Virus News and Research

Latest Virus News and Research

Natural immunity to SARS-CoV-2 weakened significantly after Omicron’s emergence

Findings indicate a sharp drop in immunity after Omicron infection, stressing the necessity for updated vaccines to enhance protection against reinfection.

6 Feb 2025

Jumbo phages' protective shield offers clues for fighting antibiotic resistance

Scientists are learning more about how an intriguing type of virus protects itself. Revealing its strategies could boost the fight against antibiotic resistance.

6 Feb 2025

New nasal vaccine for COVID-19 set to begin clinical trial in the U.S.

A nasal vaccine for COVID-19 – based on technology developed at Washington University in St. Louis – is poised to enter a phase 1 clinical trial in the U.S. after an investigational new drug application from Ocugen, Inc. was approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Ocugen, a U.S.-based biotechnology company, licensed the innovative technology from WashU in 2022.

5 Feb 2025

COVID-19 speeds up artery plaque growth, raising heart disease risk

COVID-19 accelerates the progression of atherosclerotic plaques, increasing coronary inflammation and the risk of high-risk plaques, even in non-hospitalized individuals.

5 Feb 2025

The link between air pollution and lower respiratory infections in adults

Research reveals that even low levels of air pollution significantly increase the risk of respiratory infections in adults, highlighting urgent health concerns.

5 Feb 2025

New insights into how the Sudan virus attaches to human cells

The Sudan virus, a close relative of Ebola, has a fatality rate of 50% but remains poorly understood in terms of how it infects cells. Currently, no approved treatments exist.

4 Feb 2025

New gene therapy shows promise for lifelong treatment of hypophosphatasia

For the last 10 years, the only effective treatment for hypophosphatasia (HPP) has been an enzyme replacement therapy that must be delivered by injection three-to-six times each week.

4 Feb 2025

Uganda launches first ever vaccine trial for Sudan Ebola virus

In a global first, Uganda's Ministry of Health, the World Health Organization (WHO) and other partners today launched a first ever vaccine trial for Ebola from the Sudan species of the virus, and at an unprecedented speed for a randomized vaccine trial in an emergency.

4 Feb 2025

In silico docking of clinically approved drugs against the SARS-CoV-2 receptor-binding domain

Announcing a new article publication for BIO Integration journal. Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), first identified in China in December 2019, rapidly spread worldwide, resulting in the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

4 Feb 2025

USC receives $6 million grant for pioneering glioblastoma gene therapy

The California Institute for Regenerative Medicine has awarded a $6 million grant to USC investigators pioneering a new first-of-its-kind genetic therapy for glioblastoma, a severe form of brain cancer.

3 Feb 2025

New study confirms CAR T cell therapy does not cause secondary cancers

Within a large group of more than 700 patients treated with CAR T cell therapy, researchers found no evidence that the therapy itself caused any type of secondary cancer in the modified T cells, according to new analysis reported today in Nature Medicine from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and Penn Medicine's Abramson Cancer Center.

3 Feb 2025

Pasteurization destroys influenza viruses in milk, reinforcing dairy safety

Pasteurization at 63°C and 72°C effectively inactivates influenza A viruses in milk, ensuring its safety for human consumption while viral RNA may still be detected.

2 Feb 2025

New method can neutralize coronaviruses with mineral nanoparticles

A new way to neutralize the coronavirus and other membrane-surrounded viruses has been discovered by researchers from the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences and the University of Tartu.

31 Jan 2025

NIH-supported clinical trial to test experimental treatment for dengue

A clinical trial supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) is testing an experimental treatment designed to help people suffering the effects of dengue, a mosquito-borne viral disease.

31 Jan 2025

New findings could make off-the-shelf CAR T cell therapy a reality

CAR T cell therapy is one of the most promising new cancer treatments to emerge in recent years. It involves removing a patient's own immune T cells and engineering them to recognize specific targets on the surface of the cancer cell.

31 Jan 2025

Antibody therapy provides protection against severe H5N1 avian flu in monkeys

A prophylactic antibody-based immune therapy protects monkeys against severe disease caused by H5N1 avian flu, University of Pittsburgh and NIH Vaccine Research Center researchers report today in Science.

30 Jan 2025

Zika virus manipulates human skin to attract mosquitoes and boost transmission

Zika virus hijacks the skin of its human host to send out chemical signals that lure more mosquitoes to infect and spread the disease further, new research shows.

30 Jan 2025

Europe faces growing risk of polio despite ongoing vaccination efforts

An unusually high amount of poliovirus detections in several European countries in recent months has underscored the importance of keeping Europe polio-free, according to an editorial by European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) Director Pamela Rendi Wagner and World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Director for Europe Hans Kluge, which was published on Eurosurveillance. 'A future without polio remains our goal, but it is by no means a certainty', warn Rendi-Wagner and Kluge.

30 Jan 2025

Trump administration’s halt of CDC’s weekly scientific report stalls bird flu studies

The Trump administration has intervened in the release of important studies on the bird flu, as an outbreak escalates across the United States.

30 Jan 2025

Cancer-fighting virus T-VEC helps shrink tough-to-treat skin tumors

Talimogene laherparepvec (T-VEC) demonstrates efficacy in cutaneous BCC, enhancing resectability and altering immune cell composition with low adverse events.

30 Jan 2025