Virus News and Research

Latest Virus News and Research

Opinions: U.S. medical emergency response; micronutrients; rotavirus vaccine; antibiotic development

"[D]espite the tireless efforts of public health and health-care workers, America's experience with H1N1 shows that the nation is not prepared to deal with a flu pandemic," former Democratic Senator Bob Graham and former Republican Senator Jim Talent write in Washington Post opinion piece that examines U.S. preparedness for medical emergencies. The writers chaired the Commission on the Prevention of Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferation and Terrorism.

6 Jan 2010

Medicare begins to reimburse for HIV screening

The Hartford Courant reports that "testing for the virus among those 65 and older lags far behind testing of other Americans, and experts say they worry that HIV cases in older adults go undiagnosed — some because of the stigma that the disease still carries, some because patients might dismiss the symptoms of the virus as signs of other conditions more frequently associated with aging and some because doctors can be hesitant to talk to older patients about sex or link their symptoms with HIV."

6 Jan 2010

Quercetin may prevent hepatitis C infection; findings may lead to less toxic treatments

Researchers have identified two cellular proteins that are important factors in hepatitis C virus infection, a finding that may result in the approval of new and less toxic treatments for the disease, which can lead to liver cancer and cirrhosis.

6 Jan 2010

Also in global health news: Aid in S. Somalia; virus-resistant mosquitoes; composting toilets in Haiti; U.S. Congressional Group visits India

The U.N. World Food Program (WFP) announced Tuesday that it has been forced to halt "aid distribution to about 1 million people in southern Somalia because of attacks against staff and demands by armed groups that aid groups remove women from their teams," the Associated Press reports.

5 Jan 2010

Circumcision lowers HIV risk; changes bacterial community on penis microbiome

Circumcision, which substantially lowers HIV risk in men, also dramatically changes the bacterial communities of the penis, according to a study led by scientists at the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) and Johns Hopkins University and published Jan. 6 in the scientific journal PLoS ONE.

5 Jan 2010

Increased coffee consumption linked to reduced hepatic fibrosis

Researchers from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) determined that patients with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) who consumed more than 308 mg of caffeine daily had milder liver fibrosis. The daily amount of caffeine intake found to be beneficial is equivalent to 2.25 cups of regular coffee.

5 Jan 2010

Annelie Wendeberg presents protocol for identification of environmental microbes

Metagenomics, the study of DNA isolated from samples of naturally occurring microbial populations, is rapidly growing. Improvements to cloning and sequencing techniques are allowing researchers to study microorganisms in environmental samples, and new knowledge of species interactions and community dynamics is emerging.

5 Jan 2010

Vienna scientists develop new technique for producing H1N1 vaccines

Scientists in Vienna have developed a new technique for producing vaccines for H1N1, 'swine flu', based on insect cells. The research, published today in the Biotechnology Journal, reveals how influenza vaccines can be produced faster than through the traditional method of egg-based production, revealing a new strategy for the fight against influenza pandemics.

5 Jan 2010

Coformulation of rilpivirine and Truvada HIV drugs will achieve sales of more than $2 billion in 2018

Decision Resources, one of the world's leading research and advisory firms for pharmaceutical and healthcare issues, finds that, in 2018, the fixed dose coformulation of Tibotec's rilpivirine and Gilead's Truvada will achieve blockbuster sales of more than $2 billion in the HIV drug market in the United States, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom and Japan.

5 Jan 2010

Study examines relationship between parental vaccine refusal and risk of varicella infection in children

Children of parents who refuse vaccines are nine times more likely to get chickenpox compared to fully immunized children, according to a new study led by a vaccine research team at Kaiser Permanente Colorado's Institute for Health Research.

5 Jan 2010

New York Times examines U.S. H1N1 reponse

As the number of H1N1 (swine flu) cases in the U.S. continues to wane, the New York Times reflects on how federal officials handled the pandemic and other contributing factors.

5 Jan 2010

H1N1 vaccine available at Walgreens pharmacies and Take Care Clinics

Every Walgreens pharmacy, every day. The once-scarce H1N1 vaccine is now available daily at all of the more than 7,100 Walgreens pharmacies and 350 Take Care Clinics throughout the country.

5 Jan 2010

AP series examines worldwide impact of drug resistance

The Associated Press reports on how the misuse of drugs worldwide has contributed to drug-resistant diseases in a series of articles following a six-month investigation by the news service.

5 Jan 2010

Peginterferon alpha-2a yields better results in treating patients with chronic hepatitis C

In patients with chronic hepatitis C, treatment with peginterferon alpha-2a (PegIFNα2a) plus ribavirin (RBV) better suppresses the virus to undetectable levels in the blood than treatment with peginterferon alpha-2b (PegIFNα2b) plus RBV, according to two new head-to-head studies in Gastroenterology, the official journal of the American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) Institute.

5 Jan 2010

GIVI scientists discover anti-HIV molecule that enhances infection, reduces transmission

Scientists at the Gladstone Institute of Virology and Immunology (GIVI) have discovered a new agent that might inhibit the infectivity of HIV. The agent, surfen, impairs the action of a factor in semen that greatly enhances the viral infection.

5 Jan 2010

U.S. encounter with swine flu highlights health system weaknesses

As the number of H1N1 (swine flu) cases in the U.S. continues to wane, the New York Times reflects on how federal officials handled the pandemic and other factors that helped the situation. "The outbreak highlighted many national weaknesses: old, slow vaccine technology; too much reliance on foreign vaccine factories; some major hospitals pushed to their limits by a relatively mild epidemic," the newspaper writes.

4 Jan 2010

FDA grants Priority Review designation for InterMune's NDA for pirfenidone

InterMune, Inc. today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has accepted for review and granted Priority Review designation for the company's New Drug Application (NDA) for pirfenidone for the treatment of patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF).

4 Jan 2010