New anti-flu drugs could become a reality as a result of a study carried out by academics at the University of Hertfordshire. Dr Andreas Kukol at the University of Hertfordshire`s School of Life Sciences led a team which studied the evolution of proteins from more than 2,000 viruses, which included swine, avian and human flu. Antivirals such as Tamiflu act on surface proteins, which are highly var...

In the course of doing research on the mosquito-borne pathogens chikungunya virus (CHIKV) and o` nyong-nyong virus (ONNV), Virginia Tech researchers have discovered an inconvenient truth about an assay, strand-specific quantitative real-time PCR (ssqPCR), increasingly being used to detect and measure replicating viral RNA in infected cells and tissues. The method most labs are using for ssqPCR is ...

Computed tomography (CT) scans are better than standard radiography (X-rays) in showing the extent of disease in patients with the H1N1 virus, according to a study to be published online Oct. 21, 2009, in the American Journal of Roentgenology. The study will be published in the December issue of the AJR. The study group consisted of seven patients with the H1N1 virus. All seven patients received c...

The xenotropic murine leukemia virus-related virus (XMRV) which has previously been linked to prostate cancer has been found to have a dramatically lower prevalence among German prostate cancer patients, if any. Contrary to some reports, which have found XMRV in 40% of cases in patients in the US with familial prostate cancer, research published today in BioMed Central`s open access journal, Retro...

Cervical cancer could be eradicated within the next 50 years if countries implement national screening programmes based on detection of the human papilloma virus (HPV), which causes the disease, together with vaccination programmes against the virus, according to a cervical cancer screening expert. Professor Jack Cuzick told Europe`s largest cancer congress, ECCO 15 – ESMO 34, in Berlin Sept...

The virus responsible for PML (progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy), a rare brain disease that typically affects AIDS patients and other individuals with compromised immune systems, has been found to be reactivated in multiple-sclerosis patients being treated with natalizumab (Tysabri). The findings, led by scientists at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC), appear in the September ...

A harmless shard from the shell of a common childhood virus may halt a biological process that kills a significant percentage of battlefield casualties, heart attack victims and oxygen-deprived newborns, according to research presented Sunday, September 6, 2009, at the 12th European meeting on complement in human disease in Budapest, Hungary. Introducing the virus`s shell in vitro shuts down what`...

In a finding with potentially major implications for identifying a viral cause of prostate cancer, researchers at the University of Utah and Columbia University medical schools have reported that a type of virus known to cause leukemia and sarcomas in animals has been found for the first time in malignant human prostate cancer cells. If further investigation proves the virus, XMRV (Xenotropic muri...

Researchers at and associated with the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI), at The Scripps Research Institute, and at the biotechnology companies Theraclone Sciences and Monogram Biosciences have discovered two powerful new antibodies to HIV that reveal what may be an Achilles heel on the virus. They published their work in Science this week. Researchers will now try to exploit the newfou...

Rangeland plants may be harboring a virus that grasshoppers are transmitting to cattle, horses and other hoofed mammals, according to a published research study by Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists. A recent outbreak of vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) in the southwest United States has disrupted rodeos and prompted quarantines. VSV is a viral disease that causes sporadic outbreaks in...