Virus News and Research

Latest Virus News and Research

CRISPR-Cas system can be used to effectively target colitis pathogen

Research at North Carolina State University shows that the CRISPR-Cas system can be used to effectively target and eliminate specific gut bacteria, in this case Clostridioides difficile, the pathogen that causes colitis - a chronic, degenerative disease of the colon.

10 Mar 2020

How a virus forms a protective shell to evade the immune system

A virus is a small infectious agent that replicates only inside the living cells of an organism. Viruses can infect all types of life forms, from animals and plants to microorganisms, including bacteria and archaea.

10 Mar 2020

The second person cured from HIV goes public

In the 1980s and early 1990s, the outbreak of HIV and AIDS swept across the globe. Today, more than 70 million people have been infected with HIV, and about 35 million have died from AIDS since the start of the pandemic. However, scientific advances, such as the development of antiretroviral drugs, have enabled people with access to treatment to live long and healthy lives with HIV. But, there is still no vaccine and cure for it. In history, only two persons have been cleared of the infection, one in Berlin and now the second one in London.

10 Mar 2020

Can novel coronavirus affect pregnant women and their babies?

As the new coronavirus (COVID-19) becomes more of a concern for people around the world, fact and myth are increasingly being confused, particularly due to misinformation and unofficial advice being casually shared.

10 Mar 2020

Study reports second ever case of a patient to be cured of HIV

A study of the second HIV patient to undergo successful stem cell transplantation from donors with a HIV-resistant gene, finds that there was no active viral infection in the patient's blood 30 months after they stopped anti-retroviral therapy, according to a case report published in The Lancet HIV journal and presented at CROI.

10 Mar 2020

Knowing more about new infectious disease threat may not satisfy people

People who rate themselves as highly knowledgeable about a new infectious disease threat could also be more likely to believe they don't know enough, a new study suggests.

10 Mar 2020

Study confirms coronavirus median incubation period at 5.1 days

Since the start of the novel coronavirus outbreak in late December 2019, doctors and health officials have imposed a quarantine period of 14 days since the estimated incubation period of the virus was expected to be between three and 14 days. A new study affirms that it may take about five days after exposure before patients manifest the symptoms of the disease.

10 Mar 2020

CDC urges older people to stay at home amid coronavirus spread

The novel coronavirus is continuing to spread worldwide, with more than 113,000 cases and now more than 4,000 deaths. In the United States, health officials urge residents not to panic due to the viral infection’s low mortality rate. Still, they advise that older people are at the highest risk of coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

10 Mar 2020

Gene therapy reverses cardiac dysfunction in mice with Barth syndrome

Barth syndrome is a rare metabolic disease in boys caused by mutation of a gene called tafazzin or TAZ. It can cause life-threatening heart failure and also weakens the skeletal muscles, undercuts the immune response, and impairs overall growth.

9 Mar 2020

PrEP drug levels found to lower among pregnant African adolescent girls and young women

Among African adolescent girls and young women who took HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) daily, levels of the PrEP drug tenofovir were more than 30% lower in those who were pregnant than in those who had recently given birth.

9 Mar 2020

How does COVID-19 coronavirus compare to the 1918 Spanish flu?

The world has seen outbreaks, with some worst than others, but one thing is common, all these outbreaks result in loss of life and a global health crisis. One of the worst epidemics in the world was the 1918 Spanish flu. Now, the current coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak is being compared to the Spanish flu that ravaged the world more than a century ago.

9 Mar 2020

New federal rules will let patients put medical records on smartphones

Federal officials on Monday released groundbreaking rules that will let patients download their electronic health records and other health care data onto their smartphones.

9 Mar 2020

Surging health care worker quarantines raise concerns as coronavirus spreads

As the U.S. battles to limit the spread of the highly contagious new coronavirus, the number of health care workers ordered to self-quarantine because of potential exposure to an infected patient is rising at an exponential pace.

9 Mar 2020

Italy to isolate 16 million people as country grapples with COVID-19

Italy is grappling with the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) spread in the country, which has so far taken 366 lives and infected 7,375 people. Now, the government plans to isolate and quarantine the northern part of Italy, including Milan and the epicenter of the virus spread, Lombardy, affecting about 16 million people.

9 Mar 2020

Coronavirus spreads even without symptoms and how Hangzhou province contained virus spread

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is rapidly spreading across the globe, and containment measures have been implemented at many of the hotspots for the disease. Though isolation and quarantine measures are considered the best way to contain the virus, one new study suggests it might not be as effective as hoped.

9 Mar 2020

Scientists may have found a way to prevent coronavirus spread

Just like any other virus, the coronavirus needs a host to survive. Viruses enter the cells of the human body to cause disease by attaching to a specific receptor site on the host cell membrane. To do this, they attach to proteins in the capsid through glycoproteins found in the envelope of the virus.

8 Mar 2020

Individual responsibility to prevent the spread of COVID-19 is equally vital as government action

How individuals respond to government advice on preventing the spread of COVID-19 will be at least as important, if not more important, than government action, according to a new commentary from researchers at the University of Oxford and Imperial College London in the UK, and Utrecht University and the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment in the Netherlands.

7 Mar 2020

USask researchers receive almost $1 million to fight new coronavirus

A University of Saskatchewan research team and collaborating scientists from across the country have been awarded almost $1 million over two years to develop animal models and test vaccine candidates for effectiveness and safety against the new coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2).

7 Mar 2020

Liver fibrosis associated with one type of heart failure, regardless of HIV or hepatitis C status

While there is an association between liver fibrosis and heart failure, the mechanisms for this association are currently unclear but may be of particular importance for people living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and/or hepatitis C, both of which are chronic infections that affect the liver and heart.

7 Mar 2020

With coronavirus lurking, conferences wrestle with whether to cancel

Nearly 100,000 pop culture fans flocked to Emerald City Comic Con in Seattle last year, including many dressed as superheroes, aliens and robots. But something scarier than a comic book villain is roiling the conference this year — the spread of the coronavirus.

6 Mar 2020