Virus News and Research

Latest Virus News and Research

Swine flu more lethal than seasonal flu

Pandemic swine flu can infect cells deeper in the lungs than seasonal flu can, according to a new study published today in Nature Biotechnology.

10 Sep 2009

New treatment strategies for multiple sclerosis

The drawback in the new immunotherapies in multiple sclerosis (MS) includMe severe infections that can be fatal. For example, treatment with natalizumab, which reduces the immune surveillance of the brain, can lead to the development of progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML), a typically fatal form of viral encephalitis.

10 Sep 2009

Swine flu more lethal than seasonal flu

Pandemic swine flu can infect cells deeper in the lungs than seasonal flu can, according to a new study published today in Nature Biotechnology. The researchers, from Imperial College London, say this may explain why people infected with the pandemic strain of swine-origin H1N1 influenza are more likely to suffer more severe symptoms than those infected with the seasonal strain of H1N1.

10 Sep 2009

Business operations to be hit in the event of H1N1 outbreak

In a national survey of businesses that looks at their preparations for a possible widespread H1N1 outbreak, Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) researchers found that only one-third believe they could sustain their business without severe operational problems if half their workforce were absent for two weeks due to H1N1 (also known as "swine flu").

10 Sep 2009

'How Much Longer' campaign for promoting autism awareness

The National Autism Association (NAA) declared today as National "How Much Longer" Day for Autism, a day of letter-writing to the media, health agencies, Department of Education, lawmakers and the Obama Administration asking for such things as health insurance coverage, federal laws to protect special-ed students from dangerous restraint and seclusion practices in schools, safer vaccines, and for autism to be declared a nation health crisis.

10 Sep 2009

Polio vaccination resumes in Pakistan's Swat Valley

"Authorities in Pakistan's Swat Valley have resumed vaccinating children for polio, an act once banned by Taliban militants, now beaten back by an army offensive," the Associated Press reports. The three-day campaign, which started on Monday, is targeting about 215,000 children, said government official Khurshid Khan.

10 Sep 2009

WHO's Chan says swine flu will 'test' world on 'fairness'

Addressing a meeting of South East Asian health ministers Tuesday, WHO Director-General Margaret Chan said the H1N1 (swine) flu pandemic will "test the world on the issue of fairness" and "reveal in a measurable and tragic way the consequences of decades of failure to invest adequately in basic health systems and infrastructure,"

10 Sep 2009

New Influenza A/H1N1 detection kit launched

QIAGEN, today announced both the launch of a new Influenza A/H1N1 test and several updates to its activities in providing solutions for the global surveillance of the swine flu pandemic. QIAGEN’s new kit enables both the highly sensitive and specific detection of the novel Influenza A/H1N1, the virus that causes “swine flu”, as well as of all other known Influenza A and B virus strains.

10 Sep 2009

Oral and throat cancers linked to human papilloma virus

Infection by the human papilloma virus (HPV), the most common sexually transmitted disease, has been linked to more than one third of all oral and throat cancers according to Dr. Solomon Hamburg, president of the prestigious Tower Cancer Research Foundation.

10 Sep 2009

GlaxoSmithKline's CERVARIX receives favorable recommendation from FDA Advisory Committee

GlaxoSmithKline (NYSE: GSK) announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee (VRBPAC) voted that clinical data support both the efficacy and safety of CERVARIX((R)), the company's candidate cervical cancer vaccine (12-1 and 11-1, respectively).

10 Sep 2009

First trial of 2009 H1N1 influenza vaccine testing launched

The first trial testing a candidate 2009 H1N1 influenza vaccine in pregnant women is launching this week, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, announced today.

10 Sep 2009

Preventive-care TB therapy is cost-effective for patients

University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) researchers have found that the cost of preventive antibiotic tuberculosis (TB) therapy for patients infected by human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is generally less expensive than the reported cost of treating newly confirmed TB cases.

10 Sep 2009

Plant extract could lead to new drug development for H1N1

Scientists in China have discovered that roots of a plant used a century ago during the great Spanish influenza pandemic contains substances with powerful effects in laboratory experiments in killing the H1N1 swine flu virus that now threatens the world.

10 Sep 2009

Merck's GARDASIL receives approval from FDA Advisory Committee

Merck & Co., Inc. announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee agreed that efficacy, immunogenicity and safety data from clinical trials in males support the use of GARDASIL® [Human Papillomavirus Quadrivalent (Types 6, 11, 16 and 18) Vaccine, Recombinant] in boys and men 9 through 26 years of age for the prevention of genital warts caused by human papillomavirus (HPV) types 6 and 11.

10 Sep 2009

Promega unveils Maxwell 16 Viral Total Nucleic Acid Purification Kit

Promega announces the release of the Maxwell 16 Viral Total Nucleic Acid Purification Kit which, among other labs, currently serves the OCA Hospital in Mexico for H1N1 clinical research.

10 Sep 2009

ARUP Laboratories' scientist receives grant to research HIV therapies

ARUP Laboratories, a national clinical and anatomic pathology reference laboratory and a leader in innovative laboratory research and development, announced that ARUP's Tanya Sandrock, PhD, Research & Development scientist, received a prestigious National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant to research additional HIV therapies.

9 Sep 2009

Members of Blue Shield of California to receive administrative costs of the H1N1 virus vaccine

Blue Shield of California announced today that it will cover the administrative costs of the H1N1 virus (swine flu) vaccine for all its members, regardless of which plan they have. Blue Shield will be waiving prior authorizations, copays and deductibles for office visits when members go to an in-network doctor to get H1N1 vaccinations.

9 Sep 2009

University of California receives $3.5 million grant from NIDA for AIDS vaccine research

The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) has awarded a $3.5 million grant for AIDS vaccine research to Phillip Berman, professor and chair of biomolecular engineering at the Jack Baskin School of Engineering at the University of California, Santa Cruz.

9 Sep 2009

Phase II trial of ANA598 commenced by Anadys Pharmaceuticals

Anadys Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: ANDS) announced today that dosing has begun in a Phase II trial of ANA598 in patients chronically infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV). The study will evaluate ANA598 over 12 weeks, taken in combination with pegylated interferon-alpha and ribavirin, in treatment naive HCV patients. ANA598 is an investigational, oral, non-nucleoside polymerase inhibitor.

9 Sep 2009

Cepheid's Flu Panel test to provide 45-minute identification of Flu A infection

Cepheid (Nasdaq: CPHD) today announced the accelerated development of a Flu A (Influenza Virus) Panel test for use on the GeneXpert((R)) System. The test will be designed to provide 45-minute identification of Flu A infection, with specific presumptive identification of seasonal H1, seasonal H3, and H1N1 novel strain types.

9 Sep 2009