Virology News and Research

Latest Virology News and Research

7 health workers face firing squad after being detained for over 5 years

A Libyan court has sentenced six Bulgarian health workers and a Palestinian doctor convicted of spreading AIDS to death by firsing squad. The seven were originally arrested in February 1999 and have since been incarcerated in an inconspicuous grey compound in Tripoli's chaotic western suburbs.

6 May 2004

Experts conclude plans to control zoonoses, diseases transmitted from animals to humans

International experts today concluded a three-day international consultation on zoonoses, held by the World Health Organization (WHO) together with the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE), in collaboration with the Dutch Health Council.

6 May 2004

Investigation to find the source of the current SARS outbreak

Investigation of the source of the current outbreak, first reported on 22 April, continues to focus on the National Institute of Virology in Beijing. The institute is known to have conducted experiments using the live SARS coronavirus during February and March.

5 May 2004

West Nile Virus returns to United States for another season

The winter cold and flu season is barely over, and the new mosquito season won't really get rolling for a few more weeks, but the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) already is reporting the presence of West Nile Virus in mosquitoes, birds and other animals in nine states.

5 May 2004

World's first gene therapy trial aimed at preventing cancer

The concept seems straightforward. If, at its heart, cancer is a disease of genes, then giving patients new genes should disarm cancer. Such treatment would replace missing or faulty genes that keep cell growth in check, or would flush the body with "super genes" that could attack and destroy cancer.

5 May 2004

Trial of antibody for HIV Infection

Tanox, Inc. announced today that it has begun dosing patients in its Phase 2 clinical trial of TNX-355 for the treatment of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).

5 May 2004

Gene therapy helps alcoholic rats

As a follow up to previous work showing that gene therapy can reduce drinking in rats trained to prefer alcohol, scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory have used the same technique to cut drinking in rats with a genetic predisposition for heavy alcohol consumption.

5 May 2004

Virginia prepares for mosquito borne diseases

The Virginia Department of Health reminds residents that mosquito season has arrived, and with it the risk of mosquito-transmitted viral diseases that can cause brain inflammation/encephalitis in humans.

4 May 2004

New license agreement for rotavirus diarrhea vaccine

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), announced today a new license agreement aimed at helping to prevent hundreds of thousands of deaths annually from rotavirus diarrhea in children living in developing countries.

4 May 2004

New hope for advances in treatment methods for AIDS, Alzheimer's and age-related blindness

Pharmaceutical science leaders from the FDA, research institutions and top pharmaceutical companies will gather at the 2004 AAPS National Biotechnology Conference, AAPS' spring annual meeting.

4 May 2004

Computers to combat disease

A new initiative harnesses the USA's computing skill to enhance our ability to respond to disease epidemics and bioterrorism.

4 May 2004

New technique to deliver gene therapy to soft-tissue tumors

Using new research and technology that shows bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) will engraft at the site of a tumor and contribute to the growth of stromal fibroblasts (the healthy tissue surrounding a tumor)

2 May 2004

Intranasal influenza vaccine may help induce broader immunity in children than the traditional flu shot

MedImmune, Inc. has announced clinical data showing that a live, attenuated intranasal influenza vaccine (LAIV) may help induce broader immunity in children against drifted influenza strains when compared to the traditional flu shot (TIV).

2 May 2004

Once expected to die in early childhood, children born with HIV are now surviving into their teens

Once expected to die in early childhood, children born with HIV are now surviving into their teens and early adulthood thanks to research advances over the past decade. However, it's also likely these children will develop drug resistance due to sequential exposure to HIV treatments, including antiretroviral (ARV) therapies.

2 May 2004

Zoonoses, diseases transmitted from animals to humans

The World Health Organization (WHO) is hosting a three-day consultation to identify the factors that allow diseases to jump from animals to humans (zoonoses), as well as to improve surveillance systems for their monitoring and control.

1 May 2004

China, SARS ourbreak contained

Chinese authorities have today reported test results confirming that the 53-year-old woman who died in Anhui Province on 19 April was infected with the SARS coronavirus. The woman, a medical doctor, was the mother of a 26-year-old postgraduate student who had been conducting research at the National Institute of Virology in Beijing. The student remains hospitalized in Anhui.

30 Apr 2004

Health Canada urges Canadians to protect against West Nile Virus

Health Canada and its partners are reminding Canadians to take active steps to protect themselves from the risk of West Nile Virus.

29 Apr 2004

Chinese authorities announce 9th suspected SARS case

Chinese health authorities have announced that an additional case of SARS is under investigation. This brings the total number of cases in China, reported since 22 April, to nine. Of these, one has died.

29 Apr 2004

Pennsylvania launches West Nile virus surveillance program

Officials from the state departments of Agriculture, Environmental Protection and Health today joined representatives from Cumberland and Dauphin counties to launch Pennsylvania’s program to detect and control mosquitoes that carry West Nile virus.

28 Apr 2004

Two outbreaks in humans of deadly Nipah virus in reported Bangladesh

Wildlife Trust's Consortium for Conservation Medicine reports that the World Health Organization (WHO) has now confirmed two recent outbreaks in humans of deadly Nipah virus in Bangladesh. The Consortium has been researching the origins of Nipah virus under a grant from the National Institutes of Health.

28 Apr 2004