Virus News and Research

Latest Virus News and Research

Hepatitis C drug can eliminate chikungunya, yellow fever virus

A study performed at the University of São Paulo's Biomedical Science Institute (ICB-USP) in Brazil shows that sofosbuvir, a drug used to treat chronic hepatitis C, is capable of eliminating chikungunya virus and yellow fever virus.

19 Dec 2018

Quidel receives CE mark to use Sofia 2 Lyme+ Fluorescent Immunoassay with Sofia 2 analyzer

Quidel Corporation, a provider of rapid diagnostic testing solutions, cellular-based virology assays and molecular diagnostic systems, announced today that it has received CE Mark to market Quidel's Sofia 2 Lyme+ FIA to be used with the Sofia 2 Fluorescent Immunoassay Analyzer for the rapid differential detection of human IgM and IgG antibodies to Borrelia burgdorferi, Borrelia garinii, and Borrelia afzelii from serum and plasma specimens.

19 Dec 2018

EU Member States fall short on influenza vaccination coverage for vulnerable groups, says ECDC

None of the European Union (EU) Member States could demonstrate that they reach the EU target of 75% influenza vaccination coverage for vulnerable groups, according to a new report from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC).

19 Dec 2018

Study reveals how ASV and HIV-1 share similar structural features that drive membrane targeting, assembly

A key step in retroviral growth inside a cell, as described by Jamil Saad, Ph.D., and colleagues, is portrayed on the cover of The Journal of Biological Chemistry.

18 Dec 2018

A promising, effective vaccine for common respiratory disease

Skin vaccination using a microneedle patch that contains the inactivated respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and a compound that stimulates immune responses to the virus has been found to enhance protection against this serious disease and reduce inflammation in the body after exposure to the virus, according to a study led by Georgia State University.

18 Dec 2018

Green leafy vegetables may reduce risk of developing liver steatosis

A larger portion of green leafy vegetables in the diet may reduce the risk of developing liver steatosis, or fatty liver. In a study published in PNAS researchers from Karolinska Institutet in Sweden show how a larger intake of inorganic nitrate, which occurs naturally in many types of vegetable, reduces accumulation of fat in the liver.

17 Dec 2018

Study finds new strains of hepatitis C virus in sub-Saharan Africa

The largest population study of hepatitis C in Africa has found three new strains of the virus circulating in the general population in sub-Saharan Africa.

17 Dec 2018

New 'epigenetics-based' cervical cancer test outperforms Pap smear and HPV tests

A new test for cervical cancer was found to detect all of the cancers in a randomized clinical screening trial of 15,744 women, outperforming both the current Pap smear and human papillomavirus test at a reduced cost, according to a study led by Queen Mary University of London.

17 Dec 2018

AHF urges the WHO to expedite approval process for vaccine effective against Ebola

With the world's second worst Ebola outbreak in history recently spreading to a major city in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the World Health Organization and Merck must do more to ensure all options are on the table to fight the virus, including ensuring vaccines are available to all who need them.

17 Dec 2018

"Miracle" baby survives Ebola in Congo and rapid a new Ebola detection device

A female baby was diagnosed with the deadly Ebola when she was only six days old. According to the health officials in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), she seemed to have miraculously recovered from the viral infection.

17 Dec 2018

Experimental HIV vaccine strategy works in non-human primates, research shows

For more than 20 years, scientists at Scripps Research have chipped away at the challenges of designing an HIV vaccine. Now new research, published in Immunity, shows that their experimental vaccine strategy works in non-human primates.

14 Dec 2018

Genetically modified pigs could limit replication of classical swine fever virus, study shows

Researchers have developed genetically modified pigs that are protected from classical swine fever virus, according to a study published December 13 in the open-access journal PLOS Pathogens by Hongsheng Ouyang of Jilin University, and colleagues.

14 Dec 2018

Study sheds new light on disease-spreading mosquitoes

When the West Nile virus (WNV) was initially isolated in two patients at a Queens, N.Y., hospital in the summer of 1999, it would have been hard to anticipate how quickly one common species of house mosquito, Culex pipiens, would help begin to spread the virus throughout the western hemisphere.

13 Dec 2018

Study finds drug targets for Ebola, Dengue, and Zika viruses

No drugs are currently available to treat Ebola, Dengue, or Zika viruses, which infect millions of people every year and result in severe illness, birth defects, and even death. New research from the Gladstone Institutes and UC San Francisco may finally change that. Scientists identified key ways the three viruses hijack the body's cells, and they found at least one potential drug that can disrupt this process in human cells.

13 Dec 2018

Researchers discover Ebola-fighting protein in human cells

Researchers have discovered a human protein that helps fight the Ebola virus and could one day lead to an effective therapy against the deadly disease, according to a new Northwestern Medicine study.

13 Dec 2018

Cancer patients have greater risk of developing shingles, study shows

People newly diagnosed with cancer, particularly blood cancers, and those treated with chemotherapy have a greater risk of developing shingles, according to a new study in the Journal of Infectious Diseases.

13 Dec 2018

RUDN medics first to gather scattered data on hepatitis morbidity in Somalia

Viral hepatitis means liver inflammation caused by viruses and is among top-10 mortality factors in the world. It is passed with contaminated food and water, through contact with infected blood, via common use of household appliances such as manicure or shaving sets.

13 Dec 2018

New model could cure the potential to underestimate how quickly diseases spread

Researchers from the New York University Tandon School of Engineering and Politecnico di Torino, Italy, have developed a mathematical model that could cure the potential to underestimate how quickly diseases spread.

13 Dec 2018

Butantan Institute signs collaboration agreement with MSD to develop dengue vaccines

On Wednesday, December 12, 2018, Brazil's Butantan Institute signed a collaboration agreement with Merck Sharp & Dohme (MSD) to develop dengue vaccines.

12 Dec 2018

Nobel Laureates lecture about immune checkpoint therapy for cancer treatment

The Nobel Lectures held by the laureates of the 2018 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine saw Aula Medica at Karolinska Institutet filled to the brink. In addition to 1,000 audience members in the auditorium, people around the world were able to watch the live broadcast when James P. Allison and Tasuku Honjo talked about their research, the results of which have led to the ground-breaking immune checkpoint therapy for cancer treatment.

12 Dec 2018