Virology News and Research

Latest Virology News and Research

U.S. tuberculosis rate in 2008 at record low

Tuberculosis rates in the U.S. reached a record low in 2008, but the disease still disproportionately affects minority and immigrant populations, according to a CDC report released Thursday in the agency's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, Reuters reports.

23 Mar 2009

Mozambican health officials advising HIV-positive women to breastfeed in some circumstances

Health officials in Mozambique are advising HIV-positive women to breastfeed their infants in certain circumstances, despite the risk of mother-to-child transmission of the virus, AIM/AllAfrica.com reports.

23 Mar 2009

Record number of HIV diagnoses reported in New Zealand

New Zealand reported 184 HIV diagnoses last year, the highest on record, according to recently released statistics from University of Otago's AIDS Epidemiology Group, the NZPA/New Zealand Herald reports.

23 Mar 2009

Increased schooling slowing HIV/AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa

Increased schooling across sub-Saharan Africa may be lowering new HIV infections among younger adults, according to sociologists, suggesting a shift in a decades-long trend where formal education is considered an AIDS risk factor.

22 Mar 2009

Tobacco for drug synthesis

Tobacco isn't famous for its health benefits. But now scientists have succeeded in using genetically modified tobacco plants to produce medicines for several autoimmune and inflammatory diseases, including diabetes. The research is published in the open access journal BMC Biotechnology.

20 Mar 2009

New TB vaccine developed using a genetically modified adenovirus

McMaster University researchers are about to launch Canada's first tuberculosis (TB) vaccine clinical trial with a vaccine totally designed, manufactured and tested within McMaster.

20 Mar 2009

Researchers investigate new way to block reproduction of the hepatitis C virus

Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) researchers are investigating a new way to block reproduction of the hepatitis C virus (HCV) - targeting not the virus itself but the human genes the virus exploits in its life cycle.

20 Mar 2009

Potential colon cancer being tested

Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine have begun testing a vaccine that might be able to prevent colon cancer in people at high risk for developing the disease.

20 Mar 2009

FDA issues warning on sharing insulin pens and cartridges

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has issued an alert to health care professionals reminding them that single-patient insulin pens and insulin cartridges should not be used to administer medication to multiple patients due to the potential risk of transmitting blood-borne pathogens such as HIV and the hepatitis viruses.

19 Mar 2009

Experimental vaccine shows promise in preventing cytomegalovirus infection

Each year, approximately 8,000 infants in the United States develop severe hearing, mental or movement impairments after becoming infected with cytomegalovirus (CMV), a common virus passed onto them while still in the womb.

19 Mar 2009

HPV vaccine may prevent preterm births

Chronic human papilloma virus (HPV)-infections can lead to cellular changes in the cervix that can be a pre-stage to cervical cancer.

17 Mar 2009

Engineering flu vaccines

A new computerized method of testing could help world health officials better identify flu vaccines that are effective against multiple strains of the disease.

17 Mar 2009

FDA looks at nanotechnology for the detection of anthrax

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has completed a "proof-of-concept" study of a test that quickly and accurately detects the presence of even the smallest amount of the deadly anthrax toxin.

17 Mar 2009

Suberoylanilide hydroxamic acid 'turns on' latent HIV

HAART (highly active anti-retroviral therapy) has emerged as an extremely effective HIV treatment that keeps virus levels almost undetectable; however, HAART can never truly eradicate the virus as some HIV always remains dormant in cells.

16 Mar 2009

Diabetes cure in mice - answer is adult stem cells

More than five years ago, Dr. Lawrence C.B. Chan and colleagues in his Baylor College of Medicine laboratory cured mice with type 1 diabetes by using a gene to induce liver cells to make insulin.

16 Mar 2009

Helix BioPharma receives approval to start phase II study of topical interferon alpha-2b in low-grade cervical lesions

Helix BioPharma Corp. announced that it has received the necessary regulatory approvals in Germany to initiate its planned Phase II pharmacokinetic study of Topical Interferon Alpha-2b in patients with low-grade cervical lesions.

16 Mar 2009

Combo therapy restores T cell numbers in HIV-infected individuals

White blood cells known as CD4+ T cells are the main target of HIV.

16 Mar 2009

Catching the common cold virus: researchers coming down with the rhinovirus genome

A new study by Brigham Young University researchers on the virus behind nearly half of all cold infections explains how and where evolution occurs in the rhinovirus genome and what this means for possible vaccines.

16 Mar 2009

Lexington Herald-Leader examines funding issues in Kentucky HIV/AIDS clinic

The Lexington Herald-Leader on Thursday examined funding issues faced by the Bluegrass Care Clinic, a Kentucky-based HIV/AIDS clinic that has seen a twofold increase in the number of patients over the last eight years, despite receiving no federal funding increases.

16 Mar 2009

ATCC develops and isolates novel avian flu monoclonal antibodies

ATCC (American Type Culture Collection) researchers have developed a panel of novel monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) against avian influenza viruses. These antibodies could lead to a rapid diagnostic test for the infection, ATCC announced today. The organization has filed a patent covering the development of these novel antibodies.

16 Mar 2009