Virus News and Research

Latest Virus News and Research

Chlamydia vaccine shows promise after a successful clinical trial

A vaccine against the sexually transmitted infection (STI) chlamydia is now a substantial step closer to reality after successfully passing its Phase 1 clinical trial.

14 Aug 2019

Researchers identify molecular switch that impacts immune responses to viral infections

Walter and Eliza Hall Institute researchers have identified a molecular switch that impacts immune responses to viral infections, and whether or not protective antibodies are produced.

14 Aug 2019

Deadly protein combination reveals new drug targets for viral infections

New research from Cornell University details how two highly lethal viruses have greater pathogenic potential when their proteins are combined.

14 Aug 2019

Scientists step closer to an Ebola cure

The Ebola virus has killed thousands of people in Western Africa between 2014 and 2016. Recently, another outbreak in Congo emerged, killing roughly a thousand people. Now, scientists are a step closer to an Ebola cure, thanks to two new drugs that appear to be highly effective in treating people with the virus.

13 Aug 2019

Human apolipoprotein E promotes hepatitis B virus infection

Human apolipoprotein E (apoE) promotes hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection and production, according to a study published DATE in the open-access journal PLOS Pathogens by Luhua Qiao and Guangxiang (George) Luo of the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Medicine.

From PLOS ONE 13 Aug 2019

Study sheds light on likely conserved functions of gammaherpesvirus microRNAs

The discovery of thousands of host mRNAs targeted by gammaherpesvirus microRNAs (miRNAs) could shed light on the biology of gammaherpesviruses and how these pathogens establish lifelong infections, according to a study published August 8 in the open-access journal PLOS Pathogens by Scott Tibbetts of the University of Florida, and colleagues.

From PLOS ONE 13 Aug 2019

Scientists point to enterovirus infection as cause for acute flaccid myelitis

Scientists at the Center for Infection and Immunity at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the University of California San Diego report antibody evidence in cerebrospinal fluid that points to enterovirus infection as a cause for acute flaccid myelitis, a disease responsible for partially paralyzing more than 560 children in the United States since 2014. Results of the study appear in the journal mBio.

13 Aug 2019

Study provides evidence that enterovirus may be a factor in acute flaccid myelitis

A new study analyzing samples from patients with and without acute flaccid myelitis provides additional evidence for an association between the rare but often serious condition that causes muscle weakness and paralysis, and infection with non-polio enteroviruses.

13 Aug 2019

New T cell detection method promises personalized immunotherapy for melanomas

An important new study shows that better T cell detection is now possible using revolutionary technology. T cells are a type of lymphocyte, which in turn belongs to the diverse family of immune cells. They take part in cancer fighting as well as in most other immune responses.

12 Aug 2019

Ohio State research in flu protection starts at county fairs

For researchers with The Ohio State University College of Veterinary Medicine, the work to identify new flu strains and increase the effectiveness of the flu vaccine begins in an unlikely place – pig barns at state and county fairs nationwide.

12 Aug 2019

HIV infection raises risk of additional health problems

People living with HIV are more likely to develop certain other health conditions over the course of their lives.

12 Aug 2019

Antiviral drugs for hepatitis C reduce liver-related deaths by nearly half, study shows

A new study from the UT Southwestern Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center demonstrates that antiviral drugs for hepatitis C reduce liver-related deaths by nearly 50% in patients with a history of liver cancer.

10 Aug 2019

Study shows potential of crucial signaling pathway as biomarker, therapeutic target for cancer

A crucial signaling pathway that can tell the immune system to fight off cancer can also be co-opted by cancer cells to put the brakes on the immune system, according to a new study from researchers in the Abramson Cancer Center at the University of Pennsylvania.

9 Aug 2019

NIH-funded clinical trial will evaluate seasonal influenza vaccines with two experimental adjuvants

An early-stage clinical trial is evaluating two licensed seasonal influenza vaccines, administered with or without novel adjuvants, for their safety and ability to generate an immune response.

9 Aug 2019

Study reveals Lassa virus' soft spot

As this year's Lassa fever outbreak in Nigeria is finally ebbing, the total tally came to more than 600 infected people, one-quarter of them dead. Thousands more die each year, uncounted in rural villages throughout West Africa.

9 Aug 2019

Existing FDA-approved drug could potentially help contain Ebola infection

Amid the worsening Ebola outbreak in the Congo, now threatening to spill into Rwanda, a new study suggests that an existing, FDA-approved drug called nitazoxanide could potentially help contain this deadly, highly contagious infection.

8 Aug 2019

Federal experts’ advice on HPV vaccine could leave adults confused

Vaccination decisions are usually pretty straightforward. People either meet the criteria for the vaccine based on their age or other factors or they don't. But when a federal panel recently recommended an update to the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine guidelines, it left a lot of uncertainty.

8 Aug 2019

Thymol antimicrobial in corn starch can help fight mosquito-borne diseases

The Aedes aegypti mosquito is the major vector for many urban arboviruses, which can cause serious conditions such as dengue fever, Zika virus, Chikungunya, and yellow fever. Now, researchers have developed a cheap but effective larvicide using cornstarch.

7 Aug 2019

Researchers discover promising approach to silence HIV infection

Researchers from The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston have discovered a new potential medication that works with an HIV-infected person's own body to further suppress the ever present but silent virus that available HIV treatments are unable to combat.

6 Aug 2019

Study shows urgent need for long-term follow up of Zika-exposed infants

Even as the Zika virus raged in Brazil, clinicians observed a curious phenomenon: all babies born to mothers infected with the virus during pregnancy were not affected with the characteristic birth anomalies caused by this infection.

5 Aug 2019