Virus News and Research

Latest Virus News and Research

Missing samples of deadly flu strain now found

World Health Organization (WHO) officials say that all but one of the deadly flu virus samples mistakenly sent to labs outside the United States have been destroyed.

20 Apr 2005

Breast cancer gene may play a major role in the recurrence of prostate cancer

A gene associated with breast cancer also may play a major role in the recurrence of prostate cancer, according to new research from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine and UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center.

20 Apr 2005

Concern over H2N2 freeze-dried powder being available over the Internet

The World Health Organization fears that a global pandemic could occur should the H2N2 virus, the "Asian flu" strain of 1957, be unwittingly released, the virus which was mistakenly included in routine test kits and sent to 61 laboratories in 18 countries outside the United States.

19 Apr 2005

Researchers insert engineered human stem cells into the spinal cords of ALS-afflicted rats

Unveiling a delivery method that may one day help surgeons treat the deadly neurodegenerative disease amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have inserted engineered human stem cells into the spinal cords of ALS-afflicted rats.

19 Apr 2005

Experimental vaccine targeting West Nile virus

A small trial testing the safety of an experimental vaccine targeting West Nile virus (WNV) opened today at the National Institutes of Health's (NIH) Clinical Center in Bethesda, MD.

19 Apr 2005

Scientists reveal the shape of a protein that helps retroviruses break into cells

Retroviruses are among the trickier and more malicious disease agents, causing AIDS and cancers such as leukemia. The viruses manage to sneak into cells with the help of special protein assemblies scattered all over their surfaces. These retrovirus surface proteins cause the membrane envelope of the virus to fuse with the membrane of the cell, spilling virus RNA into the cell to wreak damage.

13 Apr 2005

Test kit mistake - labs in race to destroy deadly flu virus

As many as 3,750 medical laboratories, all but 75 of which are in the U.S., have been told by the World Health Organization to destroy a pandemic flu virus sent to them as part of routine testing kits.

13 Apr 2005

Scientists have discovered the mechanism that enables some CD4 T cells - the main target of HIV - to thwart the virus

The discovery, reported on April 13 in the online version of Nature, could open the door to an entirely new strategy for preventing the spread of HIV infection in the body's cells, according to the senior author of the study, Gladstone Institute of Virology and Immunology Director Warner C. Greene, MD, PhD.

13 Apr 2005

Rates of cervical cancer could jump fourfold to a million a year by 2050

Deaths from cervical cancer could jump fourfold to a million a year by 2050, mainly in developing countries. This could be prevented by soon-to-be-approved vaccines against the virus that causes most cases of cervical cancer- but there are signs that opposition to the vaccines might lead to many preventable deaths. The trouble is that the human papilloma virus (HPV) is sexually transmitted.

13 Apr 2005

Marburg outbreak - experts struggling to get message across

Disease experts in Angola say it will be weeks before it is determined whether the on-going Marburg crisis can be averted in Angola where the disease has already killed at least 194 people.

12 Apr 2005

New medical uses for the Kunjin virus

Queensland Government scientists at the Department of Health Services have collaborated with scientists at the University of Queensland (UQ) and The Queensland Institute of Medical Research (QIMR) to discover new medical uses for the Kunjin virus.

12 Apr 2005

Vaccine against the virus that causes cervical cancer and genital warts shows promise

A vaccine against the virus that causes cervical cancer and genital warts could reduce persistent infection and disease by 90%, suggest the results of a randomised trial published online by The Lancet Oncology.

12 Apr 2005

Locals resist efforts to control the worst ever outbreak of Marburg

The World Health Organisation (WHO) have sent communications experts into Uige, the epicentre of the outbreak of Marburg epidemic to help Health experts in the fight to contain and eradicate the killer virus. It is hoped they will send a clear message to Angolans to take the necessary measures to fight the virus.

12 Apr 2005

South Africa protects itself against Marburg virus

The Marburg virus has already killed 193 people since the outbreak began in northern Angola in October and now South Africa is taking precautions to prevent the spread of the Marburg virus into the country.

11 Apr 2005

HIV treatment-experienced patients set high standards for therapy success

Patients who have previously failed at least two anti-HIV regimens continue to have high standards for their treatment success, according to a survey commissioned by the American Foundation for AIDS Research (amfAR).

11 Apr 2005

Now revealed that Salk polio vaccine was a team effort

The cure for polio came as a result of the collaboration between Thomas Francis Jr. and Jonas Salk.

10 Apr 2005

Panel in US disputes drug trial allegations

Medical experts have been forced to defend a study conducted in Uganda and called HIVNET 012 that led to the widespread use of a single AIDS drug called nevirapine to protect newborns, after allegations by Dr. Jonathan Fishbein, a National Institutes of Health researcher, that the research was flawed and the conclusions were unfounded.

10 Apr 2005