Virus News and Research

Latest Virus News and Research

U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommends hepatitis B screening for high risk individuals

A simple blood test can detect if a person is one of the two billion people worldwide infected with hepatitis B. And now the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommends that all teens and adults who are high risk for hepatitis B get screened for the infection.

6 Jun 2014

Researchers map transmission network of human immunodeficiency virus in San Diego

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have mapped the transmission network of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in San Diego.

6 Jun 2014

Scientists identify new way to reactivate latent HIV

A team of scientists at the Gladstone Institutes has identified a new way to make latent HIV reveal itself, which could help overcome one of the biggest obstacles to finding a cure for HIV infection.

6 Jun 2014

Rice develops highly accurate test to detect signs of HIV

Rice University bioengineers are developing a simple, highly accurate test to detect signs of HIV and its progress in patients in resource-poor settings.

6 Jun 2014

New TB blood test could eliminate unnecessary treatment

A new screening process for tuberculosis (TB) infections in Canadian prisons could mean that more than 50 per cent of those screened won't undergo unnecessary treatment due to false positives.

6 Jun 2014

Device used in physics and chemistry reveals dynamics of pervasive pathogen

If you have it, you probably don't know it. Cytomegalovirus, or CMV, is perhaps one of the biggest pathogens you've never heard of-big, both proportionately and epidemiologically.

6 Jun 2014

Merck enrolls first patient in reformulated raltegravir Phase 3 trial for treatment of HIV-1 infection

Merck, known as MSD outside the United States and Canada, today announced that the first patient has been enrolled in the company's global Phase 3 clinical trial, ONCEMRK.

6 Jun 2014

Terminix warns about two serious mosquito-borne diseases in Florida

Terminix, the leading provider of termite and pest control services in the United States, today warned of two serious mosquito-borne diseases which are being reported in Florida. The Florida Department of Health this week issued a report confirming 18 cases of chikungunya virus and 24 cases of dengue fever.

6 Jun 2014

Interferon Type I immune proteins key drivers of human hemorrhagic fevers

Hemorrhagic fevers caused by Lassa, dengue and other viruses affect more than one million people annually and are often fatal, yet scientists have never understood why only some virus-infected people come down with the disease and others do not.

5 Jun 2014

High dose vitamin C therapy may have positive effect on Epstein-Barr virus infection

The Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is a member of the herpes family that targets lymphocytes and epithelial cells. While the infection is usually benign, it can in some cases lead to acute infectious mononucleosis and can impair the immune system. EBV is also linked to several malignancies. There is currently no cure for removing EBV infections and very little success treating acute EBV infection and mononucleosis with drugs.

4 Jun 2014

Brain circuitry rescues tongue while chewing

Eating, like breathing and sleeping, seems to be a rather basic biological task. Yet chewing requires a complex interplay between the tongue and jaw, with the tongue positioning food between the teeth and then moving out of the way every time the jaw clamps down to grind it up. If the act weren't coordinated precisely, the unlucky chewer would end up biting more tongue than burrito.

4 Jun 2014

New vaccine effective at preventing lung cancer in mice

Tweaking a protein expressed by most liver cancer cells has enabled scientists to make a vaccine that is exceedingly effective at preventing the disease in mice.

4 Jun 2014

PsiOxus Therapeutics presents positive study results of anti-cancer vaccine Enadenotucirev at ASCO Annual Meeting

PsiOxus Therapeutics, Ltd. (PsiOxus), an award-winning biotechnology company developing innovative, novel treatments for cancer, announced that updates for its on-going international multicentre clinical program of the oncolytic vaccine enadenotucirev (previously known as ColoAd1) were presented at the 2014 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting in Chicago, Illinois.

4 Jun 2014

NeuroVive extends collaboration with Hospices Civils de Lyon

NeuroVive is extending its collaboration with Hospices Civils de Lyon (HCL) and Professor Ovize, which broadens the scope of NeuroVive's cardiovascular business area and creates the right conditions for the company to retain its leading position in mitochondrial medicine.

4 Jun 2014

Medicare to pay for hep C screenings for baby boomers

The decision comes amid controversy surrounding the costs of new drugs to treat the blood-borne virus. Meanwhile, two studies find that Medicare could save billions if doctors switched from an expensive eye medication to a similar, much cheaper one and, also, if Part D plans were selected based on the actual drugs patients take.

4 Jun 2014

Researchers figure out way to disable a part of SARS virus

A Purdue University-led research team has figured out how to disable a part of the SARS virus responsible for hiding it from the immune system; a critical step in developing a vaccine against the deadly disease.

4 Jun 2014

New discovery may shed light on how common cold triggers asthma attacks

Cold season may be just behind us, but a new discovery may shed light on how this common condition triggers asthma attacks. In a new research report published in the June 2014 issue of the Journal of Leukocyte Biology, researchers show that in individuals with asthma, statins significantly reduce the in vitro inflammatory response of human monocytes to rhinovirus (RV), the cause of the common cold.

3 Jun 2014

New cancer panel holds promise in detection of previously undetected viral, cancer mutations

Researchers from Sanford Health and Chronix Biomedical today announced that results from a pilot study demonstrating the utility of a new cancer panel to detect previously undetected viral and cancer mutations are to be reported in a poster presentation titled "Detection of novel HPV mutations and chromosomal number imbalance (CNI) in oropharyngeal and laryngeal cancer using next-generation sequencing (NGS)" (Abstract #6072) at the American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting (ASCO 2014) being held from May 30 through June 3, 2014 in Chicago.

31 May 2014

HCV reactivation may not worsen survival outcomes for lymphoma patients with HIV

More than a quarter of HIV+ patients are also infected with the Hepatitis C virus (HCV), which may complicate treatment and care decisions after a cancer diagnosis. The specifics of those complications haven't been well-researched in the past. Results from a new Fox Chase Cancer Center study on this patient population may start filling in that gap.

31 May 2014

CIRM grants $5.6 million to develop HIV/AIDS therapeutic using Sangamo's ZFN genome-editing technology

Sangamo BioSciences, Inc. announced that the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) has granted a $5.6 million Strategic Partnership Award to fund clinical studies at City of Hope to develop a potentially curative ZFP Therapeutic for HIV/AIDS based on the application of Sangamo's zinc finger nuclease (ZFN) genome-editing technology in hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells (HSPCs).

31 May 2014