Virus News and Research

Latest Virus News and Research

Number of suspected Ebola cases in Uganda rises to 36; Outbreak has killed 14

The number of confirmed or suspected cases of Ebola in Uganda has risen to 36, according to a WHO spokesperson, who added the disease remains confined to the rural Kibaale district, NPR's health blog "Shots" reports.

2 Aug 2012

Study supports HPV-only screening

A single high-risk human papilloma virus-positive test can predict the development of cervical neoplasias for up to 18 years, a large, American study shows.

2 Aug 2012

HIV people with high CD4 counts could work more hours per week

In a first-of-its-kind health campaign in Uganda, researchers from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill show that adults with HIV who had less severe infections could work more hours per week, and their children were more likely to be enrolled in school.

1 Aug 2012

GSK begins shipping the first lots of 2012-2013 seasonal influenza vaccines

GlaxoSmithKline announced today it has begun shipping the first lots of 2012-2013 FluLaval (Influenza virus vaccine) and Fluarix (Influenza Virus Vaccine) to CDC distribution centers and U.S. healthcare providers.

1 Aug 2012

Cervical cancer screening product from DySIS Medical recommended by NICE

DySIS Medical Ltd, the medical devices company in female health, announces that the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (‘NICE’) has today published positive diagnostics guidance recommending its DySIS cervical cancer screening product to be considered in procurement plans.

1 Aug 2012

Médecins Sans Frontières help fight Ebola outbreak in Uganda

An emergency team from the international medical humanitarian organisation Médecins Sans Frontières is in Kigadi, in western Uganda’s Kibaale district, to help fight an outbreak of the Ebola virus. Other Médecins Sans Frontières teams in Uganda are closely monitoring the situation.

1 Aug 2012

Bristol-Myers Squibb, Prosetta partner to discover and develop new antiviral drugs

Prosetta Antiviral Inc today announced the execution of a strategic alliance with Bristol-Myers Squibb Company to further discover and develop select drug candidates representing new, novel classes of antiviral drugs.

31 Jul 2012

Two new targets could enhance the body's defenses against West Nile and hepatitis C

Two new targets have been discovered for antiviral therapies and vaccines strategies that could enhance the body's defenses against such infectious diseases as West Nile and hepatitis C. The targets are within the infection warning system inside living cells.

31 Jul 2012

Views on AIDS: More funding will be needed for new attack on HIV; The epidemic hits hard in the South

The international AIDS conference in Washington has already made two points clear. There is no prospect that scientists will any time soon find the ultimate solutions to the AIDS epidemic, namely a vaccine that would prevent infection with the AIDS virus or a "cure" for people already infected with the virus.

31 Jul 2012

Ebola outbreak identified in Uganda

"The world's first major outbreak of Ebola hemorrhagic fever since 2009 has killed at least 14 of 20 people infected in a remote area of midwestern Uganda," the Wall Street Journal reports (Bariyo/McKay, 7/29).

30 Jul 2012

Progress with GSK in advancing VaxiRNA technology earns Alnylam $3.2M milestone payment

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a leading RNAi therapeutics company, announced today that it has earned a development milestone payment from GlaxoSmithKline, totaling $3.2 million. The milestone payment is related to progress in the companies' collaboration on the use of VaxiRNA technology for the production of GSK influenza vaccine.

30 Jul 2012

Some AIDS experts view health law coverage expansion with hope

Meanwhile, the Obama administration announced it would add new funds to increase access to HIV/AIDS care, but questions remain about whether it will be enough to address waiting lists for the drug assistance program. Also in the news, reports on treatment developments.

30 Jul 2012

EASL calls on the UN to take action to fight against viral hepatitis infection

Marking World Hepatitis Day, the European Association for the Study of the Liver (EASL) calls on the different organizations which make up the United Nations systems to take action to fight against Viral Hepatitis (Hepatitis B and C), a potentially fatal infection of the liver which affects 500 million people.

30 Jul 2012

Study examines how heterosexual men with HIV seek health care and support services

Heterosexual men make up a small but growing number of people infected with HIV in Canada. Yet a new study has found that many of them feel existing HIV-related programs and services don't meet their needs and are geared primarily or exclusively toward gay men and heterosexual women who are living with the virus.

30 Jul 2012

Health systems must prepare for aging population living with HIV

"Many health systems are not ready to cope with the relatively new phenomenon" of people living with HIV (PLHIV) growing older, PlusNews reports. "Data on aging with HIV is largely restricted to the developed world and very little is known about older Africans living with virus, despite the high caseload in this region," the news service writes, adding, "A July 2012 supplement of the medical journal, AIDS, notes that an estimated three million people in sub-Saharan Africa aged 50 and older are HIV-positive -- 14 percent of all infected adults.

30 Jul 2012

Early ART treatment delays AIDS-related health events in HIV-infected individuals

Further analyses of the landmark NIH-funded treatment-as-prevention study (HPTN 052) have found that providing antiretroviral treatment to HIV-infected individuals earlier, when their immune systems are healthier, delays AIDS-related health events, such as chronic herpes simplex virus and tuberculosis, as well as death. Additionally, researchers found that earlier HIV treatment is also cost-effective because it increases survival, prevents costly opportunistic infections and averts transmission of the virus to uninfected individuals.

30 Jul 2012

Recent release: AIDS response should be 'instrument for social justice'

"It is outrageous that, in 2012, when we have everything we need to beat AIDS, we are still fighting prejudice, stigma, and exclusion," UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibe writes on the Human Rights and HIV/AIDS "Now More Than Ever" blog, adding, "It is my daily reminder that the AIDS response is not just about an epidemic; the AIDS response is, has been, and must be, an instrument to fight for social justice."

28 Jul 2012

Research presented at AIDS 2012 conference renews hope of cure for AIDS

Two studies presented at the XIX International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2012) and one published Wednesday in the British journal Nature "have given researchers renewed hope that a cure for AIDS may be possible," the Washington Post reports.

28 Jul 2012

Experimental dengue vaccine protects against 3 of 4 viral strains, study results show

"The world's first vaccine against dengue fever, being developed by French drugmaker Sanofi SA, protected against three of the virus's four strains in a keenly awaited clinical trial in Thailand," the company announced on Wednesday, Reuters reports.

28 Jul 2012

NPR examines whether goal of treating all HIV-positive people with ARVs is feasible

Noting new guidelines released at the XIX International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2012) in Washington, D.C., this week "call for everybody with HIV to be started on antiretroviral drugs [ARVs] as soon as they test positive for the virus," NPR's "Shots" blog examines "whether the goal is achievable, and who would pay for this enormous expansion in treatment."

27 Jul 2012