Virus News and Research

Latest Virus News and Research

Can hantavirus infection spread among humans?

In connection with last year's epidemic, a research team at Umea University in Sweden has managed for the first time to show that hantavirus exists in human saliva; this raises the question of whether this contagion can spread among humans

21 Jan 2008

Fifth swan tests positive for bird flu in Britain

The deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu has been found in another dead swan in Dorset in the UK.

20 Jan 2008

New HIV drug will help millions

Statistics released by the World Health Organisation (WHO) indicate that as many as 33 million people worldwide are currently living with the HIV virus which also killed 2 million people in 2007.

20 Jan 2008

Bird flu spreads in India

The latest bird-flu outbreak in India has now spread to two new districts in West Bengal, Nadia and Bardhaman where more dead birds have been found.

20 Jan 2008

Previously unknown Merkel cell polyomavirus linked to deadly skin cancer

A new strategy to hunt for human viruses described in this week's issue of the journal Science by the husband-and-wife team who found the cause of Kaposi's sarcoma has revealed a previously unknown virus strongly associated with another rare but deadly skin cancer called Merkel cell carcinoma.

18 Jan 2008

Current state of the art in glycoscience

Sugars were once credited with magical healing powers but are now seen like salt as an evil necessary in small doses but the cause of numerous diseases such as diabetes if taken in excess.

18 Jan 2008

Smallest particles from vehicle emissions may promote hardening of the arteries

Patients prone to heart disease may one day be told by physicians to avoid not only fatty foods and smoking but air pollution too.

18 Jan 2008

Scientists focus on Epstein-Barr virus

Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is a human-pathogenic virus which belongs to the herpes virus family.

18 Jan 2008

Cell death suppression increases efficacy of M2 vaccines

Significant public attention has recently been focused on the development of new anti-influenza (flu) vaccines that provide protection against a broad spectrum of viral strains.

17 Jan 2008

Extra-hepatic manifestation of hepatitis C virus infection

In 1994, the team of Tchernev and Petrova from Alexandrovska Hospital in Sofia examined a female patient with liver cirrhosis caused by chronic Hepatitis C virus (HCV).

17 Jan 2008

Viroporins, membrane-permeabilizing proteins of the poliomyelitis virus

A research team from the Universidad Autonoma de Madrid directed by Professor Luís Carrasco has published new discoveries concerning the membrane permeabilizing proteins of the polio virus.

16 Jan 2008

U.S. shingles statistics

Nearly 1 million Americans receive medical care for shingles or its complications each year, according to the latest News and Numbers from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

16 Jan 2008

Proteomic profiling shown more accurate than traditional biomarkers in identifying liver cancer

As the incidence of liver cancer continues to grow - fueled in large part, by rising rates of hepatitis C infections - so too does the need for tests to help diagnose the disease at an earlier stage.

16 Jan 2008

Unique role of apoptosis protein TRADD in viral signaling

Epstein-Barr virus is incredibly common in humans; up to 95% of adults in the developed world have been infected, which causes glandular fever and has been linked to the development of several forms of cancer.

16 Jan 2008

Researchers find cell protein that blocks HIV virus generation

UCLA researchers have found that a key protein in the body's dendritic cells can stop the virus that causes AIDS from "budding" part of the virus' life cycle that is crucial to its ability to replicate and infect other cells.

16 Jan 2008

Internet and IT increase physician disease reporting

With emerging diseases like the West Nile Virus, and re-emerging diseases such as the pandemic flu and drug-resistant tuberculosis, it's increasingly important to promptly detect a potential infectious outbreak within a community.

15 Jan 2008

Mouse model shows potential efficacy of HIV prevention strategy

A new kind of laboratory mouse can be used to test the efficacy of much-needed methods to prevent transmission of HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, according to research by J. Victor Garcia and colleagues at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas.

15 Jan 2008