Virus News and Research

Latest Virus News and Research

Recombinhunt: An important tool to combat future pandemics

Combating future pandemics through data analysis of recombinant virus genomes. A study published in the prestigious journal Nature Communication presents the promising results of RecombinHunt, a new data-driven method developed by the Department of Electronics, Information and Bioengineering of the Politecnico di Milano and the University of Milan, which can identify, with high accuracy and computational efficiency, recombinant SARS-CoV-2 genomes with one or two breakpoints.

2 Jul 2024

Regular booster doses of bivalent mRNA COVID-19 vaccines help neutralize multiple strains

People who have received solid organ transplants and take immunosuppressant medications to prevent rejection are among those most susceptible to the damaging effects of COVID-19, including breakthrough infections, severe illness, hospitalization and death.

2 Jul 2024

Bird flu virus detected in Alaskan polar bear

Researchers reported a natural infection of a highly pathogenic avian influenza A(H5N1) virus in a free-ranging juvenile polar bear in Alaska, highlighting the importance of wildlife health surveillance in detecting emerging pathogens.

2 Jul 2024

First global estimates of economic costs of genital herpes infections

Genital herpes infections and their related complications lead to billions of dollars in health care expenditures and productivity losses globally, according to the first ever global estimates of the economic costs of these conditions.

1 Jul 2024

NIH launches Phase 1 trial for innovative nasal COVID-19 vaccine

A Phase 1 trial testing the safety of an experimental nasal vaccine that may provide enhanced breadth of protection against emerging variants of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, is now enrolling healthy adults at three sites in the United States.

1 Jul 2024

Study links common infections to enhanced COVID-19 defense in children

Analyzing nasal swabs taken during the pandemic, researchers at Yale School of Medicine suggest that the frequent presence of other viruses and bacteria may have helped to protect children from the worst effects of COVID-19 by boosting their immune systems.

1 Jul 2024

Asia Pacific faces hepatitis crisis: Urgent action needed to meet WHO targets

Countries in Asia Pacific are unlikely to meet their commitment to eliminate hepatitis by 2030 unless they declare a public health emergency, as they did with COVID-19, a disease specialist suggested.

1 Jul 2024

Enhancing viral therapy for resistant cancers with a metabolite-drug

When a cancer cell doesn't respond to traditional therapies, doctors may turn to a sort of viral biological warfare, by deploying 'troops' in the form of viral agents that are specifically engineered to target and eliminate cancer cells.

28 Jun 2024

Clinical trial seeks to evaluate safety of new EV-D68 treatment

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is sponsoring a clinical trial to evaluate the safety of an investigational monoclonal antibody to treat enterovirus D68 (EV-D68), which can cause severe respiratory and neurological diseases such as acute flaccid myelitis (AFM) – similar to polio. Scientists are striving to better understand AFM, which has emerged in the United States with spikes in cases every other year, primarily in the late-summer months over the last decade.

28 Jun 2024

LJI study details measles virus neutralization

What happens when measles virus meets a human cell? The viral machinery unfolds in just the right way to reveal key pieces that let it fuse itself into the host cell membrane.

28 Jun 2024

Study shows how milking equipment spreads bird flu risk

Bird flu, or H5N1 virus, in unpasteurized milk is stable on metal and rubber components of commercial milking equipment for at least one hour, increasing its potential to infect people and other animals, report researchers from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and Emory University in Emerging Infectious Diseases.

28 Jun 2024

Understanding the role of vaccination in mitigating long COVID brain fog

Since the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic, 10 to 30 per cent of the general population has experienced some form of virus-induced cognitive impairment, including trouble concentrating, brain fog or memory loss.

27 Jun 2024

Lenacapavir: A breakthrough in long-acting HIV prevention for cisgender women

The injectable antiretroviral drug lenacapavir was safe and 100% effective as long-acting HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) among cisgender women in a Phase 3 clinical trial, according to top-line findings released by Gilead Sciences, Inc., the study sponsor.

26 Jun 2024