Virology News and Research

Latest Virology News and Research

Varicella zoster infection causes severe autoimmune hepatitis

Autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) is a chronic liver inflammation of unknown etiology that is characterized by the presence of circulatory autoantibodies and ongoing liver tissue damage.

2 Apr 2009

Hair helps predict HIV/AIDS treatment success

UCSF researchers have found that examining levels of antiretroviral drugs in hair samples taken from HIV patients on therapy strongly predicts treatment success.

2 Apr 2009

Researchers discover structure-building role for 2 non-coding RNAs

Most of the DNA in the nucleus of each of our cells is converted into RNA, but only a small fraction of these RNA molecules serve as coding templates for the synthesis of proteins.

2 Apr 2009

The immune system's role in hepatitis C recurrence after liver transplantation

A new study pinpoints certain aspects of the immune system that may play a role in the recurrence and progression of hepatitis C virus (HCV) after liver transplantation.

1 Apr 2009

Researchers examine norovirus gastroenteritis

A new study from the University of Southampton is examining why norovirus gastroenteritis - popularly referred to as 'gastric flu' - is confined to specific parts of the small intestine.

1 Apr 2009

Research looks at the elimination of hepatitis B and C

Two new studies in the April issue of Hepatology explore the ways that hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) can be cleared from patients' bodies.

1 Apr 2009

Explanation for poor infant immune response to certain vaccines

For years, researchers and physicians have known that infants' immune systems do not respond well to certain vaccines, thus the need for additional boosters as children develop.

1 Apr 2009

West Nile virus studies show how star-shaped brain cells cope with infection

A new study published as the cover article for the April 2009 issue of The FASEB Journal promises to give physicians new ways to reduce deadly responses to viral infections of the brain and spinal cord.

1 Apr 2009

Need for more African American HIV/AIDS researchers

African Americans, who make up 13 percent of the U.S. population, are disproportionately affected by AIDS, accounting for nearly 49 percent of newly diagnosed HIV/AIDS cases nationwide.

1 Apr 2009

New HIV drug may help patients not responding to treatment

A potential treatment for HIV may one day help people who are not responding to Anti-Retroviral Therapy, suggests new research published tomorrow in The Journal of Immunology.

1 Apr 2009

World's first nanofluidic device with complex 3-D surfaces

Researchers at the Commerce Department's National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and Cornell University have capitalized on a process for manufacturing integrated circuits at the nanometer (billionth of a meter) level and used it to develop a method for engineering the first-ever nanoscale fluidic (nanofluidic) device with complex three-dimensional surfaces.

1 Apr 2009

New insights into how brain responds to viral infection

Scientists at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health have discovered that astrocytes, supportive cells in the brain that are not derived from an immune cell lineage, respond to a molecule that mimics a viral infection using cellular machinery similar to that used by classical immune cells in the blood.

1 Apr 2009

Teacher-student relationships in Kenyan province places girls at increased risk for HIV, education official says

An increasing number of sexual relationships between teachers and students in Kenya's Nyanza province is placing girls at increased risk of HIV/AIDS, Geoffrey Cherongis, Nyanza's provincial director of education, said recently, IRIN/Plus News reports. Cherongis said that some HIV-positive teachers engage in sexual relations with female students and spread the virus to "young girls who hardly know the kind of thing they are getting into."

31 Mar 2009

Health officials in Canadian province develop communications strategy to address increase in HIV cases

Health experts are developing plans to increase HIV/AIDS awareness in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan in response to the virus' rising incidence in the province, Moira McKinnon, Saskatchewan's chief medical health officer, said recently, the Regina Leader-Post reports.

31 Mar 2009

ImQuest presents data on the anti-hepatitis B virus activity of Pyrimidinediones

ImQuest Life Sciences today presented important new results on the continued development of the pyrimidinedione small molecules as antiviral agents at the 13th International Symposium on Viral Hepatitis and Liver Disease meeting held last week in Washington D.C.

31 Mar 2009

Mutations within a conservative region of hepatitis C virus affect therapy

At least 200 million individuals are currently infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV) worldwide.

30 Mar 2009

Intercell receives FDA approval of IXIARO, novel vaccine for Japanese encephalitis

Intercell AG (VSE: ICLL) today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved IXIARO(R), a new vaccine for the prevention of Japanese Encephalitis (JE).

30 Mar 2009

AHF lauds ‘Lancet’ editorial criticizing Pope on condoms and HIV

AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) today lauded the respected British medical journal, 'The Lancet,' for its strongly-worded editorial criticizing Pope Benedict XVI for his public remarks early last week suggesting that condoms are fueling the spread of AIDS in Africa.

30 Mar 2009

Tampa Bay religious leaders join effort to address HIV/AIDS among the black community

The New York-based National Black Leadership Commission on AIDS -- which raises HIV/AIDS awareness in cities with high rates of the virus -- on Thursday established an affiliate in Tampa Bay, a "'badly needed'" effort, according to organizers, a St. Petersburg Times editorial states.

30 Mar 2009

FDA approves IXIARO for Japanese encephalitis

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved IXIARO, a vaccine to prevent Japanese encephalitis (JE) which is caused by a mosquito-transmitted virus found mainly in Asia. IXIARO will be the only vaccine for JE available in the United States.

30 Mar 2009