Virus News and Research

Latest Virus News and Research

New study to evaluate Pegasys and Copegus to treat hepatitis C in liver transplant patients

Roche has initiated a new study to evaluate treatment strategies to reduce post-transplant recurrence of hepatitis C infection with the most prescribed hepatitis C treatment combination in the U.S., Pegasys (peginterferon alfa-2a) and Copegus (ribavirin, USP).

21 Mar 2005

Why respiratory viral infections are often more severe in people with asthma

Lung cells from asthma sufferers fail to invoke critical anti-viral defenses when infected with the common cold virus, according to a study in the March 21 issue of The Journal of Experimental Medicine. These results could help explain why respiratory viral infections are often more severe in people with asthma and how infection can trigger asthma attacks.

21 Mar 2005

Fishing communities are the hidden victims of HIV/AIDS

Men and women living in fishing villages across the world have been found to be between five and ten times more vulnerable to the disease than other communities.

21 Mar 2005

Key target for Foot-and-Mouth drug revealed

A complete picture of Foot-and-Mouth Disease's key replication enzyme could lead to the development of new drugs to control the disease without recourse to vaccination or slaughter, scientists report today.

21 Mar 2005

Unique variant of HIV that is resistant to multiple classes of antiretroviral drugs

Researchers have identified a patient with a unique variant of HIV that is resistant to multiple classes of antiretroviral drugs and associated with the rapid development of AIDS, reporting their findings in this week’s issue of The Lancet.

21 Mar 2005

Study reveals how brain's immune system fights viral encephalitis

The findings, published as the cover study in the latest issue of Virology, show that proteins in neurons fight the virus at multiple stages - by preventing the formation of viral RNA and proteins, and blocking the virus' release, which could infect other cells in the brain.

16 Mar 2005

Risky surgery not always necessary to treat cervical disease

Revolutionary advancements in the treatment options for diseases associated with human papillomavirus (HPV) now include nonsurgical options such as chemoprevention and vaccines. A review of these methods is published in the latest issue of the International Journal of Gynecological Cancer.

16 Mar 2005

Antiretroviral therapy may prevent some cancers in people with HIV

In people infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) may prevent most excess cases of Kaposi sarcoma and non-Hodgkin lymphoma, according to a new study in the March 16 issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

15 Mar 2005

Link between a critical cancer pathway and an Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV) protein

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have identified a link between a critical cancer pathway and an Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV) protein known to be expressed in a number of EBV-associated cancers.

15 Mar 2005

Novel Australian anti-cancer therapy has begun safety testing in human subjects

An international medical conference here heard that an Australian developed anti-cancer therapy based on the use of a common cold virus to control cancer cell growth has begun safety testing in human subjects.

15 Mar 2005

Bird flu could kill 2 million Brits

A UK expert is warning that the bird flu pandemic is imminent and inevitable and two million Britons could die.

14 Mar 2005

Ten more cases of human bird flu in Viet Nam

Full information is desperately needed to assess the risks of a pandemic that in a worst-case scenario could claim tens of millions of lives worldwide says the United Nations health agency.

14 Mar 2005

£800,000 to boost research into fighting viruses

A team of University of Glasgow scientists have received a grant of £800,000 from the Wellcome Trust to research a mechanism that blocks a critical step in the replication cycle of retroviruses. In the long term, the research could lead to the design of new therapeutic strategies or drugs against retroviruses, which cause diseases such as AIDS and certain leukemias.

14 Mar 2005

HIV-1 spread through six transmission lines in the UK

Contrary to the prevailing belief that the HIV epidemic in the UK can be traced back to one source, a new study suggests that HIV spread via at least six independent virus introductions and subsequent transmission chains.

14 Mar 2005

New H5N1 avian influenza vaccine

Merial today announced the introduction of a new inactivated vaccine, GALLIMUNE Flu H5N9, developed and shown to be effective specifically for use against the highly pathogenic avian influenza virus H5N1 that has caused devastating economic losses in the poultry industry in Asia, and which has been linked to the deaths of over 29 humans.

14 Mar 2005

Washing hands with soap and water best protection against disease-causing viruses

The largest, most comprehensive study ever done comparing the effectiveness of hand hygiene products shows that nothing works better in getting rid of disease-causing viruses than simply washing one's hands with good old-fashioned soap and water.

14 Mar 2005

Research could lead to new drugs that combat HIV infection by shutting down the virus's assembly lines

After infecting a susceptible cell, the human immunodeficiency virus hijacks that cell's normal machinery to produce carbon copies of itself. New HIV particles roll off the cellular assembly lines, burst like bubbles out of the cell, and float off to invade other cellular factories.

14 Mar 2005