Virology News and Research

Latest Virology News and Research

Bird flu vaccine - experts say let's try harder

Experts on viruses are calling for a bigger effort to be made in developing vaccines to tackle pandemics.

6 Mar 2007

Mayo Clinic tests engineered measles virus against multiple myeloma

Mayo Clinic Cancer Center has opened a new Phase I clinical trial testing an engineered measles virus against multiple myeloma, a cancer of the bone marrow that currently has no cure. This is the third of a series of molecular medicine studies in patients testing the potential of measles to kill cancer.

5 Mar 2007

Vaccines for measles-mumps-rubella and varicella are effective in extremely preterm infants

The study, which included 16 term and 16 extremely preterm (born before about 6 months of pregnancy) infants born between May 2002 and May 2005, is the first of its kind to examine the antibody levels of measles, mumps, rubella and varicella in this population before and after vaccination. It was published in this month's Pediatrics.

5 Mar 2007

International Narcotics Control board hindering HIV/AIDS control efforts, should be independently reviewed

The International Narcotics Control Board is hindering efforts to fight the spread of HIV, especially among injection drug users, and its practices should be independently reviewed, according to a report released on Tuesday, Reuters reports.

4 Mar 2007

Two experimental drugs aimed at controlling viral loads among HIV-positive people who have developed drug resistance show promise

Two experimental antiretroviral drugs, called TMC278 and elvitegravir, show promise in controlling the viral loads of HIV-positive people who have developed resistance to available drugs, researchers said Wednesday at the 14th Annual Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections in Los Angeles, the Los Angeles Times reports.

4 Mar 2007

Another case of bird flu appears in Laos

World Health Organization (WHO) officials say it is likely 42-year-old woman who died in Laos had bird flu.

4 Mar 2007

FDA investigating norovirus linked to San Antonio Bay oysters

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is investigating an outbreak of norovirus-associated illness linked to eating raw oysters harvested from San Antonio Bay, TX.

4 Mar 2007

FDA approves new test for West Nile virus in donors

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has announced the approval of a license supplement for the first fully automated West Nile Virus (WNV) nucleic acid test for donor screening.

4 Mar 2007

Hepatitis B found in sweat of Olympic athletes

A researcher in Turkey says hepatitis B may be contracted by means of sweat during contact sports.

1 Mar 2007

Health-care workers should undergo preventive drug treatment if exposed to HIV on the job

Doctors, nurses and other health-care providers have worried about HIV exposure since the AIDS epidemic first began in the early 1980s. Since the virus that causes AIDS is transmitted through blood, a simple needle stick could infect anyone treating a patient.

1 Mar 2007

About 26% of U.S. girls, women ages 14 to 59 have HPV

Of U.S. women and girls ages 14 to 59, about 24.9 million women, or 26.8%, have the human papillomavirus, and about 2% of women and girls in the age group have HPV strains 16 or 18, which together cause about 70% of cervical cancer cases, according to a study published in the Feb. 28 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, the Wall Street Journal reports.

1 Mar 2007

Researchers wake up viruses inside tumors to image and then destroy cancers

They say this strategy could offer a novel way of treating many cancers associated with Epstein-Barr, including at least four different types of lymphoma and nasopharyngeal and gastric cancers.

1 Mar 2007

Further study of past flu pandemics key to future preparedness

Scientists and public health officials, wary that the H5N1 avian influenza virus could trigger an influenza pandemic, have looked to past pandemics, including the 1918 "Spanish Flu," for insight into pandemic planning.

28 Feb 2007

Latest food scare in the U.S. hits Hollywood party scene

Hollywood's celebrities may have been exposed to the hepatitis A virus at one of 13 catered events, in particular a Sports Illustrated's swimsuit party.

28 Feb 2007

90 year old corpse may hold the answer to bird flu

Scientists in Britain believe a 90 year old corpse may hold the answer to the fight against bird flu.

28 Feb 2007

Bird flu vaccine offers limited protection but 'better than nothing'

Despite evidence it will not protect most people, a panel of health advisers have recommended that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the United States approve the first vaccine against bird flu.

28 Feb 2007

One in four American women infected with HPV

In the first comprehensive study of a sexually transmitted disease that can cause cervical cancer, it has been found that one in four American women age 14 to 59 are infected with the human papillomavirus (HPV).

28 Feb 2007

Key protein - claudin-1- for hepatitis C virus entry identified

For as many as 200 million people worldwide infected with hepatitis C, a leading cause of chronic liver disease, treatment options are only partially effective. But new research by Rockefeller University scientists points to a potential new target for better drugs: a key protein that resides in human liver cells that hepatitis C requires for entry.

27 Feb 2007