Virology News

ROCKVILLE, Md. -- Novavax, Inc. today announced that it has begun enrollment in a Phase II clinical trial of its quadrivalent seasonal influenza virus-like particle (VLP) vaccine candidate. This randomized, ...

A genetic finding could help explain why influenza becomes a life-threatening disease to some people while it has only mild effects in others.  New research led by the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute has identified for the first time a human gene that influences how we respond to influenza infection.

People who carry a particular variant of a gene called IFITM3 are significantly more likely to be hospitalised when they fall ill with influenza than those who carry other variants, the team found. This gene plays a critical role in protecting the body against infection with influenza and a rare version of it appears to make people more susceptible to severe forms of the disease. The results are published in the journal Nature.

Graphic courtesy Russell Kightley Media

The dreaded swine flu is back in the twin cities but guess what is keeping it on the leash? The rising temperature is more than compensating for the absence of precautionary measures so much so that doctors at the Government General and Chest Diseases Hospital at Erragadda are confident that the H1N1 virus will soon wither away.

Finally - a use for heat in India!

The first experiments with plants genetically-modified to repel aphids are under way in the UK.  Wheat has been engineered with a gene from a peppermint plant so that it emits a particular pheromone.

The smell is the alarm signal given off by aphids to warn of an attack by predators.

The researchers hope that this will act as a "no parking sign" to keep the pests at bay without needing insecticide.

This is the first trial of a plant deliberately modified to use pheromones to ward off pests.

The work is taking place at Rothamsted Research, the plant science centre in Hertfordshire

Nice place, Rothamsted: and aphids transmit viruses, so it's right for this site.  Sort of.

"Fouchier told the audience that virulence is a tough issue to describe and needs to be clearly defined. He said the virus was virulent in ferrets that were inoculated deep within their lungs, and it was virulent in those who were sickened via the aerosol route, though they didn't die.

"There's a lot of quotes in the press that are simply wrong," he said, adding that the definition of virulence touches on other factors such as dose, immune status of the host, and previous exposure to other types of flu. Fouchier said full publication of both studies would help clarify questions scientists and observers have about virulence of the lab-modified viruses.

During today's webcast, Racaniello asked for more details about the study, but Fouchier said the NSABB asked him not to disclose details about the methods or mutations.

However, he said his group found a number of mutations in common when they sequenced the viruses that had made the jump to airborne spread. "Most of those were pretty interesting," he said, adding that some of the mutations are the same ones Kawaoka's group found, though that group took a different approach to the study. "That was a shock to me and to Yoshi," he said."

Meaning that we should be out there LOOKing for them...thanks, Vincent!

Image courtesy Russell Kightley Media

We thus demonstrate for the first time that cattle can be clinically protected against FMDV challenge following a DNA prime-protein boost strategy, and particularly when DNA vaccine is combined with GM-CSF and delivered by electroporation.

Thanks MicrobeTweets!

Rotavirus is a major cause of diarrhea-related morbidity and mortality in children worldwide. The virus is transmitted through feco-oral route. Its incubation period is about two days.

Rotavirus graphic courtesy Russell Kightley Media

They belong to a club that no one else will ever join. Its numbers are dropping and notoriety is fading, and they risk becoming little more than a footnote in the history of the AIDS crisis.

Dr. Victor J. Cabasso, a pioneer virologist and immunologist who worked on creating the polio vaccine and other vaccines against human and animal virus diseases, died Feb. 28 at Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in Walnut Creek. He was 96.

In his earliest days in America he became noted for his experiments in developing the altered live polio viruses that led to the live virus vaccine now widely used around the world.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2012/03/22/BA8V1NIJKT.DTL#ixzz1q7fRoUqy

Poliovirus image courtesy of Russell Kightely Media