Virology News and Research

Latest Virology News and Research

Researchers report new drug combination that effectively treats HCV patients co-infected with HIV

Roughly 20 to 30 percent of patients with hepatitis C virus (HCV) are also infected with human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV). Both blood-borne viruses share the same modes of transmission, but many HCV medications currently have significant limitations due to adverse interactions with HIV treatments. Researchers at University of California, San Diego School of Medicine report a new combination that effectively treats HCV in patients co-infected with HIV.

22 Jul 2015

AS03 and MF59 adjuvants increase immune responses to two doses of H7N9 influenza vaccine

In a phase 2 trial that included nearly 1,000 adults, the AS03 and MF59 adjuvants (a component that improves immune response of inactivated influenza vaccines) increased the immune responses to two doses of an inactivated H7N9 influenza vaccine, with AS03-adjuvanted formulations inducing the highest amount of antibody response, according to a study in the July 21 issue of JAMA.

22 Jul 2015

Researchers devise way to induce protective immunity in mice against influenza viruses

A vaccine that protects against a wide variety of influenza viruses (a so-called universal flu vaccine) is a critical public health goal given the significant rates of illness and death caused by seasonal influenza and the potentially devastating effects of a pandemic influenza strain.

22 Jul 2015

Study findings provide basis for potential development of new methods to control HIV infection

Lower levels of cholesterol in certain immune cells--a result of enhanced cholesterol metabolism within those cells--may help explain why some HIV-infected people are able to naturally control disease progression, according to research that will be presented in a poster at the 8th International AIDS Society Conference on HIV Pathogenesis, Treatment and Prevention (IAS 2015) in Vancouver, Canada, and the pre-conference 2015 Towards an HIV Cure Symposium.

20 Jul 2015

Chicago creates sustainable network to meet complicated public health emergencies

The Ebola epidemic and resulting international public health emergency is referred to as a "Black Swan" event in medical circles because of its unpredictable and impactful nature. However, a paper in the June 30 issue of Clinical Infectious Diseases, a leading journal in the field of infectious diseases, suggests that the response of the Chicago Ebola Response Network (CERN) in 2014-2015 has laid a foundation and a roadmap for how a regional public health network can anticipate, manage and prevent the next Black Swan public health event.

17 Jul 2015

Rowan University, Bamboo Therapeutics partner to combat Canavan disease

Rowan University and Bamboo Therapeutics, Inc. have entered into an asset transfer agreement to commercialize a novel gene therapy for the treatment of Canavan disease. A rare but devastating neurological disease that tragically takes a child's life by age 10, Canavan disease is one of the most common and complex degenerative cerebral diseases in infants.

17 Jul 2015

TSRI scientists awarded two grants to develop new therapeutic target to reduce latent HIV infection

Scientists from the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute have been awarded a pair of grants totaling nearly $2.8 million from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases of The National Institutes of Health to develop a new therapeutic agent to reduce latent levels of HIV that hide from the immune system in infected individuals.

17 Jul 2015

UVA Children's Hospital finds potential cause of child paralysis outbreak

A mysterious outbreak of child paralysis cases previously linked to enterovirus D68 may instead have another cause, doctors at the University of Virginia Children's Hospital are cautioning after determining that a stricken child appeared to be suffering from a different virus.

17 Jul 2015

GSK starts shipping FLUARIX QUADRIVALENT (Influenza Vaccine) to US healthcare providers

GSK announced today it has begun shipping FLUARIX QUADRIVALENT (Influenza Vaccine) doses to US healthcare providers, following licensing and lot-release approval from the US Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research.

16 Jul 2015

Gene therapy used for sight restoration also strengthens visual pathways in the brain

Since 2007, clinical trials using gene therapy have resulted in often-dramatic sight restoration for dozens of children and adults who were otherwise doomed to blindness. Now, researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, have found evidence that this sight restoration leads to strengthening of visual pathways in the brain, published this week in Science Translational Medicine.

16 Jul 2015

Canadian researchers discover how HIV evades the body's antiviral responses

A Canadian research team at the IRCM in Montreal, led by molecular virologist Eric A. Cohen, PhD, made a significant discovery on how HIV escapes the body's antiviral responses. The team uncovered how an HIV viral protein known as Vpu tricks the immune system by using its own regulatory process to evade the host's first line of defence.

16 Jul 2015

Emory University immunologists identify long-lived antibody-producing cells in bone marrow

Immunologists from Emory University have identified a distinct set of long-lived antibody-producing cells in the human bone marrow that function as an immune archive.

16 Jul 2015

Magnetic nanoparticles may hold key to bringing immunotherapy into successful clinical use

In recent years, researchers have hotly pursued immunotherapy, a promising form of treatment that relies on harnessing and training the body's own immune system to better fight cancer and infection. Now, results of a study led by Johns Hopkins investigators suggests that a device composed of a magnetic column paired with custom-made magnetic nanoparticles may hold a key to bringing immunotherapy into widespread and successful clinical use.

16 Jul 2015

Oxford University performs second phase of experimental Ebola vaccine trial

Oxford University doctors and scientists are performing the second phase of clinical studies of an experimental Ebola vaccine regimen. The study is part of the EBOVAC2 project, a collaborative programme involving the University of Oxford, French Institute of Health and Medical Research as project coordinator, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, Le Centre Muraz, Inserm Transfert and the Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson.

15 Jul 2015

Gene therapy provides life-long protection to photoreceptor cells in animal model of retinitis pigmentosa

A collaboration between scientists in the UK and the USA has shown that gene therapy can give life-long protection to the light-sensitive photoreceptor cells responsible for colour vision in a mouse model of the most common inherited eye disorder.

15 Jul 2015

New study highlights burden of community-acquired pneumonia hospitalizations among U.S. adults

Viruses, not bacteria, are the most commonly detected respiratory pathogens in U.S. adults hospitalized with pneumonia, according to a New England Journal of Medicine study released today and conducted by researchers at Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and hospitals in Chicago and Nashville, including Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

15 Jul 2015

Ebola vaccine study begins in Dakar, Senegal

A trial to evaluate an Ebola vaccine has begun in Dakar, Senegal, after initial immunisations started at the Jenner Institute, Oxford University. The announcement comes as a conference in Oxford discusses the global response to Ebola and the implications for future drug and vaccine development.

15 Jul 2015

New study reveals highly promising approach to coating tissue engineered constructs

A new study showing the ability to apply a thin coating of viable respiratory epithelial cells to tissue engineered constructs using a commercially available spray device is especially promising for therapeutic approaches in development to repair or replace challenging structures such as trachea or bronchi.

15 Jul 2015

New report highlights key success in global response to preventing AIDS in women, children

The Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation applauds today's announcement from the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS that the goal of providing 15 million people with lifesaving antiretroviral therapy (ART) by 2015 has been met nine months ahead of schedule.

14 Jul 2015

Canadian researchers launch world's first viral therapy clinical trial to attack and kill cancer cells

Canadian researchers have launched the world's first clinical trial of a novel investigational therapy that uses a combination of two viruses to attack and kill cancer cells, and stimulate an anti-cancer immune response. Previous research by this team and others worldwide suggests that this approach could be very powerful, and could have fewer side effects than conventional chemotherapy and radiation, although it will take years to rigorously test through this trial and others.

13 Jul 2015

Virology News and Research

Latest Virology News and Research

Researchers report new drug combination that effectively treats HCV patients co-infected with HIV

AS03 and MF59 adjuvants increase immune responses to two doses of H7N9 influenza vaccine

Researchers devise way to induce protective immunity in mice against influenza viruses

Study findings provide basis for potential development of new methods to control HIV infection

Chicago creates sustainable network to meet complicated public health emergencies

Rowan University, Bamboo Therapeutics partner to combat Canavan disease

TSRI scientists awarded two grants to develop new therapeutic target to reduce latent HIV infection

UVA Children's Hospital finds potential cause of child paralysis outbreak

GSK starts shipping FLUARIX QUADRIVALENT (Influenza Vaccine) to US healthcare providers

Gene therapy used for sight restoration also strengthens visual pathways in the brain

Canadian researchers discover how HIV evades the body's antiviral responses

Emory University immunologists identify long-lived antibody-producing cells in bone marrow

Magnetic nanoparticles may hold key to bringing immunotherapy into successful clinical use

Oxford University performs second phase of experimental Ebola vaccine trial

Gene therapy provides life-long protection to photoreceptor cells in animal model of retinitis pigmentosa

New study highlights burden of community-acquired pneumonia hospitalizations among U.S. adults

Ebola vaccine study begins in Dakar, Senegal

New study reveals highly promising approach to coating tissue engineered constructs

New report highlights key success in global response to preventing AIDS in women, children

Canadian researchers launch world's first viral therapy clinical trial to attack and kill cancer cells

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