Virology News and Research

Latest Virology News and Research

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

WHO to recommend countries stop testing for H1N1

Within the next few days, the WHO "will recommend that countries stop trying to test all suspected cases of swine flu, said Keiji Fukuda, the agency's assistant director-general of health security and environment," Tuesday during a conference call with reporters, Bloomberg reports.

8 Jul 2009

Developing countries need $1 billion by end of year to cope with H1N1, U.N. says

Developing countries will need an estimated $1 billion by year's end to ensure their access to antivirals and vaccines to protect against the H1N1 (swine flu) virus, U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said Monday, AFP/Google.com reports. "Funding had 'not been flowing as expected,' following appeals in recent weeks, [Ban] added," according to the news service (7/6).

7 Jul 2009

U.S. military broad-based influenza monitoring system

The recent global swine flu outbreak has underscored the critical need for good surveillance and rapid access to epidemiological data. The US military, starting with early monitoring efforts in the 1970s, has developed a broad-based influenza monitoring system. In an article published in the September 2009 issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, researchers describe this little-known national jewel that has repeatedly made notable contributions to global influenza control through close collaboration with CDC, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the WHO, and many other partners.

7 Jul 2009

International health experts hold two-day H1N1 meeting

WHO leaders and international health ministers met Thursday for a two-day meeting in Cancun, Mexico, to share the lessons learned from the spread of H1N1 (swine flu) (Xinhua, 7/3) and strategies for "battling the pandemic," the AP/Washington Post reports (Rodriguez, 7/2).

7 Jul 2009