Virus News and Research

Latest Virus News and Research

HIV needs human protein - potential therapy target

Mayo Clinic virologists have discovered that a specific human protein is essential for HIV to integrate into the human genome.

7 Sep 2006

China appears to have beaten the world to a bird flu vaccine

Scientists in China have developed a potential vaccine against the deadly H5N1 bird flu virus currently sweeping across Asia.

7 Sep 2006

Fewer deaths from cancer in the U.S.

According to a new report fewer Americans are dying of cancer even though the rates of new cancers remains the same.

7 Sep 2006

GPS the latest tool in fight against avian influenza

Wearing light solar-powered GPS satellite transmitters, wild swans from Mongolia are winging their way across Eurasia, while land-bound scientists tracking the birds' journeys on computers say that these unique studies will shed light on how wild birds may be involved in the spread of avian influenza.

6 Sep 2006

Libyan retrial of foreign medics stalls yet again

The retrial of six foreign medics accused of infecting hundreds of Libyan children with the virus that causes AIDS has been adjourned yet again until September 12th.

6 Sep 2006

H5 and N1 avian influenza found in Pennsylvania wild bird samples

The U.S. Departments of Agriculture and Interior today announced that the presence of the H5 and N1 avian influenza subtypes in samples from wild mallard ducks in Pennsylvania.

5 Sep 2006

Iraqis allegedly infected with HIV in 1980s through contaminated blood products file civil lawsuit

Three groups in Iraq -- including about 35 Iraqis who allegedly contracted HIV through contaminated blood products in the 1980s -- have filed a civil lawsuit against the country's Ministry of Health and two companies that sold blood products, the New York Times reports.

5 Sep 2006

India primarily to promote condom use in HIV prevention programs

India primarily will promote condoms to prevent HIV transmission as part of the government's five-year, $2.5 billion HIV/AIDS initiative, Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss said recently, Bloomberg News reports.

5 Sep 2006

Namibia launches HIV/AIDS information booklet in Braille

Namibia on Tuesday launched an information booklet on HIV/AIDS in Braille in an effort to reach blind and visually impaired people, Namibia's New Era reports.

5 Sep 2006

Messy nappies may be sign of severe intestinal infection

Anyone who's ever cared for an infant or young child knows what it's like to change the occasional smelly, messy diaper.

5 Sep 2006

New map for human genome expression

ExonHit Therapeutics has announced the completion of a new messenger RNA (transcripts) map coming from human genome expression.

5 Sep 2006

Bird flu flys into Egypt again

Four new cases of bird flu have been detected in poultry in Egypt, after a two month infection free period.

5 Sep 2006

Indian woman infected with HIV forced to abort her own baby

According to officials in India, a pregnant HIV-positive woman was forced to abort her own foetus after doctors and nurses in the government hospital in Kolkata in eastern India, shunned her and told her they would not help her undergo an abortion.

5 Sep 2006

Bird flu: a new sampling campaign is planned in Africa

Asia, Europe, Africa... The bird flu epidemic has not needed a passport to cross borders, but has almost certainly required a vector.

4 Sep 2006

Induction of potent antitumor immunity by intratumoral injection of IL-23 transduced dendritic cells

One therapy for treating brain tumors alerts the immune system to the presence of foreign material. A second therapy enhances the first and prolongs the immune system's response.

4 Sep 2006

Sanofi pasteur begins shipping influenza vaccine

Sanofi pasteur, the vaccines business of the sanofi-aventis Group, began shipping influenza vaccine (Fluzone, Influenza Virus Vaccine) to the U.S. market for the 2006-2007 season.

4 Sep 2006

Ducks in Pennsylvania found with a strain of bird flu

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has found bird flu in wild ducks in Crawford County in northwestern Pennsylvania as part of a routine sampling procedure, but the strain is apparently not the deadly H5N1 strain currently sweeping across Asia.

4 Sep 2006

U.S. Sen. Obama to call for more funding for microbicides, HIV/AIDS education, nutrition programs

U.S. Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) during his visit to Kenya and South Africa as part of a two-week visit to Africa said he wants to increase the proportion of HIV/AIDS funding for nutrition for HIV-positive people, as well as increase support for HIV/AIDS education and outreach campaigns and the development of microbicides.

1 Sep 2006

Some parents have difficulties gaining access to insurance coverage for HPV vaccine Gardasil

Some parents seeking to vaccinate their daughters with Merck's human papillomavirus vaccine Gardasil have experienced difficulty in obtaining it or getting it covered by health insurance, the AP/Seattle Post-Intelligencer reports (Tanner, AP/Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 8/29).

1 Sep 2006

Researchers discover how cyclophosphamide chemotherapy drug helps a cancer-killing virus

Researchers here have discovered how a specific chemotherapy drug helps a cancer-killing virus. The virus is being tested in animals for the treatment of incurable human brain tumors.

31 Aug 2006