Virus News and Research

Latest Virus News and Research

Merck enters into definitive agreement with Idenix

Merck, known as MSD outside the United States and Canada, and Idenix Pharmaceuticals, Inc., today announced that the companies have entered into a definitive agreement under which Merck will acquire Idenix for $24.50 per share in cash.

9 Jun 2014

Viewpoints: Tea party missing the lesson; health care not an ordinary market; Va.'s Medicaid battle

But the Tea Party does have something to show for its five years of annoyance: Ted Cruz, senator from Texas. Cruz is probably best known for reading "Green Eggs and Ham" on the floor of the Senate during a 21-hour talkathon designed to ensure his place as the most hated man in that august chamber.

9 Jun 2014

Scientists unravel how herpesviruses fight against our immune system

How the virus does this was unknown until now. The scientists from the HZI research group "Viral Immune Modulation" under the leadership of Prof. Melanie Brinkmann have now been able to show that the virus is actively preventing activation of the innate immune system through Toll-like receptors.

9 Jun 2014

Progress in constructing protein nanomachines

A route for constructing protein nanomachines engineered for specific applications may be closer to reality.

6 Jun 2014

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