Virus News and Research

Latest Virus News and Research

'Virtual screening' identifies active substances with potential to combat coronavirus

The University of Basel is part of the global search for a drug to fight the rampant coronavirus. Researchers in the Computational Pharmacy group have so far virtually tested almost 700 million substances, targeting a specific site on the virus - with the aim of inhibiting its multiplication.

11 Mar 2020

How to avoid coronavirus? Lessons from people whose lives depend on it

Andrea Amelse knows hand-washing.

11 Mar 2020

UK reports 6th death, Health Minister tests positive for COVID-19

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak continues to spread across the globe, with more than 100 countries affected. Now, the United Kingdom has reported its sixth death related to the viral infection.

11 Mar 2020

Australia: Coronavirus spreads, drive-through testing, pop up clinics and $2.4 billion

Australia has seen an increase in coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases, and this will continue for weeks despite strict border control measures, experts say. With 116 confirmed cases and thousands of people waiting to be tested, Australian hospitals could be overwhelmed by thousands of patients.

10 Mar 2020

Exploring the biological link between reactivated HSV and neurological disease

Without even knowing it, most of us carry around latent Herpes Simplex Virus in our nervous system- a simple result of being born and living together with others carrying the virus.

10 Mar 2020

Researchers discover human protein that potently inhibits coronavirus

A protein produced by the human immune system can potently inhibit several coronaviruses, including the one behind the current COVID-19 outbreak, an international team of investigators reports today. The research reveals that the LY6E protein impairs the coronavirus' ability to initiate infection, which could lead to treatments for the illness.

10 Mar 2020

CRISPR-Cas system can be used to effectively target colitis pathogen

Research at North Carolina State University shows that the CRISPR-Cas system can be used to effectively target and eliminate specific gut bacteria, in this case Clostridioides difficile, the pathogen that causes colitis - a chronic, degenerative disease of the colon.

10 Mar 2020

How a virus forms a protective shell to evade the immune system

A virus is a small infectious agent that replicates only inside the living cells of an organism. Viruses can infect all types of life forms, from animals and plants to microorganisms, including bacteria and archaea.

10 Mar 2020

The second person cured from HIV goes public

In the 1980s and early 1990s, the outbreak of HIV and AIDS swept across the globe. Today, more than 70 million people have been infected with HIV, and about 35 million have died from AIDS since the start of the pandemic. However, scientific advances, such as the development of antiretroviral drugs, have enabled people with access to treatment to live long and healthy lives with HIV. But, there is still no vaccine and cure for it. In history, only two persons have been cleared of the infection, one in Berlin and now the second one in London.

10 Mar 2020

Can novel coronavirus affect pregnant women and their babies?

As the new coronavirus (COVID-19) becomes more of a concern for people around the world, fact and myth are increasingly being confused, particularly due to misinformation and unofficial advice being casually shared.

10 Mar 2020

Study reports second ever case of a patient to be cured of HIV

A study of the second HIV patient to undergo successful stem cell transplantation from donors with a HIV-resistant gene, finds that there was no active viral infection in the patient's blood 30 months after they stopped anti-retroviral therapy, according to a case report published in The Lancet HIV journal and presented at CROI.

10 Mar 2020

Knowing more about new infectious disease threat may not satisfy people

People who rate themselves as highly knowledgeable about a new infectious disease threat could also be more likely to believe they don't know enough, a new study suggests.

10 Mar 2020

Study confirms coronavirus median incubation period at 5.1 days

Since the start of the novel coronavirus outbreak in late December 2019, doctors and health officials have imposed a quarantine period of 14 days since the estimated incubation period of the virus was expected to be between three and 14 days. A new study affirms that it may take about five days after exposure before patients manifest the symptoms of the disease.

10 Mar 2020

CDC urges older people to stay at home amid coronavirus spread

The novel coronavirus is continuing to spread worldwide, with more than 113,000 cases and now more than 4,000 deaths. In the United States, health officials urge residents not to panic due to the viral infection’s low mortality rate. Still, they advise that older people are at the highest risk of coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

10 Mar 2020

Gene therapy reverses cardiac dysfunction in mice with Barth syndrome

Barth syndrome is a rare metabolic disease in boys caused by mutation of a gene called tafazzin or TAZ. It can cause life-threatening heart failure and also weakens the skeletal muscles, undercuts the immune response, and impairs overall growth.

9 Mar 2020

PrEP drug levels found to lower among pregnant African adolescent girls and young women

Among African adolescent girls and young women who took HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) daily, levels of the PrEP drug tenofovir were more than 30% lower in those who were pregnant than in those who had recently given birth.

9 Mar 2020

How does COVID-19 coronavirus compare to the 1918 Spanish flu?

The world has seen outbreaks, with some worst than others, but one thing is common, all these outbreaks result in loss of life and a global health crisis. One of the worst epidemics in the world was the 1918 Spanish flu. Now, the current coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak is being compared to the Spanish flu that ravaged the world more than a century ago.

9 Mar 2020

New federal rules will let patients put medical records on smartphones

Federal officials on Monday released groundbreaking rules that will let patients download their electronic health records and other health care data onto their smartphones.

9 Mar 2020

Surging health care worker quarantines raise concerns as coronavirus spreads

As the U.S. battles to limit the spread of the highly contagious new coronavirus, the number of health care workers ordered to self-quarantine because of potential exposure to an infected patient is rising at an exponential pace.

9 Mar 2020

Italy to isolate 16 million people as country grapples with COVID-19

Italy is grappling with the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) spread in the country, which has so far taken 366 lives and infected 7,375 people. Now, the government plans to isolate and quarantine the northern part of Italy, including Milan and the epicenter of the virus spread, Lombardy, affecting about 16 million people.

9 Mar 2020