Virus News and Research

Latest Virus News and Research

Biota and MedImmune announce clinical trial for respiratory syncytial virus antiviral drug

Biota Holdings Limited and MedImmune Inc. today announced the start of a Phase Ia clinical trial for their respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) antiviral drug, BTA9881, with the goal of providing a treatment for RSV-infected infants and adults.

17 Jul 2007

Cutaneous T-cell lymphoma becomes more common in U.S.

The cancer known as cutaneous T-cell lymphoma became substantially more common in the United States between 1973 and 2002, according to a report in the July issue of Archives of Dermatology.

17 Jul 2007

A challenge to the ancient origin of SIVagm based on African Green Monkey mitochondrial genomes

Monkey viruses related to HIV may have swept across Africa more recently than previously thought, according to new research from The University of Arizona in Tucson.

17 Jul 2007

Do vaccines promote a false sense of security?

A new study examines whether a vaccine that offers only partial protection can backfire by increasing risky behavior, as a false sense of security could make recipients less careful than they otherwise would be.

16 Jul 2007

Key mechanism to emergence of deadly strep bacteria discovered

The incidence of serious strep infections has risen dramatically in the last three decades, and this increase is largely attributed to the spread around the globe of a single strain of strep known as the invasive M1T1 clone.

16 Jul 2007

Norovirus infection on cruise ships

The Health Protection Agency working closely with the cruise industry through the Passenger Shipping Association (PSA) and with the Maritime and Coastguard Agency and the Association of Port Health Authorities today published Guidance for the Management of Norovirus Infection in Cruise Ships.

16 Jul 2007

Calypte announces India approval for HIV test

Calypte Biomedical Corporation has announced that it has received registration and marketing approval for its Aware HIV-1/2 OMT (oral fluid) rapid test in India from the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation, commonly referred to as the Drug Control Authority of India ("DCAI").

12 Jul 2007

Bavarian Nordic granted new European patent on modified vaccinia virus Ankara

The European Patent Organisation (EPO) has granted a patent to Bavarian Nordic which further strengthens its intellectual property position on MVA in Europe.

12 Jul 2007

Bird flu checks back in to Czech Republic

The Czech Republic has found two new outbreaks of bird flu on poultry farms near where the deadly strain of the virus was found a few weeks ago.

12 Jul 2007

Genetically engineered herpes simplex virus keeps arteries free-flowing

A genetically engineered herpes simplex virus, primarily known for causing cold sores, may help keep arteries "free-flowing" in the weeks following angioplasty or stent placement for patients, according to research published early in the online edition of PNAS (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America).

11 Jul 2007

Vietnamese aims to increase access to HIV care, treatment

The Vietnamese government has issued a series of documents aimed at increasing access to HIV/AIDS care and treatment in the country in an effort to keep the country's HIV prevalence below 0.27% in 2007, the Vietnam News Agency reports.

11 Jul 2007

Novavax licenses virus-like particle from Wyeth

Novavax, Inc. has announced that is has signed a non-exclusive, worldwide license agreement with Wyeth, to obtain rights to a patent application covering virus-like particle (VLP) technology for use in human vaccines in certain fields of use.

10 Jul 2007

Bacterial biofilms

In one of the first potential applications of synthetic biology, an emerging field that aims to design and build useful biomolecular systems, researchers from MIT and Boston University are engineering viruses to attack and destroy the surface biofilms that harbor harmful bacteria in the body and on industrial and medical devices.

10 Jul 2007

MacroGenics investigational new drug for West Nile vrus monoclonal antibody is active

MacroGenics has announced that the company's investigational new drug (IND) application to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for its monoclonal antibody targeted to West Nile Virus is now active.

10 Jul 2007

El Salvador needs to take increased HIV/AIDS control efforts

Although health officials in El Salvador have launched an HIV testing campaign in the country, some advocates say that the country needs to take increased efforts to control the growing number of HIV cases in the country, Inter Press Service reports.

10 Jul 2007

Etravirine reduces HIV viral loads when taken with Prezista

The experimental antiretroviral drug etravirine, made by Johnson & Johnson subsidiary Tibotec Pharmaceuticals, greatly reduces HIV viral loads in people with a history of drug resistance when taken in combination with Tibotec's antiretroviral Prezista, according to two studies published Saturday in the journal The Lancet.

10 Jul 2007

Modified herpes virus - a killer of cancer cells

Scientists have developed a virus specifically designed to target cancer tissue while not affecting normal healthy tissue.

9 Jul 2007

Olive-pomace oil slows down AIDS

Olive oil has become part of the fight against the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) - the cause of AIDS - thanks to the research carried out by the Bionat team, from the University of Granada, headed by Prof. Andres Garcia-Granados, senior lecturer in Organic Chemistry.

9 Jul 2007

How the HIV virus mutates to escape the body's immune system

A pioneering collaborative study has discovered how the HIV virus evades the human body's immune system.

9 Jul 2007

Warning on Chikungunya virus

Fever, arthritis, and other symptoms occurring in people to who have recently traveled to islands in the Indian Ocean may signal infection with an imported virus called "chikungunya," reports a study in the May/June issue of the journal Medicine, published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a part of Wolters Kluwer Health.

9 Jul 2007