Virology News and Research

Latest Virology News and Research

Cervarix shows long-term protection from cervical cancer

New data demonstrate that GlaxoSmithKline's cervical cancer candidate vaccine, CERVARIX provides significant protection for women against the four most common cancer- causing human papillomavirus types for nearly six and a half years, the longest duration of protection reported to date.

12 Mar 2008

A quarter of teenage girls in the U.S. have a sex-related disease

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the United States has revealed that a quarter of teen girls have a sex-related disease.

11 Mar 2008

A simulated pandemic influenza outbreak in Chicago

By using computer simulations and modeling, an international group of researchers including scientists from the Virginia Bioinformatics Institute (VBI) at Virginia Tech's Network Dynamics and Simulation Science Laboratory (NDSSL) have determined how a pandemic influenza outbreak might travel through a city similar in size to Chicago, Ill.

11 Mar 2008

Long-term muscle improvements shown in gene therapy study in mice

Injecting a gene responsible for making a specific protein into a mouse that's used as a model for muscular dystrophy can lead to long-term improvements in the animal's muscle size and strength, a new study shows.

11 Mar 2008

Another bird flu case in Egypt...

Health authorities in Egypt announced last week that another child has been hospitalized with the H5N1 avian virus, the country's second case in a child in less than a week.

11 Mar 2008

Japanese find way to make flu vaccine effective for multiple strains

Japanese scientists say they are well on the way to developing influenza vaccines which are effective for multiple strains of the disease, including strains of the bird flu virus.

11 Mar 2008

Gardasil reduces abnormal Pap test results

A significant drop in abnormal Pap test results happened after girls and women were given a vaccine to prevent cervical cancer, according to a researcher at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB).

10 Mar 2008

Pandemic influenza could be mitigated if measures were implemented quickly

An outbreak of pandemic influenza in the U.S. could be mitigated with prompt implementation of social-distancing measures combined with antiviral treatment and prophylaxis until a vaccine is available, according to new findings published in the online Early Edition of PNAS.

10 Mar 2008

Another wild bird in Hong Kong tests positive for H5N1

Authorities in Hong Kong say a wild oriental magpie robin found dead ten days ago has tested positive for the deadly H5N1 strain of the bird flu virus.

9 Mar 2008

Research helps explain why some flu strains cause major pandemics and others lead to seasonal epidemics

The exchange of genetic material between two closely related strains of the influenza A virus may have caused the 1947 and 1951 human flu epidemics, according to biologists.

6 Mar 2008

ISG15 protein inhibits Ebola from reaching out to infect neighboring cells

Scientists at the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine have identified a protein, ISG15, that inhibits the Ebola virus from budding, the process by which viruses escape from cells and spread to infect neighboring cells.

6 Mar 2008

Neural progenitor cells as reservoirs for HIV in the brain

Impaired brain function is a prominent and still unsolved problem in AIDS.

6 Mar 2008

MIT cell-based sensor technology quickly detects airborne pathogens

Researchers at MIT Lincoln Laboratory have developed a powerful sensor that can detect airborne pathogens such as anthrax and smallpox in less than three minutes.

6 Mar 2008

Stark warning about HIV in Australia

A new study has a stark warning about HIV numbers in Australia. According to recent research, if current trends continue, parts of Australia could be facing a surge of HIV infection rates in the next 7 years.

5 Mar 2008

Warning of psychiatric side effects with flu drug Tamiflu

Warnings are being issued concerning the drug Tamiflu by both the drug company Roche and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the U.S.

5 Mar 2008

Aromatherapy and pain relief?

One of the most comprehensive investigations done to date on aromatherapy failed to show any improvement in either immune status, wound healing or pain control among people exposed to two often-touted scents.

4 Mar 2008

New research shows why winter is the season for flu

Researchers in the United States believe they have discovered why flu and other respiratory viruses are more prevalent in winter.

3 Mar 2008

HIV blocking gene found

A team of researchers at the University of Alberta, including a scientist at the University of Pennsylvania, have discovered a gene that is able to block HIV, and thought to in turn prevent the onset of AIDS.

1 Mar 2008

Evolutionary analysis of influenza viruses

Reassortment of the influenza A virus occurs frequently throughout its evolutionary history, according to a new study published February 29 in the open-access journal PLoS Pathogens.

1 Mar 2008