Virus News and Research

Latest Virus News and Research

New bird flu drug will provide new line of defence

Flu experts say a new flu drug with the ability to kill deadly strains of bird flu promises to provide a much needed third option should a pandemic occur.

28 Nov 2006

Chikungunya fever rampant in Sri Lanka's north

The Sri Lankan government has confirmed that the viral fever spreading rapidly amongst people in Jaffna, is the mosquito-borne Chikungunya fever.

28 Nov 2006

Bird flu crops up again in South Korea

South Korea has found the H5N1 strain of bird flu in chickens at a poultry farm.

27 Nov 2006

Man sent to prison for knowingly spreading HIV

A man in the U.S. infected with HIV, who knowingly exposed three women to the virus, has been sentenced to almost three years in prison.

27 Nov 2006

Number of reported HIV/AIDS cases in China increased 28% in 2006

The number of reported HIV/AIDS cases in China increased by 28% in the first 10 months of 2006, and the virus appears to be spreading to a broader population, China's Ministry of Health said Wednesday in a report posted on its Web site, Reuters reports.

23 Nov 2006

US orders more bird flu vaccine for the stockpile

The U.S. government has ordered enough vaccine to protect another 2.7 million people against bird flu.

22 Nov 2006

Report card for HIV/AIDS a dismal one

According to the latest report the AIDS epidemic is in fact getting worse rather than better.

21 Nov 2006

India told to wake up to AIDS catastrophe

India has been warned by the director of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and a senior official of the UN that it is on the brink of an AIDS catastrophe.

20 Nov 2006

HHS purchases more vaccines for an influenza pandemic

HHS has announced the purchase of additional vaccine that could be used in the event of a potential influenza pandemic.

20 Nov 2006

Experts say Britain vulnerable to bird flu pandemic

Experts in Britain believe the government should have stockpiled more than one antiviral drug in order to tackle a bird flu pandemic and say Britain has been left vulnerable because the stockpile of anti virus drugs is deficient.

20 Nov 2006

India's persistent polio problem could be solved with a new vaccine

Today Polio has been eradicated in much of the world and is now only found in a few countries such as India, Nigeria, Pakistan and Afghanistan.

20 Nov 2006

Indian state to tackle workplace HIV discrimination

India's wealthiest state, Maharashtra is about to become the first state to introduce a policy which aims to attack the discrimination suffered by those infected with HIV in the workplace.

20 Nov 2006

Templated self-assembly of quantum dots from aqueous solution using protein scaffolds

Quantum dots are rapidly becoming biomedical researchers' tool of choice for adding a fluorescent label to a wide variety of biomolecules.

20 Nov 2006

Brookhaven target compounds to fight SARS

Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory have set the stage for the rapid identification of compounds to fight against severe acquired respiratory syndrome (SARS), the atypical pneumonia responsible for about 800 deaths worldwide since first recognized in late 2002.

20 Nov 2006

Cigarette smoking and high HPV concentrations associated with greater risk of cervical cancer

Cigarette smoking and concurrent infection with high levels of the virus associated with cervical cancer can increase cancer risk by as much as 27 times, according to a study published in the November 2006 issue of Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention.

19 Nov 2006

Scientists find key to mutations in bird flu virus

An international group of scientists say they have found two spots on the H5N1 bird flu virus that will need to mutate for the virus to infect people more easily.

16 Nov 2006

MChip to detect H5N1

Scientists from the University of Colorado at Boulder and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have developed an inexpensive "gene chip" test based on a single influenza virus gene that could allow scientists to quickly identify flu viruses, including avian influenza H5N1.

14 Nov 2006

HIV prevention campaign promoting condom use among Chilean youth sparks debate among politicians, Catholic church

A new government-sponsored campaign in Chile promoting condom use among youth in an effort to reduce the spread of HIV in the country has "provoked the ire" of the Roman Catholic Church and some conservative political parties, the Miami Herald reports.

14 Nov 2006

Brookhaven target new anti-SARS virus drugs

Scientists at Brookhaven National Laboratory have set the stage for the rapid identification of compounds to fight against severe acquired respiratory syndrome (SARS), the atypical pneumonia responsible for about 800 deaths worldwide since first recognized in late 2002.

14 Nov 2006

Discovery of a simian immunodeficiency virus infection in wild gorillas

In 2005, 40.3 million people in the world, including 25.8 million in Sub-Saharan Africa, were living with HIV. The question of the origin of HIV-1, responsible for the AIDS pandemic, has been stimulating the scientific community for many years.

13 Nov 2006