Virus News and Research

Latest Virus News and Research

RT3D may boost effects of two standard chemotherapy drugs in head and neck cancer patients

A naturally-occurring harmless human virus may be able to boost the effects of two standard chemotherapy drugs in some cancer patients, according to early stage trial data published today in Clinical Cancer Research.

2 Apr 2012

New guidelines offer guidance on how and when to switch between RA drug classes

A trend toward more aggressive treatment in patients just starting to develop rheumatoid arthritis is among the most important changes in treatment guidelines for the disease, according to updated American College of Rheumatology recommendations published today in the journal Arthritis Care & Research. The trend may proceed from emerging opinions that joint damage caused by RA is irreversible, and that early, intensive therapy better preserves physical function, quality of life and capacity to work.

2 Apr 2012

India's success against polio is promising step in defeating disease worldwide

"That India is free of wild polio today is a testament to the commitment of the Indian government," which "invested more than $1 billion over the last decade and collaborated with community leaders, health workers, businesses, and parents," as well as governments, non-governmental organizations, and multilateral agencies, to fight the disease, Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius writes in a Foreign Affairs opinion piece.

31 Mar 2012

U.S. releases policy requiring dual-use biological research reviews amid bird flu debate

"The U.S. government on Thursday released a new policy that will require federal agencies to systematically review the potential risks associated with federally funded studies involving 15 'high consequence' pathogens and toxins, including the H5N1 avian influenza virus," Science Insider reports.

31 Mar 2012

Dengue infection makes mosquito's blood feeding more efficient

Mosquitoes infected with dengue virus experience an array of changes in the activity of genes and associated functions of their salivary glands, and these changes may lead to increased virus transmission, according to a recent study led by George Dimopoulos, Ph.D., of the Malaria Research Institute and Bloomberg School of Public Health at Johns Hopkins University.

31 Mar 2012

Abbott receives CE Marking for PLEX-ID instrument and assays

Abbott announced today it has obtained CE Marking (Conformite Europeene) in the European Union to market its rapid, high-throughput PLEX-ID instrument, along with three assays for use on the system: PLEX-ID Viral IC Spectrum, PLEX-ID BAC Spectrum BC and PLEX-ID Flu.

31 Mar 2012

Needle-free vaccine shows promise against RSV in children

Researchers at the University of Saskatchewan are closing in on a needle-free vaccine for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), a major cause of respiratory illness in children under two years of age.

30 Mar 2012

Study confirms innate ability of ticks to adapt to changing climatic conditions

Carnivores in the Iberian Peninsula, such as the Iberian lynx, are under an increasingly serious threat: ticks that can adapt to changing climatic conditions and that can even survive in extremely arid environments. A study headed by Spanish researchers confirms the innate ability of ticks to adapt according to climate.

30 Mar 2012

Infection with dengue virus turns on feeding-related genes in mosquitoes

Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health have, for the first time, shown that infection with dengue virus turns on mosquito genes that makes them hungrier and better feeders, and therefore possibly more likely to spread the disease to humans.

30 Mar 2012

Researchers, experts debate publication of H5N1 research amid updated studies

"As researchers from both sides of the debate over two controversial H5N1 studies weighed in Tuesday on full publication versus a more cautionary approach, two U.S. journals" -- the Journal of Infectious Diseases (JID) and its sister publication, Clinical Infectious Diseases -- "said they are developing policies to address any future such instances," CIDRAP News writes.

30 Mar 2012

Women with HIV superinfection have more potent antibody responses

Women who have been infected by two different strains of HIV from two different sexual partners - a condition known as HIV superinfection - have more potent antibody responses that block the replication of the virus compared to women who've only been infected once. These findings, by researchers at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, are published online March 29 in PLoS Pathogens.

30 Mar 2012

HPV-related head and neck cancer on the rise among middle-aged white men

Research led by Lauren Cole, a public health graduate student, and Dr. Edward Peters, Associate Professor of Public Health and Director of the Epidemiology Program at LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans, reports that the incidence of head and neck cancer has risen at sites associated with Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) infection, with the greatest increase among middle-aged white men.

30 Mar 2012

Avian and swine flu viruses hijack genetic regulators during human infection

Researchers at the University of British Columbia have identified a number of tiny but powerful "genetic regulators" that are hijacked by avian and swine flu viruses during human infection.

29 Mar 2012

Ethiopia's workplace HIV/AIDS policy aims to help employers, employees nationwide

Ethiopia's new HIV/AIDS workplace policy, instituted in January by the government in cooperation with the country's main employees' and employers' associations, "is expected to protect job seekers from mandatory HIV tests, while facilitating voluntary counseling and testing and defending the right of employees living with HIV to medical leave or job re-allocation," PlusNews reports.

29 Mar 2012

Obstacles standing in the way of cancer prevention

More than half of all cancer is preventable, and society has the knowledge to act on this information today, according to Washington University public health researchers at the Siteman Cancer Center in St. Louis.

29 Mar 2012

Philippines health department reports 72% increase in number of HIV cases recorded in February 2012 versus 2011

"Philippine health authorities diagnosed 274 people with new cases of HIV/AIDS in February this year, the health department said, adding the new figure represented a 72 percent rise compared with 159 cases reported in February 2011," Gulf News reports.

29 Mar 2012

AHF calls on FDA Commissioner Hamburg to step down

AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), the nation's largest HIV/AIDS organization, today called on Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Margaret Hamburg to step down in response to the agency's gross mismanagement of new product reviews and a lack of transparency.

29 Mar 2012

FDA approves Avioq HTLV-I/II Microelisa System

Avioq, Inc. announced it has received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the Avioq HTLV-I/II Microelisa System. The test is used for the qualitative detection of antibodies to Human T-Lymphotropic Virus Type I (HTLV-I) and Human T-Lymphotropic Virus Type II (HTLV-II) in human serum or plasma.

29 Mar 2012

Study: 20.1M individuals infected with HEV across 9 world regions

New research funded by the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 20.1 million individuals were infected with hepatitis E virus (HEV) genotypes 1 and 2 across 9 world regions in 2005.

28 Mar 2012

New microfluidic chip more effective in detecting flu outbreaks

The H1N1 flu pandemic in 2009 underscored weaknesses in methods widely used to diagnose the flu, from frequent false negatives to long wait times for results. Now Boston University researchers have developed a prototype of a rapid, low-cost, accurate, point-of-care device that promises to provide clinicians with an effective tool to quickly diagnose both seasonal and pandemic strains of influenza, and thus limit the spread of infection.

28 Mar 2012