Virology News and Research

Latest Virology News and Research

Two more cases of bird flu in China makes experts jumpy

The confirmation of two new outbreaks of the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu in poultry in China is causing concern among health experts as the virus continues to take its toll on Asia, and the world searches for ways to contain it.

29 Nov 2005

Door knock HIV tests to deal with AIDS in Lesotho

Lesotho, the tiny African kingdom is about to launch its own campaign to mark World AIDS Day.

29 Nov 2005

Vaccinating chickens shown to halt the spread of bird flu

Dutch scientists say that vaccinating chickens against avian flu can prevent a major outbreak of the disease by stopping birds from passing on the virus.

29 Nov 2005

Two more bird flu outbreaks in China - WHO investigating

Chinese authorities have confirmed two new bird flu outbreaks in poultry in the northwestern region of Xinjiang and in central Hunan province.

29 Nov 2005

Let's all have a go - Thailand, Philippines, Indonesia and Taiwan to make their own Tamiflu

Drug giant Roche, the makers of the anti-viral drug Tamiflu, say that both Thailand and the Philippines are free to begin making their own versions of the drug.

29 Nov 2005

Drug partners in fight against AIDS say measles shot could be the answer!

Major drug company GlaxoSmithKline is hoping to develop an experimental AIDS vaccine by "piggy-backing" on a shot against measles.

29 Nov 2005

Completion of the genetic sequencing of the 1918 influenza A virus

An article by Robert Belshe, M.D., of Saint Louis University School of Medicine in the New England Journal of Medicine reviews recent "spectacular achievements of contemporary molecular biology" that hold great importance as the world prepares for a possible flu pandemic.

28 Nov 2005

Contact with pigs increases risk of animal flu viruses

Farmers, veterinarians and meat processors who routinely come into contact with pigs in their jobs have a markedly increased risk of infection with flu viruses that infect pigs, according to a study funded in part by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID).

28 Nov 2005

Indonesia to produce bird flu vaccine with help from U.S. company

Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono says the authorities there will cooperate with the U.S.-based Baxter International to produce human vaccines for the H5N1 bird flu virus.

28 Nov 2005

Five dead, 45 infected, with haemorrhagic fever in Pakistan

According to health officials in Pakistan, haemorrhagic fever has killed at least five people, including a woman doctor, and infected around 45 people the country's biggest city of Karachi.

28 Nov 2005

Romania culls thousands of fowl to stop the spread of bird flu

A remote village outside the Danube delta has been quarantined after the discovery of an avian flu virus in a turkey.

28 Nov 2005

Taiwan to produce its own version of Tamiflu

A government panel in Taiwan has decided that the anti bird flu drug Tamiflu can be produced there without permission from the Swiss drug maker Roche AG, if supplies of the medicine run out.

28 Nov 2005

Star anise sought after in bird flu fight

The ancient spice star anise is apparently the main source of shikimic acid, a key ingredient in the bird flu drug Tamiflu, and farmers in China's southern region of Guangxi are being encouraged to capitalise on the growing demand for the spice.

28 Nov 2005

How is HIV transmitted from mother to child?

Without intervention, between 25% and 35% of the children born to HIV-positive mothers will themselves be infected.

28 Nov 2005

GRK5's role in restenosis

Researchers at Jefferson Medical College have begun to clarify the role of a protein - and potential drug target - in the process by which arteries re-clog after treatment.

28 Nov 2005

Emerging infectious diseases will get worse

Emerging infectious diseases pose a global threat to human and animal health, and the problem is likely to worsen, warns an expert in the British Medical Journal (BMJ).

26 Nov 2005

United Kingdom has among the highest reported rates of primary resistance to HIV drugs worldwide

Those infected with HIV in the UK have one of the highest rates of resistance to anti-HIV drugs of anywhere in the world, prompting fears of a second wave epidemic of resistant virus, a new study claims in the British Medical Journal (BMJ).

26 Nov 2005

Another case of non-lethal bird flu in Canada

A mild form of avian flu has been discovered at a second farm in southwestern British Columbia, but Canadian officials said the public health risk remains minimal.

24 Nov 2005

Passenger and crew lists on demand will protect America from disease say US health officials

U.S. health officials, using the excuse that they need to protect Americans from bird flu and other diseases, are proposing regulations that will require airlines and shipping firms to hand over passenger and crew lists on demand and expand how they report serious illnesses.

24 Nov 2005

China has another death from bird flu

According to local media the Health Ministry has said that a 35-year-old woman farmer in Anhui province developed fever and pneumonia-like symptoms on Nov. 11 after contact with sick and dead poultry, and she died on Nov. 22.

24 Nov 2005