Virus News and Research

Latest Virus News and Research

Research shows how viruses inactivate immune system, causing cancer

It's no new news that viruses cause cancer. For example, human papillomavirus causes almost all of the more than 500,000 annual worldwide cases of cervical cancer.

2 Mar 2018

Scientists evaluate reliability of Zika virus diagnostics

Globally, Brazil has been the hardest hit by the current Zika outbreak. Almost all cases of Zika-associated malformations in newborns have been reported from this country

2 Mar 2018

Extra sunlight in late summer could help reduce severity of flu season

People getting more rays of sunlight - and therefore vitamin D - in August and September could help reduce the severity of flu season, according to a National Bureau of Economic Research working paper co-authored by a University of Kansas economist.

2 Mar 2018

CRISPR enzyme can also cleave RNA, finds study

Researchers have discovered that the Cas-9 enzyme used in CRISPR gene editing can also cleave complimentary messenger RNA, in addition to DNA.

2 Mar 2018

UAB scientists explore gene therapy for frontotemporal dementia

Gene therapy has shown promise for treating a neurodegenerative disease known as frontotemporal dementia and a related condition called neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis, according to new findings presented in the Journal of Neuroscience by researchers from the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

1 Mar 2018

Fraunhofer researchers develop process to accurately diagnose koi herpes virus

Whether grilled, spicy with bell peppers or breaded in flour and fried floating in oil - the carp is one of the most popular edible fish.

1 Mar 2018

Scientists explore factors that most affect our immune system

Why do we respond differently to infections or vaccines? Why are some people allergic to pollen? These are still unanswered questions in biological and medical science.

28 Feb 2018

Home-based semen analysis kit could provide rapid, cost-effective way to test male fertility

It is estimated that of the 70 million cases of infertility worldwide, almost half are caused by factors relating to the male partner. A number of semen parameters – motility, morphology, velocity, volume, concentration, and count – affect male fertility.

28 Feb 2018

Researchers create models that predict spread of flu in the United States

Using several large datasets describing health care visits, geographic movements and demographics of more than 150 million people over nine years, researchers at the University of Chicago have created models that predict the spread of influenza throughout the United States each year.

27 Feb 2018

Australian brings measles to New York sparking fears for unvaccinated

According to the city officials in New York, the small population of unvaccinated individuals need to be extra careful over the next couple of weeks because an Australian individual with suspected measles has arrived in the city. This announcement was made last Friday by the New York State Department of Health.

26 Feb 2018

Researchers developing rapid saliva test to detect Zika virus

Researchers at New York University College of Dentistry, in collaboration with Rheonix, Inc., are developing a novel test for Zika virus that uses saliva to identify diagnostic markers of the virus in a fraction of the time of current commercial tests.

24 Feb 2018

U.S. clinical sites evaluating antibody-based therapies to prevent two common bacterial infections

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, is supporting U.S. clinical sites participating in two ongoing international Phase 2 clinical trials evaluating investigational antibody-based therapies aimed at preventing potentially antibiotic-resistant infections.

23 Feb 2018

Genetic variants make Asians and Europeans more prone to severe dengue

As globalization and climate change spread tropical infectious diseases around the globe, not all populations have the same degree of susceptibility.

23 Feb 2018

Targeted vaccination can be successful in containing epidemic outbreaks

Amidst growing concerns over the low uptake of flu shots in Europe, scientists from the Italian National Research Council and the Joint Research Centre, the European Commission's sciuence and knowledge service, confirm that vaccinations remain the best way forward when it comes to stopping the spread of infectious diseases.

23 Feb 2018

Modifications in HIV test enable rapid detection of Zika virus, study states

A new comprehensive study details a novel test for Zika virus, which utilizes saliva for rapid identification of the diagnostic markers of the virus.

23 Feb 2018

Researchers describe important step toward gene therapy for patients with Sandhoff disease

Babies with the rare, deadly genetic disorder Sandhoff disease begin to miss developmental milestones just months after birth. Lacking muscle tone, they never learn to sit up, develop heads too large to lift and eventually suffer uncontrollable seizures. There is no cure.

22 Feb 2018

Scientists discover new treatment approach to curb severe myocarditis

The outcome of viral myocarditis is closely associated with the immune response of the affected individual. An inhibitor of the immunoproteasome, a protein degradation complex in immunocompetent cells, reduces the extent of the inflammation and thus also the damage to the heart during myocarditis.

22 Feb 2018

Research extends powerful capabilities of MRI to nanometer scale

A new technique that brings magnetic resonance imaging to the nanometer scale with unprecedented resolution will open the door for major advances in understanding new materials, virus particles and proteins that cause diseases like Parkinson's and Alzhe

21 Feb 2018

Zika virus could be alternative for treatment of aggressive brain cancer

Zika virus, feared for causing microcephaly in babies whose mothers were infected during pregnancy by attacking the cells that will give rise to the fetus's cerebral cortex, could be an alternative for treatment of glioblastoma, the most common and aggressive kind of malignant brain tumor in adults.

21 Feb 2018

Researchers to study whether menstrual cups can help prevent vaginal infections

Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago will conduct a study to determine how the use of menstrual cups helps prevent vaginal infections and sexually transmitted infections.

20 Feb 2018