Virus News and Research

Latest Virus News and Research

Bacterial vaginosis may increase risk of HIV infection

A common vaginal infection may make women more susceptible to contracting HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Public Health researchers have found.

31 Jul 2008

Rresearchers explain how previously ignored parts of HIV genome play key role in drug resistance

One of the major reasons that treatment for HIV/AIDS often doesn't work as well as it should is resistance to the drugs involved. Now, scientists at McGill University have revealed how mutations hidden in previously ignored parts of the HIV genome play an important role in the development of drug resistance in AIDS patients. Their study will be published Aug. 8 in the Journal of Biological Chemistry.

31 Jul 2008

New studies examine use of the nucleoside polymerase inhibitor, R1626, to the standard therapy for hepatitis C

Two new studies examine the use of the nucleoside polymerase inhibitor, R1626, to the standard therapy for hepatitis C. The reports appear in the August issue of Hepatology, a journal published by John Wiley & Sons on behalf of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD).

31 Jul 2008

Monkey virus found in people living and working with monkeys

A research team led by University of Washington scientists has found that several people in South and Southeast Asian countries working and living around monkeys have been infected with simian foamy virus (SFV), a primate virus that, to date, has not been shown to cause human disease.

31 Jul 2008

Countries in Latin America and the Caribbean should improve, expand sexuality education

Countries in Latin America and the Caribbean should improve and expand sexuality education programmes in order to prevent HIV and AIDS and reduce the impact of the epidemic in the region, a group of United Nations agencies said today.

31 Jul 2008

EPA funds Rutgers West Nile virus research

Rutgers University's Cook Campus is buzzing with the news of a recent $750,000 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) grant that will fund important and innovative research about biodiversity and West Nile Virus. Biodiversity, or the amount and variety of plants and animals in a geographic region, has become a major topic of interest in recent years.

31 Jul 2008

Shocking deaths of six people with learning disabilities details unnecessary suffering at the hands of the NHS

An inquiry into the deaths of six patients with learning disabilities while being treated by the National Health Service (NHS) has revealed shocking details.

30 Jul 2008

ISU researchers find possible alternative adjuvant for alum to boost the effectiveness of vaccines

On the rocky road of cancer research, Indiana State University scientists have made important discoveries.

29 Jul 2008

Canadian pandemic research receives funding boost

Densely populated cities and increased air travel can be factors which create and spread pandemic disease. But a McMaster University researcher is working with isolated Hutterite communities to understand the transmission of pandemic diseases like influenza.

29 Jul 2008

HAART increases HIV-positive people's life expectancy by average of 13 years

HIV-positive people in wealthy countries using highly active antiretroviral therapy now live an additional 13 years on average, but a large disparity in life expectancy remains between HIV-positive people on HAART and the general population, according to a study published Friday in the journal Lancet, Reuters reports.

29 Jul 2008

Structure and composition of hepatitis B virus now mapped

Using a newly developed method, Utrecht University researchers have mapped the structure and composition of the hepatitis B virus.

28 Jul 2008

Cocktail of drugs extends life of HIV patients

According to Canadian researchers a cocktail which is a combination of HIV drugs can give AIDS patients an average of 13 years additional life.

28 Jul 2008

Lung inflammation from influenza and other infections could be turned off following new discovery

A new discovery could lead to treatments which turn off the inflammation in the lungs caused by influenza and other infections, according to a study published in the journal Nature Immunology.

27 Jul 2008

Researchers disprove long-standing belief about HIV treatment

Researchers at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center have disproved a long-standing clinical belief that the hepatitis C virus slows or stunts the immune system's ability to restore itself after HIV patients are treated with a combination of drugs known as the 'cocktail.'

27 Jul 2008

A dangerous precedent in HIV

Infection with HIV could quadruple in certain populations if people with HIV follow potentially misleading advice contained in a statement from the Swiss Federal Commission for HIV/AIDS, University of New South Wales (UNSW) research warns.

24 Jul 2008

Raltegravir drug combo works against highly resistant strain of HIV

A study involving an international team of scientists has discovered that a new drug when combined with other anti-HIV medications, is particularly effective against a highly resistant strain of the HIV virus.

24 Jul 2008

Advanced Cancer Therapeutics licenses technology to develop HPV vaccine

Advanced Cancer Therapeutics (ACT) has announced the signing of two new collaborative agreements that will advance development of the Company's novel human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine program.

23 Jul 2008

Scientists find structure of critical Ebola virus protein

Scientists at the Scripps Research Institute have uncovered the structure of a critical protein from the Ebola Virus that allows viral entry in human cells.

23 Jul 2008

Singapore Ministry of Health calls on more physicians to offer anonymous rapid HIV tests

Singapore's Ministry of Health recently called on more private general practitioners in the country to provide anonymous rapid HIV tests, which currently are available only at two clinics, the Straits Times reports.

23 Jul 2008

Gilead initiates phase III trial of Elvitegravir

Gilead Sciences, Inc. has announced that it has begun enrolling patients in a Phase III clinical trial of its investigational antiretroviral agent elvitegravir (GS 9137), a novel oral integrase inhibitor that is being evaluated for the treatment of HIV-1 infection.

22 Jul 2008