Virology News

A microrobot that mimics the movement of a starfish larva may one day lead to microswimmers that can deliver drugs to diseased cells with pinpoint accuracy.

Viral metagenomic studies have enabled the discovery of many unknown viruses and revealed that viral communities are much more diverse and ubiquitous than previously thought. Some viruses have multiple genome components that are encapsidated either in separate virions (multipartite viruses) or in...

Acute inflammation is a critical host defense response during viral infection. When dysregulated, inflammation drives immunopathology and tissue damage. Excessive, damaging inflammation is a hallmark of both pandemic influenza A virus (IAV) infections and Severe Acute Respiratory...

When the Covid-19 epidemic first started, it was widely thought that it might spread similarly to influenza, but new research found differences in how the viruses spread.

A bird flu prevention zone has been declared across Great Britain after a recent outbreak in cases, the government has announced.From 5pm earlier today, people with more than 500 birds were told to follow strict biosecurity measures.

A significant number of young people in the US receive no sex ed information about birth control and STI prevention before they have sexual intercourse.

Background The large livestock operations and dense human population of Southeast Asia are considered a hot-spot for emerging viruses. Objectives To determine if the pathogens adenovirus (ADV), coronavirus (CoV), encephalomyocarditis virus (EMCV), enterovirus (EV), influenza A-D (IAV, IBV, ICV,...

"Reported allergy symptoms did not impede the completion of the 2-dose vaccine protocol."...

Three more people in mainland China have tested positive for H5N6 bird flu, officials say. Experts have called for increased surveillance amid a rising number of human cases during the past few months.

Introduction: Studies in the 1970s and 1980s signaled concern that repeated influenza vaccination could affect vaccine protection. The antigenic distance hypothesis provided a theoretical framework...

A “universal” shot would protect against every branch of Covid’s viral family tree—even future ones. But getting there won’t be easy.

A solar "mini-refinery" that can turn sunlight and air into carbon-neutral fuels has proven its effectiveness over the course of years, researchers say.

Duck circovirus (DuCV) is widespread across the world and causes feather disorders in young ducks. It was identified as the causative pathogen of duck beak atrophy and dwarfism syndrome and primary sclerosing cholangitis.

Japan has detected its first outbreak of bird flu for the 2021 winter season, with confirmation of a case of "highly pathogenic avian influenza" at a poultry farm in the northeast of the country, the agriculture ministry said on Wednesday.

The authors say all eligible people should get the vaccine ASAP, including those previously infected.

The same cellular mechanism that puts the elderly at higher risk of infection and death from COVID-19 could potentially be used to protect them.

Data on all cause mortality are considered more reliable indicators of the impact of the covid-19 pandemic because they are less sensitive to coding errors, competing risks, and the potential for misclassification in designating the cause of deaths, and as such enable comparisons between countries.1718192021 We have previously reported a large difference between reported deaths with covid-19 and estimated excess deaths associated with the covid-19 pandemic in 2020.22 Previous studies have used historical baseline mortality data over the recent past to estimate the expected number of deaths in 2020 and provide the basis for estimating excess deaths (observed minus expected deaths), which capture both the direct (deaths with covid-19) and the indirect (deaths from other causes) effects of the pandemic and associated policy measures.1819202122 Although using excess deaths has been considered the ideal method for measuring the impact of the pandemic,15 this metric does not take into account age at death. When people die at an older age, they lose fewer years of remaining life.2324 Analysis of life expectancy and years of life lost (YLL) provide a more nuanced estimation of premature mortality at population level. Life expectancy, a widely used metric of mortality, is an indication of how long on average people can expect to survive if the age specific mortality rates of that year remain constant for the remainder of their life.2526 YLL takes into account the age distributions of mortality by giving greater weights to deaths that occur at younger ages.24 An important difference exists between life expectancy and YLL. Whereas life expectancy is a standardised measure based on a hypothetical life table cohort, YLL is calculated from the numbers of deaths observed in real populations. Therefore, life expectancy depends solely on mortality, and YLL (even after dividing by population size) depends on both the mortality and the age structure of the population.

Perspective from The New England Journal of Medicine — The Future of SARS-CoV-2 Vaccination — Lessons from Influenza...

The influenza B/Yamagata virus has not been detected since April 2020 anywhere in the world - so has COVID driven a flu strain extinct?

A vaccine created to prevent breast cancer will undergo its first human trials.

Recognition of Covaxin, Sinopharm comes as Australia began easing entry, exit curbs...