Virology News and Research

Latest Virology News and Research

UNAIDS report indicates end to AIDS possible but challenges remain

UNAIDS' World AIDS Day report: Results, released on Tuesday, said the goal of eventually ending the global AIDS epidemic "is more than merely visionary" and "is entirely feasible," primarily because of "historic success" in scaling up HIV programs and improving access to antiretroviral drugs to treat and prevent HIV, Reuters reports.

22 Nov 2012

Genetic study: Novel coronavirus most closely related to viruses in bats

The virus that is causing alarm among global public health authorities after it killed a man in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia earlier this year and is now linked to two other cases of disease is a novel type of coronavirus most closely related to viruses found in bats, according to a genetic analysis to be published in mBio-, the online open-access journal of the American Society for Microbiology, on November 20.

22 Nov 2012

Panel backs routine HIV screenings for teens, adults

The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force advises that nearly everyone ages 15 to 64 should be screened for the HIV virus, a recommendation which, if adopted, would require Medicare and most private health insurers to pay for the tests.

21 Nov 2012

Novartis receives FDA approval for Flucelvax to prevent seasonal influenza

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced today the approval of Flucelvax, the first seasonal influenza vaccine licensed in the United States produced using cultured animal cells, instead of fertilized chicken eggs. Flucelvax is approved to prevent seasonal influenza in people ages 18 years and older.

21 Nov 2012

Texas Biomed applies patent for new genetically-engineered vaccine strategy to prevent HIV

The Texas Biomedical Research Institute in San Antonio has applied for a patent for a genetically-engineered vaccine strategy to prevent HIV infection that targets the outer layers of body structures that are the first sites of contact with the virus.

20 Nov 2012

New fiber-optic device can deliver light to the brain in 3D

A new tool for neuroscientists delivers a thousand pinpricks of light to a chunk of gray matter smaller than a sugar cube. The new fiber-optic device, created by biologists and engineers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge, is the first tool that can deliver precise points of light to a 3-D section of living brain tissue. The work is a step forward for a relatively new but promising technique that uses gene therapy to turn individual brain cells on and off with light.

19 Nov 2012

Research roundup: Talking to patients about end-of-life care

Each week, KHN reporter Alvin Tran compiles a selection of recently released health policy studies and briefs.

17 Nov 2012

HCV medications' side effects can now be replicated and observed in Petri dishes and test tubes

The adverse side effects of certain hepatitis C medications can now be replicated and observed in Petri dishes and test tubes, thanks to a research team led by Craig Cameron, the Paul Berg Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at Penn State University.

17 Nov 2012

Vaccinating families could protect young babies against RSV infection

Research by the University of Warwick indicates that vaccinating families could protect young babies against a common winter virus which can be fatal for infants under six months.

16 Nov 2012

GigaScience announces publication of whole-genome sequencing and analysis of Wuzhishan Pig

The international open-access journal GigaScience announces the publication of the whole-genome sequencing and analysis of the Wuzhishan Pig, an extensively inbred, miniature pig, which can serve as an excellent model for human medical research.

16 Nov 2012

Number of polio cases worldwide reaches record low, but experts say challenges remain

"The number of polio cases worldwide reached a record low in 2012, giving experts confidence that the disease can finally be eradicated, according to presentations made at" the annual meeting of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (ASTMH) in Atlanta on Tuesday, Agence France-Presse reports (11/13).

15 Nov 2012

Flu virus suppresses body's ability to defend against bacteria

When infected with influenza, the body becomes an easy target for bacteria. The flu virus alters the host's immune system and compromises its capacity to effectively fight off bacterial infections. Now, a team of immunologists at the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) and cooperation partners has discovered that an immune system molecule called TLR7 is partly to blame. The molecule recognizes the viral genome - and then signals scavenger cells of the immune system to ingest fewer bacteria.

15 Nov 2012

Viruses to treat metastatic cancers

There exists a "type" of cancer that is common yet rarely discussed—metastatic cancer, or cancer that has spread from the part of the body where it originated (the primary tumor) to another (such as lungs, bones or liver). Although much research is being done to combat primary tumors, there still exists a crucial need to find a treatment that can be effective against metastatic cancer, or "mets." Could a virus be the answer that finally beats the mets?

15 Nov 2012

Potential diagnostic method to identify subset of patients with chronic fatigue syndrome

For the first time, researchers have landed on a potential diagnostic method to identify at least a subset of patients with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), a complex disorder with no known definitive cause or cure.

15 Nov 2012

Ebola, Marburg and Lassa viruses must be designated as emerging diagnoses

The Ebola, Marburg and Lassa viruses are commonly referred to as emerging diseases, but leading scientists say these life-threatening viruses have been around for centuries.

15 Nov 2012

NPR, GlobalPost examine polio in Nigeria

NPR's "Shots" blog reports on an update about the polio situation in Nigeria, published Thursday in the CDC's latest issue of Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR), writing, "Despite beefed-up efforts to vaccinate kids and a flood of new resources, ... there have been twice as many polio cases as last year, and a few communities, where kids chronically miss vaccines, are serving as 'sanctuaries' for the poliovirus, giving it a place to replicate and survive."

14 Nov 2012