 430 people and as health officials worldwide grapple to deal with rapid rise in the number of cases, airlines in Britain are blocking travellers suspected of having swine flu.

20 Jul 2009

Swine flu jab may be available sooner

The Australian government is planning to spend $44 million over a four year period on extra vaccinations for seasonal flu - this will provide enough vaccinations for another 2.2 million people which will be available from January 1st next year.

20 Jul 2009

Researchers discover how flu damages lung tissue

A protein in influenza virus that helps it multiply also damages lung epithelial cells, causing fluid buildup in the lungs, according to new research from the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) and Southern Research Institute . Publishing online this week in the journal of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology, the researchers say the findings give new insight into how flu attacks the lungs and provides targets for new treatments.

19 Jul 2009

Fewer births in states such as California rates shifting rotavirus epidemics

Fewer births in states such as California may be delaying the annual onset of a common intestinal virus in the southwest, according to epidemiologists. The timing of infectious outbreaks in other locations such as the northeast remains more or less unchanged.

17 Jul 2009

South American health ministers gather in Argentina to discuss H1N1 preparedness

The health ministers of six South American countries gathered in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on Wednesday to "coordinate defenses against" the H1N1 (swine flu) virus which has killed nearly 200 people in the region," the AFP/Google.com reports.

16 Jul 2009

WHO gives up counting swine flu cases

In its latest briefing on the H1N1 influenza A pandemic (swine flu), the World Health Organisation (WHO) says the unprecedented speed of the spread of the virus means reporting requirements and the data needed for risk assessment, both within affected countries and at the global level, are changing.

16 Jul 2009

Swine flu warning issued to pregnant women

Health officials are warning pregnant women to be extra careful in the midst of the current swine flu pandemic after three pregnant patients in New South Wales are in intensive care after contracting the novel H1N1 influenza virus.

16 Jul 2009

Schering-Plough expands Vicriviroc study in treatment-naive patients with HIV

Schering-Plough Corporation has announced that it has extended to stage two an ongoing Phase II clinical study with vicriviroc, its investigational CCR5 antagonist, for use in first-line therapy of adult treatment-naive HIV-infected patients with R5-type virus only. In this study, vicriviroc is being evaluated in a novel nucleoside-sparing regimen that is designed to provide additional options for treatment-naive patients in a once daily regimen, while preserving other drug classes for subsequent lines of treatment.

15 Jul 2009

Flu mortality formula is potentially misleading, say scientists

A standard calculation used in forecasting potential numbers of deaths during the swine flu pandemic risks misleading healthcare planners by being open to both over- and under-estimation of the true figures, say the authors of new research published today in the British Medical Journal.

15 Jul 2009

'Unstoppable Swine flu' and how to deal with it

Health authorities worldwide are preparing for what the World Health Organisation (WHO) has termed the 'unstoppable' spread of the new A/H1N1 virus (swine flu) for which Dr. Margaret Chan, Director-General of WHO, says a vaccine will not be available for several months to come.

15 Jul 2009

WHO recommends vaccine makers move forward in mass production of H1N1 vaccine

"Saying the new H1N1 [swine flu] virus is 'unstoppable', the WHO gave drug makers a full go-ahead to manufacture vaccines against the pandemic influenza strain on Monday and said healthcare workers should be the first to get one," Reuters reports (Fox, 7/14).

15 Jul 2009

Developing countries can successfully combat HIV/AIDS epidemic with generics

Brazil's nearly two-decade effort to treat people living with HIV and AIDS shows that developing countries can successfully combat the epidemic. Inexpensive generic medicines are a large part of the solution, say researchers from Brown University and the Harvard School of Public Health.

14 Jul 2009

Discovery of brain-protecting protein

Johns Hopkins researchers have discovered a novel protein that can protect brain cells by interrupting a naturally occurring "stress cascade" resulting in cell death.

14 Jul 2009

U.S. to commit additional $1 billion to H1N1 vaccine development

HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said Sunday the U.S. has agreed to put an addition $1 billion towards ingredients for the production of a vaccine that offers protection against the H1N1 (swine flu) virus, Reuters reports.

13 Jul 2009

The latest news on swine flu

The latest update from the World Health Organization (WHO) has declared that as of the 6th of July the worldwide total of H1N1 influenza A cases (swine flu) had reached 94,512 including 429 deaths.

13 Jul 2009

U.S. moves forward with preparations for H1N1 vaccination campaign

The Obama administration on Thursday said a nationwide vaccination program could begin as early as mid-October to protect Americans from the H1N1 (swine flu) virus and pledged $350 million to help prepare communities across the country for this effort, the Washington Times reports (Ward, 7/9).

12 Jul 2009

Humans may give swine flu to pigs

The strain of influenza, A/H1N1, that is currently pandemic in humans has been shown to be infectious to pigs and to spread rapidly in a trial pig population.

9 Jul 2009

Obama cabinet members meet Thursday for H1N1 preparedness summit

"The White House, months before flu season, will roll out the big guns Thursday for a swine flu preparedness summit, underscoring the importance the Obama administration is placing on the pandemic," CNN reports.

9 Jul 2009