Virology News and Research

Latest Virology News and Research

Discovery of two effective antibodies for SARS

An international team of investigators has identified the first human antibodies that can neutralize different strains of the virus responsible for outbreaks of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS).

4 Jul 2007

Bird flu in Germany

The lethal H5N1 strain of bird flu has now been detected in two birds tested in the eastern state of Thueringen after as many as 100 birds of various types were found dead.

4 Jul 2007

Rethinking therapeutic cancer vaccine trials

Ongoing therapeutic cancer vaccine trials have yet to show evidence of vaccines spurring a patient's immune system to shrink tumors -- yet patients who receive these vaccines in trials tend to live longer and respond better to subsequent treatment.

3 Jul 2007

Melaka virus needs a new name

Health officials in Malaysia who had christened a newly discovered bat virus the 'Melaka Virus' will have to come up with another name after a protest from some government ministers.

2 Jul 2007

Prevention and control of zoonoses

Over 180 international scientific experts will meet for the next three days near Lucca, Italy, to discuss state-of-the-art advances in infectious diseases transmitted from animals to man, known as zoonoses.

29 Jun 2007

New drug resistance screening method

A growing number of drug-resistant strains of HIV are a threat to the effectiveness of current treatments despite anti-HIV drug cocktails decreasing the number of HIV-related deaths and improving the quality of life for HIV patients.

29 Jun 2007

Scientists create sheets of protein-gold arrays

In groundbreaking research, scientists have demonstrated the ability to strategically attach gold nanoparticles -- particles on the order of billionths of a meter -- to proteins so as to form sheets of protein-gold arrays.

28 Jun 2007

Australian scientists discover new reovirus

CSIRO scientists have played a key role in discovering that bats are the likely host of a new virus that can cause a serious but apparently non-fatal respiratory tract illness in humans.

28 Jun 2007

Many needle-stick injuries unreported

A survey of nearly 700 surgical residents in 17 U.S. medical centers finds that more than half failed to report needle-stick injuries involving patients whose blood could be a source of HIV, hepatitis and other infections.

28 Jun 2007

Trial shows CERVARIX cervical cancer candidate vaccine effective

Results from an interim analysis of a Phase III study show that CERVARIX, the GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) cervical cancer candidate vaccine, provides up to 100 percent protection against advanced precancerous lesions caused by the most common types of human papillomavirus, types 16 and 18.

28 Jun 2007

FDA fast tracks ViroPharma's treatment of hepatitis C

ViroPharma has announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted fast track designation for HCV-796 for treatment of hepatitis C virus infection.

28 Jun 2007

Bird flu swanning around Germany

Health authorities in Germany say they have identified three more cases of the lethal H5N1 strain of bird flu in swans, bringing the total number of wild birds now infected to nine.

27 Jun 2007

UN warns bird flu will be around for quite a while

A warning has been issued by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) with regard to the deadly H5N1 bird flu virus.

27 Jun 2007

Breakthrough in understanding of noroviruses

A breakthrough announced this week by scientists at the University of Southampton's School of Medicine will lead to greater understanding of noroviruses, the most common cause of non-bacterial gastroenteritis around the world.

27 Jun 2007

Bird flu and summer come together in Bavaria

Health officials in Germany say the deadly H5N1 virus has reappeared in the country.

25 Jun 2007

Vaccine for human cytomegalovirus

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences have patented a strategy for developing a human vaccine to prevent against Human Cytomegalovirus (hCMV) infection and disease.

23 Jun 2007

Deficiencies in antenatal HIV testing

The current antenatal HIV screening system fails to take into account the ongoing risk of exposure, warn doctors in the British Medical Journal (BMJ).

23 Jun 2007

Tamiflu could halve the pandemic influenza death toll versus no intervention

Treatment with the oral antiviral Tamiflu (oseltamivir) and prophylaxis for people exposed to infected patients could be one of the most cost-effective strategies for reducing illness and death during an influenza pandemic.

23 Jun 2007

New understanding of modern pandemic infection

Human resistance to a retrovirus that infected chimpanzees and other nonhuman primates 4 million years ago ironically may be at least partially responsible for the susceptibility of humans to HIV infection today.

23 Jun 2007

Discomfort and disability caused by shingles can be avoided

The painful, burning twinge and irritate skin that can be an early warning sign of shingles is often overlooked or misdiagnosed at the time when antiviral medications can be effected at shortening the outbreak.

23 Jun 2007