Virus News and Research

Latest Virus News and Research

Disinfectant hand gels not effective against Swine flu: Study

According to the latest research published this Sunday, regular use of alcohol-based disinfecting hand gels has little effect on the H1N1 swine flu infection rates. The authors of the study said that the infection is spread by air droplets rather than touch and contact.

12 Sep 2010

Research Roundup: Shifting ER visits to urgent care centers; Evaluating doctors; Medicare Advantage quality ratings

Health Affairs: Many Emergency Department Visits Could Be Managed At Urgent Care Centers And Retail Clinics - Researchers analyzed samples of patient records and found "13.7 percent of all emergency department visits could take place at a retail clinic" - 7.9 percent when hours are restricted - and "an additional 13.4 percent of emergency department visits could take place at a urgent care center—8.9 percent when hours are restricted.

10 Sep 2010

395 new vaccines being developed for infectious diseases: PhRMA

Critical challenges remain in the centuries-old battles against infectious diseases, particularly as bacteria and viruses mutate and as the threat of bioterrorism grows. Responding to this need, America's biopharmaceutical research companies this year have 395 new medicines and vaccines in the pipeline to fight infectious diseases. All 395 are in later stages of development, meaning in clinical trials or under Food and Drug Administration (FDA) review.

10 Sep 2010

Study finds Laotian/Hmong-Americans have low survival rates for liver cancer

Among Asian-Americans living in California, Laotian/Hmong-Americans have the lowest survival rates for the most common type of liver cancer, a new study by researchers with the UC Davis School of Medicine has found.

10 Sep 2010

Numerate awarded new contract by Defense Threat Reduction Agency

Numerate, Inc. announced today that it has been awarded a new three-year contract by the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA), an agency within the U.S. Department of Defense, to adapt its pioneering small-molecule drug design platform to the rapid design and optimization of drugs against biowarfare agents.

10 Sep 2010

Koronis Pharmaceuticals to present KP-1461 clinical trial data at ICAAC Conference

Koronis Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a biotechnology company focused on the development of antiviral therapeutics, today announced that clinical trial data demonstrating that the Company's lead HIV drug, KP-1461, resulted in increased HIV mutations consistent with the Viral Decay Acceleration mechanism will be featured in a late-breaker oral presentation by James Mullins, Ph.D., Professor of Microbiology and Medicine at the University of Washington, at the upcoming 50th Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy (ICAAC) taking place in Boston, MA.

10 Sep 2010

56% of Australians won’t vaccinate against Swine flu: Survey

Over fifty per cent of Australians were not vaccinated against the swine flu before winter arrived this year, with many of these people deliberately choosing not to be vaccinated.

9 Sep 2010

Researchers discover first compound to activate enzyme telomerase in human body

Sierra Sciences, in collaboration with TA Sciences, Geron Corporation, PhysioAge, and the Spanish National Cancer Research Center (CNIO), has announced the first compound ever discovered that activates the enzyme telomerase in the human body - a critical prerequisite for technology that could arrest or reverse the aging process in humans.

9 Sep 2010

Aethlon Hemopurifier captures immunosuppressive exosomes from individuals with metastatic melanoma.

Aethlon Medical, Inc., the pioneer in developing therapeutic filtration devices to address infectious disease and cancer, announced today that its researchers have demonstrated the ability of the Aethlon Hemopurifier® to capture immunosuppressive exosomes derived from individuals with metastatic melanoma.

9 Sep 2010

Scientists discover sensor in dendritic cells that recognizes HIV

Dendritic cells are the grand sentinels of the immune system, standing guard 24/7 to detect foreign invaders such as viruses and bacteria, and bring news of the invasion to other immune cells to marshal an attack. These sentinels, however, nearly always fail to respond adequately to HIV, the virus causing AIDS. Now a team of scientists at NYU Langone Medical Center has discovered a sensor in dendritic cells that recognizes HIV, spurring a more potent immune response by the sentinels to the virus.

9 Sep 2010

Switching from protease inhibitors to Nevirapine brings superior results for some HIV-infected children

Nevirapine is widely used to help prevent mother-to-child transmission of the HIV virus. In cases where the infants are nonetheless infected with HIV virus at birth, the standard treatment is to use protease inhibitors (PI) to reduce the amount of virus in their bloodstream. A new study involving 195 infants in South Africa found that children who were treated with PI and then switched to nevirapine were more likely to maintain virus below the detection threshold of the test than infants who continued to receive PI.

9 Sep 2010

Shared needle at school science experiment puts students at risk

In a science experiment at a Tasmanian Dover District high school, a teacher took blood samples from grade 9 and 10 students using the same needle. They were testing blood pH levels. Now students are being tested for HIV infection. The needle was dipped in methylated spirits each time before pricking but authorities say this is not enough to prevent transmission of HIV and other viruses like Hepatitis B and C.

8 Sep 2010

Progenics commences Phase 3 trial of oral methylnaltrexone for opioid-induced constipation

Progenics Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced the initiation of an international 700-patient, phase 3 trial of oral methylnaltrexone in patients with chronic, non-cancer pain who are experiencing constipation as a result of their opioid-pain management regimens. The goal of the study is to evaluate the safety and efficacy of oral methylnaltrexone to treat opioid-induced constipation (OIC) in this patient setting.

8 Sep 2010

ProteaBio concludes agreement with George Washington University to commercialize LAESI technology

ProteaBio Europe SAS, a leading developer of new technology, announced today that the company has concluded an exclusive, worldwide license agreement with George Washington University for commercial rights to a new technology that provides rapid identification of a broad range of chemicals and biomolecules.

8 Sep 2010

Data finds low risk of serious complications in 2009 H1N1 infection

An analysis of data from influenza cases in Wisconsin indicates individuals with 2009 H1N1 infections were younger than those with H3N2 (2007-2008), and that the risk of most serious complications was not higher in adults or children with 2009 H1N1 compared with recent seasonal strains, according to a study in the September 8 issue of JAMA.

8 Sep 2010

Risks of 'imported' measles

An outbreak of measles at an international youth soccer event illustrates the risks of with "imported" measles, according to a study in the September issue of The Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal. The journal is published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a part of Wolters Kluwer Health, a leading provider of information and business intelligence for students, professionals, and institutions in medicine, nursing, allied health, and pharmacy.

8 Sep 2010

Phase 3 REALIZE study shows milestone in treatment development for hepatitis C

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated today announced that 65% of people overall achieved a sustained viral response (SVR or viral cure) with a telaprevir-based regimen in the pivotal Phase 3 REALIZE study, as compared to 17% of people in the control arm who received pegylated-interferon and ribavirin alone.

8 Sep 2010

Switching to nevirapine drug from PI based regimen reduces viremia in children: Study

HIV infected children in South Africa who were exposed to the drug nevirapine at birth (used to help prevent mother to child HIV transmission) and then received a protease inhibitor (PI) for viral suppression achieved lower rates of viremia (virus in the blood stream) if they were switched to nevirapine, compared to children who continued on the PI-based regimen, according to a study in the September 8 issue of JAMA.

8 Sep 2010

Jennerex, Transgene enter partnership to develop JX-594 product for tumor treatment

Jennerex, Inc., a private clinical-stage biotherapeutics company focused on the development and commercialization of first-in-class targeted oncolytic products for cancer, and Transgene Euronext, a bio-pharmaceutical company specialized in the development of immunotherapeutic products, today announced that they have entered into an exclusive partnership to develop and commercialize JX-594 for the treatment of solid tumors in Europe, the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and the Middle East.

8 Sep 2010

CDC ramps up production of new three-in-one flu vaccine

Health officials say that there will be plenty of flu vaccine available this year, now that the H1N1 pandemic has ended, The Washington Post reports. "The World Health Organization declared an end to the pandemic last month, based on indications that the H1N1 flu was transitioning to a more seasonal virus. Unlike last year, when there was one vaccine for H1N1 flu and another for seasonal flu, this year's vaccine is a 'three-in-one' that includes protection against H1N1 as well as two other strains."

8 Sep 2010