Virus News and Research

Latest Virus News and Research

Blocking the COX-1 enzyme might be the answer in ovarian cancer treatment

Researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in a new report say that blocking the COX-1 enzyme - not COX-2 - might lead to a way to prevent and treat the most common and fatal form of ovarian cancer.

2 May 2005

Marburg virus - 275 confirmed cases

The World Health Organization (WHO) and health authorities in Angola have confirmed 275 cases including 255 deaths, in an outbreak of Marburg virus in north-western Angola since April 27 this year.

2 May 2005

Avian flu pandemic a very real threat

A new influenza pandemic is being seen by experts as the most significant global public health emergency caused by a naturally occurring pathogen.

2 May 2005

GlaxoSmithKline to acquire Corixa Corporation

GlaxoSmithKline has announced the execution of a definitive agreement pursuant to which GSK will acquire Corixa Corporation, a developer of innovative products that regulate immunity, based in Seattle, WA (USA).

2 May 2005

Judge calls GlaxoSmithKline 'high-handed' over legal action from Biota

A Supreme Court judge in Melbourne, Australia has described as "high-handed" the delay by global pharmaceutical firm GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) in filing a defence against legal action from Biota Holdings last Friday.

1 May 2005

More repellents recommended in the fight against West Nile Virus

In an attempt to fight the West Nile virus U.S. health officials have recommended two more mosquito repellent ingredients, one of them a plant oil.

1 May 2005

19 primary schoolchildren on HIV drugs after prank with needle

After an 8-year-old girl pricked her schoolmates with her mother's diabetes-testing needle nineteen primary school students have had to be been placed on drugs to fight HIV because one child in a group of nineteen was discovered to be HIV positive.

1 May 2005

Blocking the COX-1 enzyme might prevent and treat the most common and fatal form of ovarian cancer

Blocking the COX-1 enzyme - not COX-2 - might lead to a way to prevent and treat the most common and fatal form of ovarian cancer, researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center reported this week.

1 May 2005

Antibiotic minocycline might help alleviate HIV's negative effects on the brain and central nervous system

By studying animals, Johns Hopkins researchers have discovered that the antibiotic minocycline might help alleviate HIV's negative effects on the brain and central nervous system, problems that can develop even though antiretroviral therapy controls the virus elsewhere in the body.

1 May 2005

Respiratory syncytial virus affects the elderly and high-risk adults as much as influenza

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), primarily seen as a cause of illness in infants and children, often affects the elderly and high-risk adults as much as influenza, a study by University of Rochester Medical Center researchers demonstrates.

27 Apr 2005

Promising new West Nile therapy cures disease in mice

West Nile virus alarmed Americans when it made its first U.S. appearance in New York City in 1999. It has since spread from coast to coast, sickened more than 16,000 Americans and killed more than 600.

27 Apr 2005

HIV epidemic among young men unabated because many are unaware they are infected

U.S. health officials say many young gay and bisexual men who are HIV-positive are unaware they have the virus.

26 Apr 2005

Australian researchers develop West Nile virus treatment

A University of Queensland researcher has developed the world's first specific immunotherapy product using monoclonal antibodies for the potentially lethal West Nile virus, which causes seasonal epidemics around the globe.

26 Apr 2005

Generex Biotechnology receives Australian patent for vaccine technology to fight cancer and pandemic influenza

Generex Biotechnology announced today that its wholly owned subsidiary, Antigen Express, has received Australian Patent No. 778115 titled "Hybrid Peptides Modulate the Immune Response." Antigen Express is designing and testing such vaccine peptides for the control of cancer and infectious diseases with a particular focus on the pandemic H5N1 influenza, which has been reported in South East Asia.

26 Apr 2005

P12 protein influences key cell-signaling pathway

New research shows that a protein produced by a cancer-causing virus influences a key signaling pathway in the immune cells that the virus infects. This stimulates the cells to divide, helping the virus spread through the body.

26 Apr 2005

GenoMed launches free trial against Marburg virus epidemic in Angola

GenoMed announced today that it has launched a free clinical trial to combat the current Marburg virus epidemic in Angola.

26 Apr 2005

EU Commission provides further 1.5 million Euro to help tackle Marburg outbreak in Angola

The European Commission has approved a second emergency decision in response to the Marburg epidemic in northern Angola. The outbreak of this rare viral haemorrhagic fever has by now become the worst ever recorded of the disease. It is also the first time that cases have been diagnosed in an urban environment.

25 Apr 2005