Virus News and Research

Latest Virus News and Research

Scientists identify new mechanism that turns CD4 helper T lymphocytes into killer cells

A research team led by the La Jolla Institute for Allergy & Immunology has discovered the mechanism that enables CD4 helper T cells to assume the more aggressive role of killer T cells in mounting an immune attack against viruses, cancerous tumors and other damaged or infected cells.

21 Jan 2013

New study: Loneliness can harm overall health

New research links loneliness to a number of dysfunctional immune responses, suggesting that being lonely has the potential to harm overall health.

20 Jan 2013

Scientists figure out how to dodge HPV-triggered cancers by vaccination

In 2009, more than 30,000 people in the U.S. learned they had cancer linked to the human papillomavirus, or HPV. This virus is best known for causing cervical cancer, but it's also the culprit behind many cancers of the mouth, throat, anus, and genitals. Unlike many forms of cancer, for which we lack the knowledge and tools to prevent, scientists have figured out how to dodge HPV-triggered cancers — by HPV vaccination.

19 Jan 2013

Rite Aid obtains more than 400,000 additional seasonal flu shots

In response to the nationwide flu epidemic and customer demand, Rite Aid Corporation announced today it has obtained more than 400,000 additional seasonal flu shots, which began arriving in stores earlier this week.

19 Jan 2013

Study to determine prevalence of abnormal anal cytology and HPV in at-risk women

A basic connection of statistics lead a researcher at Women & Infants Hospital of Rhode Island to question whether women should be screened for anal cancer during a regular visit to the gynecologist, and what technique is most effective.

18 Jan 2013

Flu virus can essentially tell time: Research

Scientists have discovered that that the flu virus can essentially tell time, thereby giving scientists the ability to reset the virus' clock and combat it in more effective ways. According to researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, the flu knows how much time it has to multiply, infect other cells, and spread to another human being. If it leaves a cell too soon, the virus is too weak. If it leaves too late, the immune system has time to kill the virus.

18 Jan 2013

Boehringer Ingelheim initiates enrollment in Phase III IFN-free HCV trial

Today, Boehringer Ingelheim announced that the first patients have been enrolled in the company's pivotal Phase III interferon (IFN)-free hepatitis C (HCV) clinical trial programme, HCVerso.

18 Jan 2013

FDA approves Protein Sciences’ Flublok to prevent seasonal influenza

The US Food and Drug Administration has approved Protein Sciences Corporation's vaccine Flublok for the prevention of seasonal influenza in adults 18 to 49 years of age. Diamyd Medical holds about 8 percent of the shares in Protein Sciences Corporation.

18 Jan 2013

Octapharma receives FDA approval for Octaplas to treat blood clotting disorders

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved Octaplas, a pooled plasma (human) blood product for the replacement of clotting proteins (coagulation factors) in certain medical conditions where patients have insufficient levels.

18 Jan 2013

New compounds can target RNase H enzyme in HIV

Scientists who study HIV are facing a troubling consequence of their own success. They created drugs that can now give infected patients almost normal life expectancy. However, those same drugs will eventually cause the constantly mutating virus to evolve into a form that eludes current treatments.

18 Jan 2013

Viewpoints: Obama 'wise' to add mental health focus to gun initiative; Calif. considers giving localities responsibility for expanded Medicaid

President Obama's sweeping proposals to combat gun violence represent a sound response to the mass shootings that have horrified the country. In his legislative proposals and executive actions announced Wednesday, the president and Vice President Biden showed a willingness to confront a difficult problem head-on -- a problem that is not only about laws but also about culture and mental-health care.

17 Jan 2013

New menu of 61 genetically engineered E. coli strains may improve efficacy of vaccines

Researchers at The University of Texas at Austin have developed a menu of 61 new strains of genetically engineered bacteria that may improve the efficacy of vaccines for diseases such as flu, pertussis, cholera and HPV.

17 Jan 2013

H1N1 flu vaccination during pregnancy does not increase risk of fetal loss

Norwegian pregnant women who received a vaccine against the 2009 H1N1 influenza virus showed no increased risk of pregnancy loss, while pregnant women who experienced influenza during pregnancy had an increased risk of miscarriages and still births, a study has found. The study suggests that influenza infection may increase the risk of fetal loss.

17 Jan 2013

Hepatitis B virus X protein represses miRNA-148a to enhance tumorigenesis

Viruses prompt oncogenic transformation by genetically altering infected cells. Several recent studies have demonstrated that viruses alter the expression of microRNAs, non-coding RNA molecules that can block the expression of target genes.

17 Jan 2013

Positive gene therapy results in large mammals of Duchenne muscular dystrophy

Usually, results from a new study help scientists inch their way toward an answer whether they are battling a health problem or are on the verge of a technological breakthrough. Once in a while, those results give them a giant leap forward. In a preliminary study in a canine model of Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), University of Missouri scientists showed exactly such a leap using gene therapy to treat muscular dystrophy.

17 Jan 2013

Protein Sciences receives FDA approval for Flublok vaccine

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today announced that it has approved Flublok, the first trivalent influenza vaccine made using an insect virus (baculovirus) expression system and recombinant DNA technology. Flublok is approved for the prevention of seasonal influenza in people 18 through 49 years of age.

16 Jan 2013

India marks two years since last diagnosed polio case

On January 13, India "completed two years since the last case of the crippling disease was reported ... a huge achievement for a country that as recently as 2009 reported 741 cases of polio -- more than any other country in the world, and almost half of cases reported globally that year," the Wall Street Journal's "India Real Time" blog reports.

16 Jan 2013

WHO recommends switching to injectable polio vaccine

"[T]his month the World Health Organization (WHO) in Geneva, Switzerland, proposed a shift in [polio] vaccination strategy from oral vaccines to injected ones that may have to be administered in clinics," Nature reports, adding, "The change is needed to mop up the last remaining pockets of polio, but experts say that it poses challenges in [rural areas], which have poor access to health care."

16 Jan 2013

Flu: ERs seeing more patients, N.Y. declares state of emergency

Emergency rooms around America are dealing with an influx of those with the flu while the virus forces New York officials to declare a state of emergency.

16 Jan 2013

Elan, Biogen Idec submit applications to FDA and EMA for updation of TYSABRI labels

Today Biogen Idec and Elan Corporation, plc announced that they have submitted applications to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and European Medicines Agency (EMA) requesting updates to the TYSABRI (natalizumab) labels.

16 Jan 2013