Virus News and Research

Latest Virus News and Research

New screening method can rapidly discover potential cancer-treating compounds

Scientists at Scripps Research have developed a method for rapidly discovering potential cancer-treating compounds that work by resurrecting anti-tumor activity in immune cells called T cells.

3 Dec 2019

Common cold virus could infect fetus via placenta

According to researchers, the common cold viruses are capable of infecting human placental cells and may thus transmit the infection to the fetus in the womb during pregnancy. The new study was published in the journal PLOS ONE, and provides the first concrete proof that this type of carriage is possible.

3 Dec 2019

Researchers identify mechanism for spread of HIV-1

New insight on how a type of cell facilitates the spread of HIV-1 has been published today in the open-access journal eLife.

3 Dec 2019

Study: Spleen and gut lymph nodes may serve as reservoir replication sites for HIV virus

An international team led by Professor Jerome Estaquier from Universite Laval's Faculty of Medicine and the CHU de Quebec-Universite Laval Research Center may have discovered where in the body HIV takes refuge during antiretroviral treatment.

3 Dec 2019

Virome analysis reveals clues for increased risk of type 1 diabetes in children

New results from The Environmental Determinants of Diabetes in the Young study show an association between prolonged enterovirus infection and the development of autoimmunity to the insulin-producing pancreatic beta-cells that precedes type 1 diabetes.

2 Dec 2019

Research uncovers mechanism that triggers inflammatory process by Mayaro virus

The mechanism by which defense cells respond to infection by Mayaro virus has been described by a team affiliated with the Center for Research on Inflammatory Diseases - CRID in an article published in the journal PLOS Pathogens.

2 Dec 2019

Study: Most Australian GPs widely use placebos

Most Australian GPs have used a placebo in practice at least once, with active placebos (active treatments used primarily to generate positive expectations) more commonly used than inert placebos, according to a new study.

2 Dec 2019

Experimental therapies offer patients a greater chance of surviving Ebola virus disease

The investigational therapeutics mAb114 and REGN-EB3 offer patients a greater chance of surviving Ebola virus disease compared to the investigational treatment ZMapp, according to published results from a clinical trial conducted in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

2 Dec 2019

Contagious cancers in the oceans much more common than once thought

Researchers have found that a type of cancer affecting shellfish is spreading across the Atlantic Ocean and spilling into the Pacific Ocean as well. The study titled, “A single clonal lineage of transmissible cancer identified in two marine mussel species in South America and Europe,” is published this week in the latest issue of the journal eLife.

28 Nov 2019

NIH Statement for World AIDS Day outlines efforts to end the HIV epidemic

With World AIDS Day on 1st December, we are reminded by the NIH of the work that needs to be done to end the HIV Epidemic.

28 Nov 2019

Health organizations urge people to get vaccinated against the flu

Health organizations are urging people to get their flu shot soon to protect themselves during the upcoming influenza season.

28 Nov 2019

Many women in Europe are diagnosed at late stage of HIV infection

Many women in the WHO European Region, particularly those in their 40s, are diagnosed at a late stage of HIV infection when their immune system is already starting to fail. They are three to four times more likely to be diagnosed late than younger women.

28 Nov 2019

UCLA scientists discover link between a protein and human blood stem cell self-renewal

UCLA scientists have discovered a link between a protein and the ability of human blood stem cells to self-renew. In a study published today in the journal Nature, the team reports that activating the protein causes blood stem cells to self-renew at least twelvefold in laboratory conditions.

27 Nov 2019

HIV positive sperm bank launched in New Zealand

In pursuit of greater acceptance for HIV positive people, an organization in New Zealand aspires to begin an HIV positive sperm bank called Sperm Positive. It will start by accepting sperms from 3 males who have HIV but are being treated such that their sperm is not capable of transmitting the infection at present. The treatment has reduced viremia (the viral load in the blood) to such a level that it is undetectable by standard methods.

27 Nov 2019

New compound may enhance dengue vaccine efficacy by simulating amino acid deficiency

A new study published in the journal Science Signaling on November 26, 2019, describes a mouse experiment, in which the immune response to the dengue vaccine was boosted when the mice were first given halofuginone, a plant compound that is well known to herbalists.

27 Nov 2019

Mystery surrounds gene edited babies one year on

A year back Chinese scientist He Jiankui was in the news for all the wrong reasons. He had helped create the world’s first genetically edited human babies. After a year the world is still in dark about the whereabouts and health of the babies he had created and he himself has been not seen since January this year.

27 Nov 2019

Scientists sheds light on small protein and its role in immune response

The immune system is the body’s defense against disease-causing pathogens. It works by warding off disease and potentially-damaging foreign bodies. Now, a team of researchers have developed a new method to shed light on the basic defense mechanism of the immune system.

27 Nov 2019

What protects killer T cells from accidental death?

White blood cells, which release a toxic potion of proteins to kill cancerous and virus-infected cells, are protected from any harm by the physical properties of their cell envelopes, find scientists from UCL and the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre in Melbourne.

27 Nov 2019

Sanitization error might possibly have exposed hundreds to HIV at Indiana hospital

An Indiana hospital is in the news for all the wrong reasons. An accidental failure by one of the seven sterilization technicians working at the hospital was recently discovered. The technician failed to carry out a single step in a protocol concerning the sanitization of surgical equipment at Goshen Hospital, over a period from April 1 to September 30.

26 Nov 2019

Attacking HIV at the source

A new study published on November 26, 2019, in the journal Cell Reports, details a new discovery that may help avert HIV infection right at the start. The virus is known to take a long time to infect a person, and the scientists say they have found a period during which it can be weakened or killed, in the very first hours after it has entered a host. They call this the window of vulnerability.

26 Nov 2019