Virus News and Research

Latest Virus News and Research

Typhoid on Christmas Island

As of now people seeking asylum on Christmas Island will have to wait to be transferred to mainland Australia, after typhoid fever was detected on the island.

27 Feb 2012

WHO removes India from list of countries with endemic Polio

India is nearly free of deadly paralyzing viral infection polio. Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad says the WHO removed India from the list Saturday after the country passed one year without registering any new cases. This means only three countries with endemic polio — Pakistan, Nigeria and Afghanistan. India must pass another two years without new cases to be declared polio-free.

27 Feb 2012

Flu season starts late but may be just as virulent: CDC

Dr. Joseph Bresee, chief of the epidemiology prevention branch at the influenza division at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), said for the third consecutive week this season the percent of respiratory specimen testing positive for flu surpassed 10 percent, which is generally a marker to indicate the flu season has begun. “This is the latest start to a flu season in the past 29 years,” said Dr. Bresee.

27 Feb 2012

Cross-protective vaccines will make a bout with influenza less severe

An emerging class of long-lasting flu vaccines could do more than just save people the trouble of an annual flu shot.

27 Feb 2012

India taken off WHO list of polio endemic countries

"India was taken off a list of polio endemic countries by the World Health Organization on Saturday, marking a massive victory for health workers battling the crippling disease" and "leav[ing] just three countries with endemic polio -- Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nigeria," Agence France-Presse reports (2/26).

27 Feb 2012

Scripps Florida receives NIH grant to create novel HIV inhibitors

A Scripps Florida team has been awarded nearly $1.5 million by the National Institutes of Health to identify and develop novel potent inhibitors of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), the cause of AIDS.

27 Feb 2012

New technique effective in jumpstarting defective immune systems against many diseases

In a study published in Nature Medicine, Loyola researchers report on a promising new technique that potentially could turn immune system killer T cells into more effective weapons against infections and possibly cancer.

26 Feb 2012

Bird flu may be more common and less deadly: Study finds

The H5N1 influenza virus commonly called “bird flu” or “avian flu” could be more prevalent and less deadly than health officials had thought, according to a new study published online (Feb. 23) by the journal Science.

26 Feb 2012

Additional discussion needed before final decision made on publication of bird flu studies

Attendees of a recent WHO meeting that discussed the possible publication in the journals Nature and Science of two studies that modified H5N1 bird flu strains to show the virus could be more easily transmissible among humans decided publication of redacted versions would be ineffective and that "a system for distributing the full paper only to selected individuals would be impossible to set up on any relevant timescale," a Nature editorial states.

24 Feb 2012

Scientists identify promising strategy for HIV vaccine design

HIV has eluded vaccine-makers for thirty years, in part due to the virus' extreme ability to mutate. Physical scientists and clinical virologists from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the Ragon Institute in Cambridge, Mass., have identified a promising strategy for vaccine design using a mathematical technique that has also been used in problems related to quantum physics, as well as in analyses of stock market price fluctuations and studies of enzyme sequences.

24 Feb 2012

Unknown facets of biological mechanism that immune cells use for creating free radicals

Sometimes our immune defence attacks our own cells. When this happens in the brain we see neurodegenerative diseases such as dementia, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease. But if the the immune defence is inhibited, the results could be disastrous.

23 Feb 2012

Routine hepatitis C testing of the middle aged could save thousands of lives: CDC report

Increasing number of people are dying of damaged livers due to hepatitis C infection. Federal health officials are considering whether anyone born between 1945 and 1965 should get a one-time blood test to check if they are harboring the dangerous virus. Two-thirds of people with hepatitis C are in this age group, most unaware that a virus that takes a few decades to do its damage has festered since their younger days.

22 Feb 2012

Russian government's censorship of websites with harm reduction methods for drug users helps fuel HIV epidemic, IPS reports

"A recent government crackdown on Russian media, particularly online information portals specializing in health tips and harm reduction methods for drug users, has sparked widespread public opposition, with critics claiming that the 'draconian silencing' of public health advocates could worsen an already perilous health situation in the country," Inter Press Service reports.

22 Feb 2012

WHO meeting decides to extend moratorium on bird flu research, delay full publication of two studies detailing lab-modified strains

A group of 22 public health and influenza experts reached a consensus on Friday at a WHO-convened meeting regarding the work of two research teams that created genetically altered strains of the H5N1 bird flu virus that are easily transmissible among ferrets, a laboratory model for humans, a WHO press release reports.

22 Feb 2012

PNAS selects six papers to receive 2011 Cozzarelli Prize

The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) Editorial Board has selected six papers published by PNAS in 2011 to receive the Cozzarelli Prize, an award that recognizes outstanding contributions to the scientific disciplines represented by the National Academy of Sciences.

22 Feb 2012

Immunization against flu during pregnancy can influence fetal growth

Vaccinating pregnant women against the influenza virus appears to have a significant positive effect on birth weight in babies, according to a study published in CMAJ.

22 Feb 2012

New triple-therapies found cost-effective for chronic hepatitis C patients with advanced liver disease

A towering $60,000 bill, a year of fierce, flu-like symptoms and a running risk of depression are among the possible costs of two new hepatitis C treatments. But according to Stanford University health policy researchers, they might be worth it.

21 Feb 2012

Deadly flu virus research may be published for the advancement of science but more risk assessment needed says WHO

According to the World Health Organization, the two controversial studies that explain how scientists mutated the H5N1 bird flu virus into a form that could cause a deadly human pandemic will be published only after experts fully assess the risks.

20 Feb 2012

Study reveals potential strength of different anti-HIV combination drugs

Using a mathematical formula that carefully measures the degree to which HIV infection of immune system cells is stalled by antiretroviral therapy, AIDS experts at Johns Hopkins have calculated precisely how well dozens of such anti-HIV drugs work, alone or in any of 857 likely combinations, in suppressing the virus. Results of the team's latest research reveal how some combinations work better than others at impeding viral replication, and keeping the disease in check.

19 Feb 2012

Bristol-Myers Squibb awards 3 new grants to enhance HBV and HCV prevention, diagnosis and care

The Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation has awarded three new grants to improve prevention, diagnosis and care of hepatitis B (HBV) and hepatitis C (HCV) in China and India as part of its Delivering Hope: Awareness, Prevention and Care umbrella program which is committed to reducing hepatitis-related health disparities in Asia.

19 Feb 2012

Virus News and Research

Latest Virus News and Research

Typhoid on Christmas Island

WHO removes India from list of countries with endemic Polio

Flu season starts late but may be just as virulent: CDC

Cross-protective vaccines will make a bout with influenza less severe

India taken off WHO list of polio endemic countries

Scripps Florida receives NIH grant to create novel HIV inhibitors

New technique effective in jumpstarting defective immune systems against many diseases

Bird flu may be more common and less deadly: Study finds

Additional discussion needed before final decision made on publication of bird flu studies

Scientists identify promising strategy for HIV vaccine design

Unknown facets of biological mechanism that immune cells use for creating free radicals

Routine hepatitis C testing of the middle aged could save thousands of lives: CDC report

Russian government's censorship of websites with harm reduction methods for drug users helps fuel HIV epidemic, IPS reports

WHO meeting decides to extend moratorium on bird flu research, delay full publication of two studies detailing lab-modified strains

PNAS selects six papers to receive 2011 Cozzarelli Prize

Immunization against flu during pregnancy can influence fetal growth

New triple-therapies found cost-effective for chronic hepatitis C patients with advanced liver disease

Deadly flu virus research may be published for the advancement of science but more risk assessment needed says WHO

Study reveals potential strength of different anti-HIV combination drugs

Bristol-Myers Squibb awards 3 new grants to enhance HBV and HCV prevention, diagnosis and care

A new way of characterising biomolecules eBook

Exploring the role of confocal-based high-content imaging in advancing core facilities

Transforming Cardiovascular Care: Insights from Mina Makar at AstraZeneca

Clue's CEO Rhiannon White on the Future of Femtech and PCOS

Virus News and Research

Latest Virus News and Research

A new way of characterising biomolecules eBook

Exploring the role of confocal-based high-content imaging in advancing core facilities

Transforming Cardiovascular Care: Insights from Mina Makar at AstraZeneca

Clue's CEO Rhiannon White on the Future of Femtech and PCOS

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