Virology News and Research

Latest Virology News and Research

Bird flu winging it around Vietnam again...more humans affected

As Vietnam copes with its first confirmed human cases of bird flu since November 2005, more outbreaks of the deadly virus have been appearing in ducklings in Vietnam's northern region.

4 Jun 2007

Tuberculosis therapy in HIV-infected patients

In a retrospective study of 700 patients with culture-positive tuberculosis (TB), relapse rates were found to be significantly higher in HIV-infected patients compared to HIV-uninfected patients following a rifamycin-based regimen.

3 Jun 2007

Nanoparticle delivery of insulin gene to fight juvenile diabetes developed

A safer method to deliver the insulin gene to diabetes patients using nanoparticles, was presented at the 10th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Gene Therapy (ASGT) in Seattle.

3 Jun 2007

Liver cancer patients with high serum levels of hepatitis B virus face poorer outcomes

In the June issue of Hepatology, a journal published by John Wiley & Sons on behalf of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD), researchers report their findings from the first-ever study examining the prognostic value of serum HBV DNA levels for patients with liver cancer undergoing chemotherapy.

3 Jun 2007

Innovative smallpox vaccine research study to be conducted at Case Medical Center

University Hospitals Case Medical Center (UHCMC) and Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine are part of a nationwide research study to determine the safety and effectiveness of a new smallpox vaccine geared toward adults ages 18 to 34 who have never been vaccinated against the disease.

3 Jun 2007

Scientists have captured on video the intracellular version of a postal delivery service

Reporting in the journal Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications (BBRC), bioengineering researchers at UC San Diego published videos of a key message-carrying protein called paxillin moving abruptly from hubs of communication and transportation activity on the cell surface toward the nucleus.

3 Jun 2007

Aerial mosquito treatment in Philadelphia to start this week

The Department of Environmental Protection announced today that it will conduct aerial spraying to control large populations of mosquito larvae in Philadelphia on Monday, June 4.

3 Jun 2007

Research points to a broadly-protective HIV vaccine

New research conducted at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USU) suggests that it may be possible to develop a vaccine that protects against the myriad strains of the HIV virus.

1 Jun 2007

New animal model for Lassa fever

Scientists at the Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research have developed a new tool in the battle against a potential biological weapon, Lassa fever, which kills several thousand people each year and leaves thousands more with disabilities such as deafness and liver damage.

1 Jun 2007

Cytomegalovirus exacerbates atherosclerosis through an autoimmune mechanism

A new study conducted by researchers from the University of Verona and the Institute G. Gaslini in Genova, Italy, confirms the pivotal role played by Cytomegalovirus infection in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis.

1 Jun 2007

Virus widely used in gene therapy research yields important clues to genomic instability

Genomic instability, the rearrangement of chromosomes or an abnormal number of chromosomes, is a hallmark of many human cancers.

1 Jun 2007

Veterinarians who work with birds at increased risk for infection with avian influenza virus

The study showed that, compared with the control group, the veterinarians who worked with birds had significantly higher levels of antibodies in their blood against the H5, H6 and H7 avian virus strains, indicating previous infections with these viruses.

1 Jun 2007

Major breakthrough for people with AIDS is on the horizon

Three new drugs are predicted to help transform the long-term prognosis for people with the AIDS virus, says an editorial in the journal, which points towards highly promising results from trials of three new drugs.

1 Jun 2007

Discovery of inherited gene mutation for leukemia

Researchers have discovered the first inherited gene mutation that increases a person's risk for chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), one of the most common forms of the disease.

1 Jun 2007

International studies show high efficacy for Gardasil

A new vaccine aimed at preventing cervical cancer is nearly 100 percent effective against the two types of the human papillomavirus (HPV) responsible for most cases of cervical cancer, strains 16 and 18.

1 Jun 2007

Gene therapy provides hope for peripheral neuropathy

Researchers from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine report that they have successfully used gene therapy to block the pain response in an animal model of neuropathic pain, a type of chronic pain in people for which there are few effective treatments.

1 Jun 2007

Man with rare TB zig-zagged his way around Europe on planes

Officials in the United States have revealed that the airline passenger infected with a dangerous strain of tuberculosis fled across Europe to avoid detection.

31 May 2007

Study suggests potential for a broadly-protective HIV vaccine

30 May 2007

Human antibodies protect mice from H5N1 avian influenza

An international team of scientists, including researchers from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), report using antibodies derived from immune cells from recent human survivors of H5N1 avian influenza to successfully treat H5N1-infected mice as well as protect them from an otherwise lethal dose of the virus.

30 May 2007

HIV and malaria combine to adversely affect pregnant women and their infants

University of Toronto researchers have uncovered the basis by which pregnant women protect themselves against malaria and have also discovered how the HIV virus works to counteract this defence.

30 May 2007