Virus News and Research

Latest Virus News and Research

UN warns bird flu will be around for quite a while

A warning has been issued by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) with regard to the deadly H5N1 bird flu virus.

27 Jun 2007

Breakthrough in understanding of noroviruses

A breakthrough announced this week by scientists at the University of Southampton's School of Medicine will lead to greater understanding of noroviruses, the most common cause of non-bacterial gastroenteritis around the world.

27 Jun 2007

Bird flu and summer come together in Bavaria

Health officials in Germany say the deadly H5N1 virus has reappeared in the country.

25 Jun 2007

Vaccine for human cytomegalovirus

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences have patented a strategy for developing a human vaccine to prevent against Human Cytomegalovirus (hCMV) infection and disease.

23 Jun 2007

Deficiencies in antenatal HIV testing

The current antenatal HIV screening system fails to take into account the ongoing risk of exposure, warn doctors in the British Medical Journal (BMJ).

23 Jun 2007

Tamiflu could halve the pandemic influenza death toll versus no intervention

Treatment with the oral antiviral Tamiflu (oseltamivir) and prophylaxis for people exposed to infected patients could be one of the most cost-effective strategies for reducing illness and death during an influenza pandemic.

23 Jun 2007

New understanding of modern pandemic infection

Human resistance to a retrovirus that infected chimpanzees and other nonhuman primates 4 million years ago ironically may be at least partially responsible for the susceptibility of humans to HIV infection today.

23 Jun 2007

Discomfort and disability caused by shingles can be avoided

The painful, burning twinge and irritate skin that can be an early warning sign of shingles is often overlooked or misdiagnosed at the time when antiviral medications can be effected at shortening the outbreak.

23 Jun 2007

Scientists show protein accelerates breast cancer progression in animal models

The study is being published in an advanced online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

23 Jun 2007

Adenovirus used to destroy cancer cells

With nearly $1 million in government funding, University of Rochester scientists are testing a new innovation in biotherapy by altering a common childhood respiratory virus, the adenovirus, to destroy cancer cells.

23 Jun 2007

Entecavir can compromise HIV treatment

Treating hepatitis B patients with the drug entecavir can cause those who are also infected with HIV to become resistant to two of the most important drugs in the anti-HIV arsenal, according to a new report in the New England Journal of Medicine.

23 Jun 2007

Drug warning prompts treatment changes for those infected with hepatitis B and HIV

Cross-resistance alarms raised earlier this year by Johns Hopkins researchers about a widely used antiviral therapy for hepatitis B liver infections have prompted swift treatment revisions by the drug's maker and governmental agencies.

23 Jun 2007

Women's perspectives on male circumcision as HIV prevention method

PlusNews/Mail & Guardian on Wednesday examined women's perspectives on male circumcision as an HIV prevention method. Informal discussions with women "reveal a range of concerns, preferences and views" that governments and researchers should consider before planning a national circumcision program, PlusNews/Mail & Guardian reports (PlusNews/Mail & Guardian, 6/20).

22 Jun 2007

PepTcell vaccine could provide immunity against all strains of influenza virus

Previously undisclosed pre-clinical data showing how a new flu vaccine has the potential to protect against all strains of influenza, including pandemic and annual, was presented by PepTcell, at the 2007 Options for the Control of Influenza VI (Options) Conference, in Toronto, Canada.

20 Jun 2007

Six medics back in court in Tripoli amid hopes for compensation deal

The Palestinian doctor sentenced to death along with five Bulgarian nurses for allegedly infecting 426 Libyan children with the HIV virus has been Bulgarian citizenship.

20 Jun 2007

Global stockpile of H5N1 vaccines

The World Health Organization (WHO) today announced that it is working with vaccine manufacturers to move ahead on plans to create a global stockpile of vaccine for the H5N1 avian influenza virus.

19 Jun 2007

Predicting danger of flu pandemic rests on differences in affected population

Simple Models of Influenza Progression Within a Heterogeneous Population, Dr. Richard C. Larson, a former president of INFORMS and a professor at MIT, discusses the importance of forecasting and ultimately limiting the spread of disease while taking into account the different infection rates among those who might contract the disease.

19 Jun 2007