Virus News and Research

Latest Virus News and Research

Antisocial behaviour in boys leads to poor health in men

A study of over 500 men born in the early 70s in Dunedin reveals that the costs associated with antisocial behaviour may be much higher than previously thought. The research led by scientists from the MRC Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Centre based at the Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London is published in Archives of General Psychiatry.

3 Apr 2007

New hope for a rabies cure

The appeal, by Rodney Willoughby, M.D., associate professor of pediatrics, appears in the April 2007 issue of Scientific American.

3 Apr 2007

Takeda acquires rights for drug to treat cervical dysplasia, HPV

Japanese pharmaceutical company Takeda on Friday announced that it has acquired from 3M the rights for a drug, called R-851, to treat cervical dysplasia and "high-risk" human papillomavirus infection, Reuters reports.

2 Apr 2007

President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief making significant contributions to the fight against HIV/AIDS pandemic

...but it needs to strengthen its prevention efforts and develop programs that ensure long-term sustainability in focus countries, according to a report released Friday by the Institute of Medicine and the National Research Council, the Washington Post reports

2 Apr 2007

Breast-feeding exclusively lowers risk of vertical HIV transmission to children in developing countries

HIV-positive women in developing countries could reduce the risk of transmitting the virus to their infants if they exclusively breast-feed rather than supplement breast milk with formula, animal milk or solid food, according to a study published in the March 31 edition of the Lancet, Reuters reports.

2 Apr 2007

Six centers of excellence for influenza research and surveillance established in U.S.

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) has announced it is awarding $23 million per year for seven years to establish six Centers of Excellence for Influenza Research and Surveillance.

2 Apr 2007

Efficacy of Ugandan HIV prevention programs decreasing

The efficacy of Uganda's HIV prevention programs is decreasing because a new generation of young people are no longer receiving the messages of fidelity that helped curb the country's HIV epidemic in the late 1980s and early 1990s, the Washington Post reports.

2 Apr 2007

California Senate Committee approves bill that would allow HIV-positive men to have sperm washed

The California Senate Health Committee on Wednesday voted unanimously to approve a bill (SB 443) that would allow HIV-positive men to have their sperm washed and used for fertility treatments, including artificial insemination and in vitro fertilization, under certain guidelines, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

2 Apr 2007

Breastfeeding significantly reduces risk of HIV transmission from mother to child

A study by scientists at the Africa Centre for Health and Population Studies, South Africa, has shown that exclusive breastfeeding can significantly reduce the risk of HIV transmission from mother to child in infants aged under six months when compared to those also given solid foods or replacement feed (i.e. formula milk).

2 Apr 2007

How does the highly pathogenic bird flu virus spread to new countries?

Might the domestic bird trade be responsible? Or is it wildfowl? Since last year, a team from CIRAD has been working on wildfowl. To date, the virus has not been detected in healthy wild birds, but many dead or dying birds have been found near infection foci.

2 Apr 2007

Pseudoknots an important step in developing a viral vaccine

How is virus as for example HIV and bird flu able to make the cells within a human body work for the purpose of the virus?

2 Apr 2007

MedImmune licenses reverse genetics technology to sanofi pasteur

MedImmune has announced that it has licensed its proprietary reverse genetics intellectual property to sanofi pasteur, the vaccines business of the sanofi-aventis Group, to support the development and construction of new vaccine strains to produce human seasonal, pre-pandemic and pandemic influenza vaccines.

1 Apr 2007

GlaxoSmithKline submits Biologics License Application (BLA) for CERVARIX

If licensed, the vaccine will be indicated for the prevention of cervical cancer and precancerous lesions associated with the most common cancer-causing human papillomavirus types.

1 Apr 2007

Viral protein is an effective preventative against infection

For parents, eight million cases of acute middle-ear infections every year adds up to a lot of sleepless nights and trips to the pediatrician.

25 Mar 2007

Canada budgets $258 million for human papillomavirus vaccination programs

The Canadian government on Monday announced that it is including about $258 million in the 2007-2008 budget to help pay for provincial human papillomavirus vaccination programs, Toronto's Globe and Mail reports.

22 Mar 2007

Hong Kong and China's Guangdong province will increase joint HIV surveillance and prevention efforts

According to Yu Dewen, spokesperson for the Guangdong health authority, because many new HIV cases are transmitted sexually, the two health departments will "launch a series of education campaigns to increase public awareness" about HIV/AIDS.

22 Mar 2007

AACR's Sixth Annual Landon Awards recognize Richard Kolodner, Douglas Lowy and John Schiller

Scientists whose discoveries have led to fundamental advances in the science and treatment of cancer are the recipients of two prestigious international prizes offered by the Kirk A. and Dorothy P. Landon Foundation and the American Association for Cancer Research.

22 Mar 2007

Microbix granted Canadian patent for vaccine technology

Microbix Biosystems has announced that it has been granted a patent by the Canadian Patent Office for its Vaccine Technology. This technology holds the promise of significantly boosting global production of influenza vaccines.

22 Mar 2007

Scientists discover new approach for treating virus-induced lymphomas

Kaposi's sarcoma herpesvirus (KSHV) is a human tumor virus and an etiological agent for Kaposi's sarcoma and primary effusion lymphoma (PEL). PELs are aggressive lymphomas with reported median survival time shorter than six months after diagnosis.

19 Mar 2007

Hepatitis A and Hepatitis B cases at lowest levels ever reported

The three most common forms of acute viral hepatitis in the United States -- hepatitis A, B and C -- declined dramatically between 1995 and 2005, with hepatitis A and B at the lowest levels ever recorded since the government began collecting surveillance data more than 40 years ago, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Hepatitis B and C are diseases that can lead to liver cancer and death.

15 Mar 2007