Virology News

A deadly bird flu virus that was made transmissible in mammals, touching off public fears of a pandemic, is not as contagious as people had been led to believe.

I note in particular:

"In addition, he [Ron Fouchier] said, if the ferrets were previously exposed to a run-of-the-mill seasonal flu, they were immune to the bird flu."

But this too:

"...a member of the biosecurity board, warned that ferrets were not a perfect model for what would happen in humans, and that it was impossible to tell how virulent or contagious the new virus would be in people."

So first ferrets show how lethal the virus will be - and then they don't??  Some people want it all ways....

Mayo Clinic researchers have trained mouse immune systems to eradicate skin cancer from within, using a genetic combination of human DNA from melanoma cells and a cousin of the rabies virus. The strategy, called cancer immunotherapy, uses a genetically engineered version of the vesicular stomatitis virus to deliver a broad spectrum of genes derived from melanoma cancer cells directly into tumors. In early studies, 60 percent of tumor-burdened mice were cured in fewer than three months and with minimal side effects. Results of the latest study appear this week in the journal Nature Biotechnology.

Viruses against cancer!  Love it.

Among other things, Baratunde Thurston is a social and political satirist. So in 2009, when paranoid fervor about the disease formerly known as the Swine Flu was at its height, he masqueraded as the Swine Flu on Twitter and Facebook.

With their angry pig icon and badass attitude, Baratunde's swine flu accounts quickly (yes, I said it) went viral, getting write-ups in major media outlets like The Huffington Post and prominent followers like (someone explain this please) Mitt Romney. Much of the experiment's success was the result of Baratunde's energy and inventiveness in enacting the disease across various platforms.

Go piggie...!

While there has been a great deal of attention focused on making sure children receive required vaccinations, Minnesota medical professionals and health advocates are becoming more concerned about a growing number of people over the age of 18 who are not getting vaccinated.The majority of immunization awareness campaigns urge adults to get their children vaccinated, but the fact is that most people who die from vaccine-preventable diseases are actually adults. In the U.S., approximately 50,000 adults die each year from vaccine-preventable diseases.

Held every 3 years, Options for the Control of Influenza is the largest international scientific conference exclusively devoted to influenza. Options VIII will showcase recent advances in the basic science and control and prevention of influenza. Whatever your domain of expertise – virology, veterinary medicine, human medicine, public health policy, industry or journalism – Options for the Control of Influenza VIII is the premier conference bringing together experts dedicated to all aspects of influenza. Presentation formats will include keynote addresses, invited lectures, scientific workshops, abstract presentations, satellite meetings and poster sessions.

The 2013 conference will allow delegates to experience the beauty and warm hospitality of Cape Town, South Africa. Delegates at Options VIII will experience an unforgettable mix of modern and traditional African ambience. Options VIII will highlight these characteristics along with cultural events strategically placed within the agenda. In addition, delegates will be provided an opportunity to participate in many pre-conference or post-conference tours on their own to encounter nature and history and create memories to treasure.

We'll be there...hopefully, reporting on our efforts to establish plant-based influenza vaccine manufacture in South Africa

Image by Russell Kightley Media

The key finding of the Blackman study is that the mechanism by which a type of white blood cell, called a CD8 T cell, controls the virus differs between the initial active phase of infection and long-term latent infection. These novel findings will accelerate efforts to develop therapies to control gamma-herpesvirus infections and prevent the development of virus-associated cancers.

Image from Russell Kightley Media

Scientists who have mutated an airborne version of the killer bird flu virus H5N1 say it's essential their research be published in order to find a cure, but opponents say this would produce a 'how to' manual for terrorists.

Nice set of interviews and balanced account - with Vincent Racaniello, Laurie Garrett, and Ron Fouchier

Image from Russell Kightley Media

Media release from University of SydneyYou might have heard of warming up for a football match, butresearchers from the University of Sydney are hoping that warmingup for a flu vaccine could imprve its effectiveness and reduce illness and death in the elderly.

Whatever next - yoga before HPV?

Survivin is a Mr 16.5 KD antiapoptotic protein that belongs to inhibitor of apoptosis protein family. It is overexpressed among many malignant tumors and embryonic, however, it could not be detectable in most normal adult tissues. This study was designed to explore the anti-tumor effects and mechanisms of recombinant adenovirus encoding survivin encapsulated in cationic liposome.

The 6-year-old shingles vaccine is one of the newest immunizations on the market and also one of the most popular, which has created a persistent manufacturing shortage.

The shortage surfaced almost immediately after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended that most Americans over age 60 get vaccinated to prevent shingles.

The vaccine, licensed in 2006, can prevent shingles, a painful skin rash that often appears with blisters. In clinical trials, the vaccine prevented shingles in about half of people 60 years of age and older, according to the CDC. The vaccine can also reduce the pain associated with shingles.

Read more: http://billingsgazette.com/lifestyles/health-med-fit/shingles-vaccine-may-help-prevent-contracting-debilitating-case-of-shingles/article_ce3cd94a-ef7f-5701-82b8-2bc0e4c3a009.html#ixzz1pPEweDRW

Northern hybridization results showed that the 5′ capped RNA3 segments are slightly smaller than the homologous vcRNA3 and are not polyadenylated. These data suggest that FMV generates 5′ capped mRNAs via cap-snatching, similar to strategies used by other negative-sense multipartite ssRNA viruses.

Nice one Bryce!!  Long, long time since I visited you in Davis....

Results Primary HPV screening was the preferred primary test over the age of 30 in many considered scenarios. Primary cytology screening was preferred only in scenarios with low costs of cytology and in scenarios with a high prevalence of HPV in combination with high costs of HPV testing.

Conclusions Most European countries should consider switching from primary cytology to HPV screening for cervical cancer. HPV screening must, however, only be implemented in situations where screening is well controlled.

Image by Russell Kightley Media

GeoVax Labs, Inc. (otcqb/otcbb:GOVX), an Atlanta – based biopharmaceutical firm developing vaccines to prevent and fight Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infections, announced receipt of an “Allowed to Proceed” notice from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for human clinical testing of its granulocyte-macrophage colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF) -adjuvanted DNA/MVA vaccine. The Phase 1 trial is being sponsored by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, and will be conducted by the NIAID-funded HIV Vaccine Trials Network (HVTN) under protocol HVTN 094.

And they tell you all that, then don't actually say what the vaccine is.

In a new twist in the ongoing controversy over publication of two studies involving H5N1 viruses with increased transmissibility, there are indications that the Dutch government may consider using export regulations to prevent full publication of the study by Ron Fouchier, PhD, and colleagues.

In a Mar 7 letter to the Dutch parliament, the country's minister of public health, welfare, and sport, Dr. E. I. Schippers, said an export permit is required for dissemination of detailed information about the H5N1 virus outside the European Union. If such a permit is requested, the government will consider the health and safety risks of granting it, the minister said.

In addition, a Mar 9 report in a Dutch newspaper, the Amsterdam-based Volkskrant, said that Henk Bleker, the nation's secretary for agriculture and foreign trade, thinks that the government could prevent publication of the virus "recipe" by denying an export license.

Deities preserve us from stupid people....