Virus News and Research

Latest Virus News and Research

EMEA calls for Europe-wide ban on blood donation from ME/CFS patients

The European ME Alliance (EMEA) is calling on Europe's health ministers to initiate an immediate Europe-wide prohibition of blood donation from people who have been diagnosed with myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME/CFS).

13 Dec 2010

Young gay men taking risks - raising HIV transmission

A new study on HIV transmission in Australia reveals an alarming culture shift in which younger gay men appear more willing to take sexual risks and so become infected with the virus earlier. When comparing older men who have sex with men (MSM) with those aged under 35, the younger ones were found to be more likely to have never previously been tested for HIV and more likely to report not knowing the HIV status of regular partners. These men commonly reported inconsistent condom use with casual and regular partners.

12 Dec 2010

GeoVax's phase 2a trial results indicate excellent safety profile for HIV vaccine

GeoVax Labs, Inc., announced today that early results from part A of an ongoing phase 2a clinical trial indicate an excellent safety profile and highly reproducible immunogenicity.

10 Dec 2010

News outlets report on polio outbreaks in Central, East Africa

"Bad immunisation strategy has been blamed for an outbreak of polio, which has killed nearly 200 and is believed to have caused paralysis in more than 2,000 others across Angola, Congo and the Democratic Republic of the Congo," the Mail & Guardian writes in a story examining the emergence of the disease in the three countries and efforts to control it.

10 Dec 2010

Bacterium used to tackle Dengue fever

This January Australian scientists will start deploying a strange bacterium called Wolbachia pipientis in an attempt to halt disease transmission by mosquitoes especially Dengue fever. They are targeting the Aedes aegypti mosquito that transmits Dengue. Dengue is a viral disease that leads to high fever, severe muscle and joint pain and can also be fatal.

9 Dec 2010

Scientists determine 500 three-dimensional protein structures from bacterial and protozoan pathogens

9 Dec 2010

Researchers develop statistical model to predict severity of seasonal influenza

Researchers have developed a statistical model for projecting how many people will get sick from seasonal influenza based on analyses of flu viruses circulating that season. The research, conducted by scientists at the National Institutes of Health, appears today in the open-access publication PLoS Currents: Influenza.

9 Dec 2010

VIRxSYS presents study results of VRX1116 at HIV DART 2010

VIRxSYS Corporation, a privately held company developing vaccines and RNA therapies, today presented results from a study of VRX1116 at HIV DART 2010 in Los Cabos, Mexico, showing that vaccinated monkeys challenged with highly pathogenic simian immunodeficiency virus achieve sustained viral load reduction, preservation of the immune system and increased survival compared to controls.

9 Dec 2010

Rapid TB test endorsed by WHO

The World Health Organization (WHO) said that a new test that can detect tuberculosis (TB), including drug-resistant forms, in less than two hours could revolutionize treatment of the disease. Tuberculosis is still a major killer worldwide killing 4,700 people every day last year. The annual death toll of 1.7 million includes 380,000 people who are at particular risk because they have HIV, the virus that depresses the immune system and causes Aids.

8 Dec 2010

Lung transplant saves economist from near-lethal bout of swine flu

According to the critical care experts at The Johns Hopkins Hospital who treated him, Allen Bagents, 24, of Arlington, Va., is the least likely person anyone ever expects to get sick, let alone suffer a six-week, potentially fatal bout with the swine flu, better known as H1N1 influenza.

8 Dec 2010

FDLI to launch Food and Drug Policy Forum publication in 2011

In 2011, the Food and Drug Law Institute will launch a new publication — FDLI"s Food and Drug Policy Forum. "The Policy Forum is designed to provide a new electronic marketplace for the exchange of ideas among food and drug law, regulation, and policy professionals," notes Susan C. Winckler, President and CEO of FDLI.

8 Dec 2010

AiCuris announces completion of AIC316 Phase II genital herpes trial

The trial has been completed two months earlier than planned. Indeed, in the later stages of the trial, enrolment had to be restricted as the number of subjects was higher than the number that was required to be enrolled according to the trial protocol.

8 Dec 2010

Novel therapy against hepatitis C disease

University of Maryland School of Pharmacy researchers have developed a mathematical model for choosing an appropriate dosage of the hepatitis medications for individual patients. The work helps explain why African American patients tend to not respond as well to the drugs as other patients.

8 Dec 2010

SEEK reports Phase I safety trail for investigational flu vaccine

SEEK, a leading UK privately-owned drug-discovery group, today presented data on the successful conclusion of a Phase I safety and tolerability study for its investigational Universal Influenza Vaccine, FLU-v, at the World Influenza Congress in Amsterdam (7-9 December).

8 Dec 2010

Novel drug therapy treats brain diseases

Pankaj Karande, a Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute assistant professor of chemical and biological engineering, is among a new generation of scientists and engineers developing exciting and novel new techniques to treat some of the most complex brain illnesses, including Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, traumatic brain injury, and brain cancer.

8 Dec 2010

Scientists work together to wipe out some of the most lethal diseases

Scientists at Seattle Biomedical Research Institute and Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine have reached a major milestone in the effort to wipe out some of the most lethal diseases on the planet. As leaders of two large structural genomics centers, they've experimentally determined 500 three-dimensional protein structures from a number of bacterial and protozoan pathogens, which could potentially lead to new drugs, vaccines and diagnostics to combat deadly infectious diseases.

8 Dec 2010

New technique may help develop novel treatments for brain diseases

Scientists have created a way to isolate neural stem cells - cells that give rise to all the cell types of the brain - from human brain tissue with unprecedented precision, an important step toward developing new treatments for conditions of the nervous system, like Parkinson's and Huntington's diseases and spinal cord injury.

8 Dec 2010

MP receives FDA IND approval for clinical trial with HTLV-I/II ELISA 4.0 and HTLV Blot.2.4

MP Biomedicals LLC announced today that it has received approval of its investigational new drug application (IND) with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to start pivotal clinical trials in the USA with the MP Diagnostics™ HTLV-I/II ELISA 4.0 and HTLV Blot.2.4. Studies will be conducted within the American Red Cross, the California Department of Public Health, and LABS, Inc. The company is working closely with the principal investigator of the American Red Cross sites, Dr. Susan Stramer, Executive Scientific Officer.

From MP Biomedicals, LLC 7 Dec 2010

Encouraging GenVec RSV vaccine program data presented at International Respiratory Syncytial Virus Symposium

GenVec, Inc. announced today that data were presented on GenVec's respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccine program at the International Respiratory Syncytial Virus Symposium, which took place in Rotterdam, Netherlands on December 2-5, 2010. The presentation was given by Barney S. Graham, MD, PhD, Chief, Viral Pathogenesis Laboratory and Chief, Clinical Trials Core, at the Vaccine Research Center (VRC) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

7 Dec 2010

Studies highlight need for new antiviral treatment options and strategies

Two new studies raise public health concerns about increasing antiviral resistance among certain influenza viruses, their ability to spread, and a lack of alternative antiviral treatment options.

7 Dec 2010