Virology News and Research

Latest Virology News and Research

Study highlights the importance of considering strain differences when designing therapies

Interferon (IFN) responses are one of the first defenses the body mounts against viral infections, and research has shown that it plays a role controlling viral replication.

11 Sep 2020

New book gives overview of viruses and how they emerge to cause pandemics

Since the novel coronavirus SARS-Cov-2 emerged late last year, it has been virtually impossible to consume any news without encountering stories about the virus and how it spreads, potential treatments, and the development of new vaccines.

11 Sep 2020

Effective, simple, safe self-amplifying RNA vaccines

A recent review paper in the journal Current Opinion in Virology in September 2020 shows how a new generation of RNA vaccines called self-amplifying RNA vaccines are more potent than conventional mRNA vaccines and could hold the key to the global production of cost-effective potent COVID-19 vaccines.

11 Sep 2020

Researchers are developing rapid-acting, long-lasting disinfectant spray to kill viruses

Current disinfectant products for killing viruses like coronavirus take minutes to fully sanitize surfaces, which isn't practical on high-contact areas such as door handles, elevators and bannisters.

10 Sep 2020

Convalescent plasma could be an effective treatment for children with COVID-19

Early findings from researchers at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) show that convalescent plasma appears to be a safe and possibly effective treatment for children with life-threatening cases of COVID-19.

9 Sep 2020

Consortium compiles recommendations for measuring HIV reservoir size in cure-directed studies

Spearheaded by scientists at The Wistar Institute, top worldwide HIV researchers from the BEAT-HIV Martin Delaney Collaboratory to Cure HIV-1 Infection by Combination Immunotherapy compiled the first comprehensive set of recommendations on how to best measure the size of persistent HIV reservoirs during cure-directed clinical studies.

7 Sep 2020

Study: Small neutralizing antibody can block SARS-CoV-2 from entering human cells

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden have identified a small neutralizing antibody, a so-called nanobody, that has the capacity to block SARS-CoV-2 from entering human cells.

4 Sep 2020

Simulation platform teaches students the fundamentals of responses to pandemics

In 2015, a team of specialists in modeling disease outbreaks got together with educators to create Operation Outbreak, an educational platform and simulation intended to teach high school and college students the fundamentals of responses to pandemics.

3 Sep 2020

COVID-19 vaccine candidate protects animals against SARS-CoV-2

Most people with COVID-19 have relatively mild disease, but a subset of people develop severe pneumonia and respiratory failure, potentially leading to death.

3 Sep 2020

Combined point-of-care nucleic acid and antibody testing increases COVID-19 detection

A Cambridge hospital has piloted the use of combined rapid point-of-care nucleic acid and antibody testing for SARS-CoV-2 infection after researchers at the University of Cambridge showed that this approach was superior to virus detection alone for diagnosing COVID-19 disease.

2 Sep 2020

Existing drug masitinib identified as potential inhibitor of SARS-CoV-2

Researchers in the United States have demonstrated that a drug originally developed as a treatment for cancer exhibits antiviral activity against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the agent that causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

2 Sep 2020

Excessive immune response plays an important role in severe Covid-19

The team from Marien Hospital and the department of Virology of Ruhr-Universität Bochum (RUB) as well as the Clinic for Infectious Diseases, the Clinic of Anesthesiology and the Institute for Virology of University Medicine Essen studied specific antibodies and T cells occurring in recovered, seriously ill and deceased Covid-19 patients.

1 Sep 2020