Virus News and Research

Latest Virus News and Research

US agencies work together to prevent disease spreading through air travel

In an attempt to prevent the spread of infectious diseases or other deadly agents aboard commercial aircraft, U.S. government health agencies, airlines and aviation regulators plan to work together, federal officials said this week.

7 Apr 2005

Race to market cancer vaccine

In a race to market the first vaccine against the virus that causes cervical cancer and genital warts drug manufacturers Merck & Co Inc. and GlaxoSmithKline plc are in head-to-head competition.

7 Apr 2005

Experts available for comment on controversy over a nevirapine

The controversy over a nevirapine clinical trial conducted in the late 1990s threatens to limit the use of a drug that has saved hundreds of thousands of babies in the developing world from HIV infection, according to experts from the HIV Medicine Association (HIVMA) of the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA).

7 Apr 2005

Oncolytic viruses may one day help treat brain tumors

New research shows that a virus designed to kill cancer cells can significantly increase the survival of mice with an incurable human brain tumor, even in some animals with advanced disease.

7 Apr 2005

Fibril shape is the basis of prion strains and cross-species prion infection

New research on prions, the infectious proteins behind "mad cow" disease and Creutzfeld-Jakob disease in humans, suggests that the ability of prions in one species to infect other species depends on the shape of the toxic threadlike fibers produced by the prion. Two studies on the topic appear in the 8 April issue of the journal Cell.

7 Apr 2005

Epstein-Barr virus may increase risk of lupus

Almost everyone has been infected with Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), a member of the herpes family and one of the most common human viruses.

7 Apr 2005

Vaccine against cervical cancer and genital warts looks hopeful

More than two thirds of sexually active women will become infected with human papillomavirus (HPV) during their lifetime. HPV causes around 470 000 cases of cervical cancer each year and even though most cases of cervical cancer occur in the developing world, where cervical screening programmes are in the main non-existent, in Europe and the US 35000 women die from the disease every year.

6 Apr 2005

Stress might actually be beneficial to health

New research has surprisingly shown that stress, generally thought to be bad for the immune system by lowering the body's ability to fight off disease, on a short-term basis might actually be beneficial.

6 Apr 2005

Asthmatics naturally deficient in antiviral immunity

Asthmatics produce lower levels of a type of immune cell protein needed to fight off infection from colds and other viruses, scientists have discovered.

6 Apr 2005

Three additional cases of H5N1 avian influenza in Vietnam

The Ministry of Health in Viet Nam has confirmed three additional cases of human infection with H5N1 avian influenza. The cases concern a 5-year-old boy from the central province of Quang Binh, a 17-year-old girl from the northern province of Nam Dinh, and a 40-year-old woman from the northern province of Quang Ninh. The 17-year-old girl has died.

6 Apr 2005

SV40 does not have a role in the majority of malignant mesotheliomas

SV40 does not have a role in the majority of malignant mesotheliomas -- a cancer associated with exposure to asbestos – according to a study in this month's Cancer Research. The study, led by Mount Sinai School of Medicine researchers used a scrupulous protocol that eliminated contamination that has likely been the reason previous studies have implicated SV40 in this cancer.

6 Apr 2005

Hormonal contraceptives increase risk of HSV-2 transmission

Women who are infected with herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2) may have an increased risk of transmitting the virus to others if they use hormonal contraceptives or have certain bacterial vaginal infections, according to an article in the May 15 issue of Clinical Infectious Diseases, now available online.

6 Apr 2005

Risk of HIV transmission highest in early stage of infection

The risk of HIV transmission via heterosexual intercourse is highest early in the course of HIV infection, before most infected people know their HIV status, according to a new study published in the May 1 issue of The Journal of Infectious Diseases, now available online

6 Apr 2005

Method of gene therapy accurately corrects mutations in disease-causing genes

Harnessing the strength of a natural process that repairs damage to the human genome, a researcher from UT Southwestern Medical Center has helped establish a method of gene therapy that can accurately and permanently correct mutations in disease-causing genes.

5 Apr 2005

Much more money needed to tackle flu virus

The World Health Organisation (WHO) is recommending that governments throughout the world need to set aside 5 per cent of what they spend on influenza vaccines to help get ready for the next big flu epidemic.

4 Apr 2005

Certain combinations of genes increase the risk of developing cervical cancer

Certain combinations of genes that encode receptors on innate immune cells increase the risk of developing cervical cancer, according to a study by Mary Carrington and colleagues in the April 4 issue of The Journal of Experimental Medicine.

4 Apr 2005

Method of gene therapy that can accurately and permanently correct mutations in disease-causing genes

4 Apr 2005

Obesity may hinder body's ability to control influenza infection

Obesity apparently reduces laboratory mice’s ability to turn on elements of their immune systems needed for controlling influenza infection, a new University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine study shows.

4 Apr 2005

Discrimination against AIDS patients to be stopped in India

India's Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss has told an AIDS conference that his government plans to introduce a law to stop discrimination against people infected with the deadly virus.

4 Apr 2005

Rabies, HIV, cancer and malaria could all be prevented with pills in the future

Rabies, HIV, cancer and malaria could all be prevented with pills in the future, if a new technique using specially modified viruses to deliver vaccines is adopted, according to scientists speaking today (Tuesday, 05 April 2005) at the Society for General Microbiology's 156th Meeting at Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh.

4 Apr 2005