Virus News and Research

Latest Virus News and Research

Mount Sinai researchers present landmark studies at ASCO meeting

Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai researchers will present several landmark studies at the 2013 American Society of Clinical Oncology meeting May 31-June 4, 2013 in Chicago, including data on the likelihood of spousal human papillomavirus oral infection, new gene signatures in melanoma, and issues with high readmission rates after cancer surgery.

3 Jun 2013

Researchers develop RNA aptamers that inhibit HCV replication

Treatments against hepatitis C virus have only been partially successful. A major problem is that antivirals generate drug resistance. Now Seong-Wook Lee of Dankook University, Yongin, Republic of Korea and his collaborators have developed agents that bind to the business end of a critical protein, disabling it so successfully that no resistance has arisen.

3 Jun 2013

Twitter: A popular source for receiving and sharing new information about vaccines

Twitter is a popular source for receiving and sharing new information about vaccines, and also a basically reliable one, according to a study published in the June issue of the American Journal of Infection Control, the official publication of the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC).

1 Jun 2013

Cytomegalovirus might accelerate the development of glioblastoma

A virus that infects most Americans but that usually remains dormant in the body might speed the progression of an aggressive form of brain cancer when particular genes are shut off in tumor cells, new research shows.

1 Jun 2013

Researchers target possible new weapon in fight against malaria

Researchers are targeting a possible new weapon in the fight against malaria, science that could also be applied in the fight against other devastating mosquito-borne illnesses, according to a Vanderbilt study published in PLOS ONE.

1 Jun 2013

Researchers determine precise chemical structure of HIV capsid

Researchers have determined the precise chemical structure of the HIV capsid, a protein shell that protects the virus's genetic material and is a key to its ability to infect and debilitate the human body's defense mechanism.

1 Jun 2013

Theoretical mathematical models offer insights into therapeutic, prevention strategies for HIV

The first few hours to days following exposure to human immunodeficiency virus can be of critical importance in determining if infection occurs in a patient. But the low numbers of viruses and infected cells at this stage makes it very difficult to study these events in humans or animal models.

1 Jun 2013

Alios begins oral dosing of ALS-8176 in Phase 1 clinical trial for RSV infection

Alios BioPharma, Inc. today announced that it has begun oral dosing of ALS-8176 in a Phase 1 clinical trial. ALS-8176 is a structurally novel, anti-respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) nucleoside analog that is being developed for the treatment of acute RSV infection.

31 May 2013

Viral load: A new technique that helps doctors diagnose chronic viral diseases

To test the severity of a viral infection, clinicians try to gauge how many viruses are packed into a certain volume of blood or other bodily fluid. This measurement, called viral load, helps doctors diagnose or monitor chronic viral diseases such as HIV/AIDS and hepatitis.

31 May 2013

Taking precautions to protect health during summer

Summer is a time for enjoying warm weather, but spending time outside also increases the risk of contracting serious conditions like Lyme disease, poison ivy rashes, West Nile virus and allergic reactions to bee stings.

31 May 2013

Scientists move closer to understanding HIV-1 infection

Scientists have long been unable to fully explain how infections attack the body, but now a team of researchers, including one from the University of Central Florida, has taken a step closer to understanding how the process works in HIV-1. The results mean that one day that knowledge may prevent infection.

31 May 2013

Researchers show interleukin-22 guards against bacterial superinfections that can arise after influenza

Researchers from the Pasteur Institute, Lille, France have shown in a mouse model that interleukin-22 protects against bacterial superinfections that can arise following influenza.

31 May 2013

Researchers develop new gene therapy to thwart potential influenza pandemic

Researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania have developed a new gene therapy to thwart a potential influenza pandemic. Specifically, investigators in the Gene Therapy Program, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, directed by James M. Wilson, MD, PhD, demonstrated that a single dose of an adeno-associated virus expressing a broadly neutralizing flu antibody into the nasal passages of mice and ferrets gives them complete protection and substantial reductions in flu replication when exposed to lethal strains of H5N1 and H1N1 flu virus.

30 May 2013

Global call to combat cervical cancer

Cervical cancer kills an estimated 275,000 women each year, and most of these deaths could be prevented with prophylactic HPV vaccination, routine cervical cancer screening and continuity to treatment. At the Women Deliver Conference in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, delegates and experts from around the world announced a global call to action to combat this preventable disease through collaboration with and information sharing by the world's governments and health agencies on May 27, 2013.

30 May 2013

Coronavirus incubation period may be longer than previously thought

A detailed clinical description of two cases of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) in France, published online in The Lancet today, suggests that the incubation period for the virus may be longer than previously thought, and longer quarantine periods may be required to rule out infection among patient contacts.

29 May 2013

New suppository developed for treatment of cervical pre-cancer

Infection with the human papillomavirus (HPV) can lead to cervical cancer via a preliminary stage - that of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN). In Europe 205,000 women every year are affected by this condition, most of them are aged between 25 and 30 years. Since in many cases slight manifestations of the disease (CIN 1) heal spontaneously, mostly no treatment is given but self-healing monitored by means of rigorous and continuous check-ups.

29 May 2013

Columbia University, Chinese Center for Disease Control to open joint pathogen discovery lab in Beijing

The Center for Infection and Immunity at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health and the National Institute for Viral Disease Control and Prevention within the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention will open a Joint Research Laboratory for Pathogen Discovery to conduct surveillance, identify new infectious microbes, establish novel platforms for diagnostics, and develop drugs and vaccines to treat diseases in humans and animals.

29 May 2013

Highly-infectious sickness bug can be killed by copper and copper alloys

New research from the University of Southampton shows that copper and copper alloys will rapidly destroy norovirus - the highly-infectious sickness bug. The virus can be contracted from contaminated food or water, person-to-person contact, and contact with contaminated surfaces, meaning surfaces made from copper could effectively shut down one avenue of infection.

28 May 2013

The Global Virus Network to hold spring 2013 meeting in Munich, Germany

The Global Virus Network, a coalition of the world's leading medical virology research centers working to prevent illness and death from viral disease, will hold its spring 2013 meeting in Munich, Germany May 30 to June 1.

28 May 2013

EADV spring symposium: Bioalliance Pharma presents Sitavig study results

BioAlliance Pharma SA, a Company dedicated to the development of orphan oncology products and supportive care products, has presented the results of the pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic study on Sitavig at the 10th EADV spring symposium (European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology) in Cracow (Poland) on May 24, 2013.

28 May 2013