Virus News and Research

Latest Virus News and Research

Infectious disease experts explain how to stay healthy during the flu season

About 40 million people contracted the flu last year, with hundreds of thousands hospitalized and 35,400 to 61,000 deaths, including 134 children, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

30 Sep 2019

Duke Human Vaccine Institute participates in a large national effort to improve flu shots

As part of a massive national effort to improve and modernize flu shots, the Duke Human Vaccine Institute has received three research contracts from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, with an initial award of approximately $29.6 million in first-year funding.

30 Sep 2019

Novel immunotherapy combination could provide fresh hope for patients with cervical cancer

With an estimated 570,000 cases and 311,000 deaths in 2018 worldwide, cervical cancer currently ranks as the fourth most frequently diagnosed cancer and the fourth leading cause of cancer death in women.

30 Sep 2019

Johns Hopkins researchers develop new way to deliver sight-saving gene therapy to the retina

In experiments with rats, pigs and monkeys, Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers have developed a way to deliver sight-saving gene therapy to the retina.

From Johns Hopkins Medicine 30 Sep 2019

UK government considers compulsory immunization for all school children

Immunization efforts have been implemented across the globe. But, the rates of immunized children are dropping. In the United Kingdom, health officials have expressed alarms the drop in take-up of routine childhood vaccinations, leaving thousands of children under-protected from 13 different diseases.

30 Sep 2019

Scientists discover T cell homing beacons for lungs

Scientists have identified a pair of molecules critical for T cells, part of the immune system, to travel to and populate the lungs. A potential application could be strengthening vaccines against respiratory pathogens such as influenza.

27 Sep 2019

WHO begins emergency vaccination campaign to slow measles outbreak in DR Congo

The WHO and government of the DR Congo have begun an emergency vaccination program to stop the spread of measles in the country.

27 Sep 2019

Research reveals why viruses will need to be reclassified and its biotech impact

New research reveals that the way viruses were perceived in terms of their architecture will need to be retooled, because they are actually structured in many more patterns than previously understood.

27 Sep 2019

Study provides new insights on how influenza virus achieves efficient viral RNA replication

New insights on how subunits of the influenza virus polymerase co-evolve to ensure efficient viral RNA replication are provided by a study published October 3 in the open-access journal PLOS Pathogens by Nadia Naffakh of the Institut Pasteur, and colleagues. As the authors note, the findings could lead to novel strategies for antiviral drug development.

From PLOS ONE 27 Sep 2019

Children's of Alabama using cold sore virus to fight pediatric brain cancer

Children's of Alabama is home to one of the most exciting studies underway in pediatric cancer: evaluating the use of a cold sore virus to treat children with progressive malignant brain tumors.

26 Sep 2019

UCI researchers receive BRAIN Initiative grant to lead development of new brain mapping tool

Professors Xiangmin Xu and Rozanne Sandri-Goldin, in collaboration with Professors Bert Semler and Todd Holmes at the University of California, Irvine, School of Medicine, were awarded a three-year, $4.3 million Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies (BRAIN) Initiative grant.

26 Sep 2019

Texas Biomed scientists continue testing therapies and vaccines for Ebola virus

In mid-August 2019, human clinical trials were halted in the current Ebola epidemic that has claimed more than 2,100 lives in Africa.

26 Sep 2019

Dormant HIV reservoirs could be killed with RNA switch

Researchers from the University of California San Diego School of Medicine have found cellular triggers within the immune cells that could be controlled in order to kill dormant HIV-1 reservoirs in individuals with HIV-1.

25 Sep 2019

Study shows how AF4-MALS-UV can separate and size large AAV aggregates

Postnova Analytics has published a new applications study that reports on how Asymmetric Flow Field Flow Fractionation (AF4) coupled with multi-angle light scattering (MALS) and Ultraviolet (UV) detectors can be used to quantify Adeno-Associated Virus (AAV) aggregation.

From Postnova Analytics 25 Sep 2019

Researchers identify key switch that eliminates dormant HIV reservoirs

Using genetic sequencing, University of California San Diego School of Medicine researchers have identified a principal cellular player controlling HIV reproduction in immune cells which, when turned off or deleted, eliminates dormant HIV reservoirs.

24 Sep 2019

Second round of Ebola vaccination trials on the way to DRC

A second experimental Ebola vaccine made by Johnson & Johnson will soon undergo clinical trials in the Ebola affected Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) announced health officials. The second round of vaccinations is to begin middle of October this year.

24 Sep 2019