Virology News and Research

Latest Virology News and Research

China struggles to cope with killer virus amid earthquake devastation

The death toll in China from hand-foot-mouth disease has now risen to 42 with another 24,934 children sickened by the deadly virus; all the fatalities have been children.

15 May 2008

Cuba increasing HIV prevention efforts targeted at MSM, health official says

Health officials in Cuba this year will focus HIV prevention messages at men who have sex with men, Rosaida Ochoa, director of the National Center for the Prevention of Sexually Transmitted Diseases and HIV, said recently, EFE News Service reports.

13 May 2008

Chicago Tribune magazine examines HIV/AIDS among children, adolescents in U.S.

The Chicago Tribune Magazine on Sunday examined HIV/AIDS among children and adolescents in the U.S. According to the Tribune, there are about 6,000 children and young adults living with HIV/AIDS in the country.

13 May 2008

Increased research, determination needed in HIV/AIDS vaccine efforts, HIV vaccine enterprise head says

The disappointment that followed the cancellation of a Merck vaccine trial in September 2007 has been replaced by a renewed determination among the scientific community, Alan Bernstein, executive director of the Global HIV Vaccine Enterprise, said ahead of the 25th anniversary of the scientific paper announcing the discovery of HIV, the CP/Yahoo! News reports.

13 May 2008

Another outbreak of bird flu in Seoul - all poultry in the city culled

A second outbreak of bird flu in Seoul, the capital of South Korea in less than a week has prompted the culling of all domestic fowl in the city.

13 May 2008

Death toll in China now at 39 as 5 more children die from enterovirus 71

The death toll in China from enterovirus 71 (EV71) has risen to 39 with the deaths of five more children; EV71 belongs to the same family as the polio virus and is a strain of hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD).

13 May 2008

Study shows how T cell's machinery dials down autoimmunity

A St. Jude Children's Research Hospital study shows that T cells, the body's master immune regulators, do not use simple on/off switches to govern the cellular machinery that regulates their development and function. Rather, they possess sophisticated molecular controls that enable them to adjust their function with exquisite precision. Such subtle adjustment enables T cells to modulate their development and function, including avoiding autoimmunity

12 May 2008

New data reveals impact of deadly human papillomavirus in Latin America, Caribbean

Thirty-three thousand women in Latin America and the Caribbean die each year of preventable cervical cancer, caused by a virus that infects 20 percent of men and women in the region and as many as 30 percent of the youngest women, according to a new study.

12 May 2008

New plan says no vaccination no school

New proposals by Britain's Labour government will see children banned from starting primary school unless they have been vaccinated.

12 May 2008

Japanese authorities fear bird flu spread in wild birds

The discovery of another swan killed by bird flu in Japan has concerned health authorities.

11 May 2008

Southeast Asian officials meet in Laos to discuss HIV/AIDS prevention

Officials with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations recently met in Laos to examine methods of addressing the increasing rate of HIV/AIDS in the region, Xinhuanet reports.

11 May 2008

New theory suggests how hepatitis C may cause rare immune disease

Of the hepatitis alphabet, the C variant may be the nastiest. In 1990, researchers observed that most patients with hepatitis C also develop a rare autoimmune disease called mixed cryoglobulinemia, a condition that frequently leads to cancer, arthritis or both.

10 May 2008

Human cytomegalovirus mimics human protein to hijack cell division machinery

Viruses are masters of deception, duping their host's cells into helping them grow and spread. A new study has found that human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) can mimic a common regulatory protein to hijack normal cell growth machinery, disrupting a cell's primary anti-cancer mechanism.

8 May 2008

Scientist discovers mechanism that 'silences' unmatched genes during cellular reproduction

When most people discover mold on their bread, they immediately throw it out. Others see a world of possibilities in the tiny fungus. A University of Missouri scientist, along with a collaborative research team, has examined a new mechanism in the reproductive cycle of a certain species of mold.

8 May 2008

Scientists identify key roadblock to gene expression

A team of scientists has provided, for the first time, a detailed map of how the building blocks of chromosomes, the cellular structures that contain genes, are organized in the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster. The work identifies a critical stop sign for transcription, the first step in gene expression, and has implications for understanding how the AIDS virus regulates its genes. The findings will be published in the 15 May 2008 issue of the journal Nature

8 May 2008

China struggling to come to grips with enterovirus 71

As health authorities in China struggle to come to grips with an outbreak of the intestinal virus EV71 or Enterovirus 71, the Ministry of Health is urging local health officials to step up public health education.

8 May 2008

Bird flu pandemic risk just as real and probably growing

Experts are warning that the risk of a human bird flu pandemic remains just as real and is in fact probably growing.

8 May 2008

U.N. launches workplace HIV program

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Tuesday launched U.N. Cares, a new workplace HIV program that will provide such services as training, counseling and testing for U.N. staff and their families, Xinhua/China View reports.

7 May 2008

Scientists discover how reverse transcriptase molecules interact with the HIV genome

Using ingenious molecular espionage, scientists have found how a single key enzyme, seemingly the Swiss army knife in HIV's toolbox, differentiates and dynamically binds both DNA and RNA as part of the virus' fierce attack on host cells. The work is described this week in the journal Nature.

7 May 2008

GenVec announces grant for respiratory syncytial virus vaccine program

GenVec, Inc. announced today that it has received an Advanced Technology Phase I Small Business Innovation and Research (SBIR) grant from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, of the National Institutes of Health, to support the Company's efforts to develop vaccines for the prevention of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV).

7 May 2008