Virus Weekly articles from November 2000

Virus Weekly archives from November 2000

Researchers Find Virus Moves Bird-to-Bird in Lab.
November 7, 2000... 2000 NOV 7 - (NewsRx.com) -- Scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey said that the West Nile Virus can be transmitted from bird-to-bird in a confined laboratory setting. It had been thought that the virus was only transmitted through...

Experimental Drug Helps Rebuild HIV-Damaged Immune Systems Faster than Antiviral Drugs Alone.
November 7, 2000... 2000 NOV 7 - (NewsRx.com) -- Adding an experimental drug to antiviral therapy may help persons with advanced HIV infection rebuild their immune systems faster than antiviral therapy alone, suggest early results from AIDS Clinical Trials...

Cerebrospinal Fluid Assays Identify Herpesvirus Infections.
November 7, 2000... 2000 NOV 7 - (NewsRx.com) -- Viral infections can cause a number of neurological manifestations, including meningitis and encephalitis. A report in the Journal of Neurovirology says that diagnostic laboratories, which are often...

Common House Sparrows Potential Reservoir.(host for West Nile virus)
November 7, 2000... 2000 NOV 7 - (NewsRx.com) -- Common house sparrows may be an important reservoir host for West Nile virus, according to a report at the annual meeting of the American Society for Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, held during October 2000. ...

Broad Patent Received for Plant-Based Edible Formulations.
November 7, 2000... 2000 NOV 7 - (NewsRx.com) -- ProdiGene, College Station, Texas, announced receipt of a patent for a process that uses plants to develop oral vaccines that can immunize humans and animals against viral diseases. ProdiGene's patented...

Signs of Bird Flu Spark New Fears in Hong Kong.
November 7, 2000... 2000 NOV 7 - (NewsRx.com) -- Officials in Hong Kong downplayed signs of a bird flu virus similar to one that killed six people and sickened a dozen others in 1997, saying it was unlikely to be as serious. On October 21, 2000, local...

Death Toll Remains Stable as Experts Seek to Contain Outbreak.(of Ebola fever)
November 7, 2000... 2000 NOV 7 - (NewsRx.com) -- As of October 23, 2000, for the first time in more than a week, the death toll from the Ebola outbreak in northern Uganda had not increased during a 24-hour period. Dr. Sam Okware, who chairs a task force...

Phase II Clinical Trial for Vaccine Announced.
November 7, 2000... 2000 NOV 7 - (NewsRx.com) -- Aviron (AVIR), Mountain View, California, announced the initiation of a Phase II clinical trial of an investigational vaccine against Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) being developed under its license with SmithKline...

Virus Found in North Carolina Crow.(West Nile virus)
November 7, 2000... 2000 NOV 7 - (NewsRx.com) -- Scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in Madison, Wisconsin, have confirmed that a dead crow, found in Chatham County, North Carolina, near the town of Moncure died of the West Nile virus. The...

No Genotypic Resistance Detected in Clinical Trials of Kaletra.
November 7, 2000... 2000 NOV 7 - (NewsRx.com) -- Data presented at the Fifth International Congress on Drug Therapy in HIV Infection in Glasgow, Scotland, held during October 2000, showed that to date, patients new to HIV therapy have not developed genotypic...

Phosphonate Derivatives of AZT, d4T, and ddA have Anti-HIV Activity.
November 7, 2000... 2000 NOV 7 - (NewsRx.com) -- Phosphonate derivatives of nucleoside analogs have anti-HIV activity, researchers in Russia have determined. "It has been shown that 5'-hydrogen phosphonate of AZT provides clear inhibition of HIV...

Mosquito-Borne Virus an Emerging Public Health Problem in U.S.
November 7, 2000... 2000 NOV 7 - (NewsRx.com) -- Dengue fever is emerging as a major public health problem in most areas along the Texas-Mexico border, in particular South Texas, according to a report at the annual meeting of the American Society for...

Artificial Intelligence Used to Unravel HIV Mystery.
November 7, 2000... 2000 NOV 7 - (NewsRx.com) -- Data presented at the 5th International Congress on Drug Therapy in HIV Infection, Glasgow, Scotland, for the first time revealed the mutations in the genetic code of HIV that make the virus resistant to the...

WHO, CDC Respond to Outbreak in Uganda.(Ebola fever outbreak)
November 7, 2000... 2000 NOV 7 - (NewsRx.com) -- On October 17, 2000, as part of the World Health Organization's (WHO) response to an outbreak of viral hemorrhagic fever, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) sent a team of six disease...

U.S. Experts Help Tackle Outbreak.(of Ebola fever)
November 7, 2000... 2000 NOV 7 - (NewsRx.com) -- U.S. health experts arrived in Uganda on October 19, 2000, and said they have identified a highly contagious hemorrhagic virus that has killed 41 people in Uganda as a strain last seen in 1979. The...

Cre-loxP Hammerhead Ribozyme Inhibits HIV-1 Replication.
November 7, 2000... 2000 NOV 7 - (NewsRx.com) -- Researchers in Japan report that the Cre-loxP hammerhead ribozyme can inhibit HIV-1 replication. "An alternative strategy has been the use of antiviral genes that are delivered to uninfected cells as...

Non-Replicating Live Vaccine Protects Macaques from Challenge.
November 7, 2000... 2000 NOV 7 - (NewsRx.com) -- Oral immunization with a non-replicating live HIV vaccine protected monkeys from vaginal challenge with a pathogenic virus. "Development of a safe, non-replicating vaccine is the ultimate goal of the HIV...

Adenovirus-Mediated Genetic Manipulation Improves Outcome.
November 7, 2000... 2000 NOV 7 - (NewsRx.com) -- Adenovirus-mediated gene transfer of the myocardial beta-adrenergic signaling system improves heart allograft outcome, say researchers in the United States. "Ex vivo perfusion of the cardiac allograft...

Lamivudine Has Protective Effect Against Hepatitis B in HIV Patients.
November 7, 2000... 2000 NOV 7 - (NewsRx.com) -- Individuals who are infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) are highly susceptible to a number of other illnesses, including tuberculosis, hepatitis, and certain types of cancer. Researchers...

Gene Therapy Shown to Protect and Reverse Debilitating Effects in Pre-Clinical Studies.
November 7, 2000... 2000 NOV 7 - (NewsRx.com) -- Researchers at Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke's Medical Center, Chicago, Illinois, and Lausanne, Switzerland, have successfully used gene therapy to reverse the anatomical, cellular changes that occur in the...

Researchers Study Hepatitis C Disease Progression Using 25-Year-Old Serum Samples.
November 7, 2000... 2000 NOV 7 - (NewsRx.com) -- During the early to mid 1970s, serum samples from patients infected with acute viral hepatitis were collected and stored at a major medical facility in Australia. Twenty-five years after those samples were...

Dendritic Cells Mediate Protective Antiviral and Antitumor Immunity.
November 7, 2000... 2000 NOV 7 - (NewsRx.com) -- According to a study from Switzerland, activation of dendritic cells (DC) by a liposomal peptide vaccine induced antiviral and antitumor protection in vivo. "Initiation of antiviral and antitumor T-cell...

Live Vaccines, Poor Surveillance Threaten Eradication in Western Pacific Region.
November 7, 2000... 2000 NOV 7 - (NewsRx.com) -- The eradication of poliomyelitis from the western pacific region was due to be declared on October 29, 2000. However, two studies in the October 28, 2000, issue of The Lancet highlight the remaining hurdles...

Experimental Oncolytic Virus Demonstrates Antitumor Activity and Acceptable Safety Profile.
November 7, 2000... 2000 NOV 7 - (NewsRx.com) -- Twenty men with prostate cancer who failed radiation therapy have completed a clinical trial at Johns Hopkins University with an experimental oncolytic virus that kills targeted cancer cells, while leaving...

Aerosolized Ribavirin and Immunotherapy Successful Against Pneumona in Myelosuppressed Adults.
November 7, 2000... 2000 NOV 7 - (NewsRx.com) -- Combination therapy with aerosolized ribavirin and immunotherapy is effective against respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) pneumonia in myelosuppressed adults with leukemia, say researchers. "During community...

Viral RNA Level is Best Predictor of Response to Interferon.
November 7, 2000... 2000 NOV 7 - (NewsRx.com) -- Hepatitis C virus (HCV) RNA levels can better predict alanine aminotransferase (ALT) normalization after interferon therapy than ALT levels can predict HCV RNA detection, investigators report. Yatian Zhang...

Patch Technology Awaits FDA Approval for Clinical Trials.
November 7, 2000... 2000 NOV 7 - (NewsRx.com) -- In five to 10 years, flu vaccinations could be as simple as applying an adhesive patch. University of Alabama, Birmingham, researcher De-chu Tang, PhD, is awaiting U.S. Food and Drug Administration...

Scientists Report Advance in Tackling Common Viral Respiratory Disease.
November 14, 2000... 2000 NOV 14 - (NewsRx.com) -- Respiratory infections strike millions of people each year and collectively cause more deaths than any single infectious disease. For the first time, scientists have determined the structure of a key protein...

Ganoderma lucidum Isolate Exhibits Antiherpetic Properties, Among Others.
November 14, 2000... 2000 NOV 14 - (NewsRx.com) -- Researchers are just now beginning to study Ganoderma lucidum for its numerous healing properties. However, parts of this mushroom have been used in Asia since the earliest days of medicine to cure a number...

Infection Due to Herpesvirus Difficult to Distinguish from Other Causes.
November 14, 2000... 2000 NOV 14 - (NewsRx.com) -- Conjunctivitis that is caused by herpes simplex virus I can be difficult to distinguish from conjunctivitis caused by other types of viruses, but with diligent analysis it can be done, according to medical...

ONYX-015 Adenovirus Can Enhance Chemotherapy Effectiveness.
November 14, 2000... 2000 NOV 14 - (NewsRx.com) -- The adenovirus ONYX-015 has potential to provide effective control of carcinomas of the head and neck, particularly when combined with a chemotherapy regimen, researchers report. "The E1-b attenuated...

Monoclonal Antibody Reduces Hospitalization Rates, Costs for High-Risk Infants.
November 14, 2000... 2000 NOV 14 - (NewsRx.com) -- MedImmune, Inc. (MEDI), Gaithersburg, Maryland, announced that data from studies with Synagis (palivizumab) were presented at the 2000 Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), held in...

ViroLogic to Provide Drug Resistance Testing for Investigational HIV Fusion Inhibitor.
November 14, 2000... 2000 NOV 14 - (NewsRx.com) -- ViroLogic, Inc. (VLGC) announced a research agreement with Hoffmann-La Roche Inc., to provide drug resistance testing services in the Phase III clinical program involving the investigational anti-HIV drug,...

Clinical Trial Tests Vaccine to Treat Human Papillomavirus-Induced Tumors.
November 14, 2000... 2000 NOV 14 - (NewsRx.com) -- Schering AG (SHR), Berlin, Germany, and MediGene AG (MDG), Munich, Germany, have announced the start of a multicenter Phase I/II clinical trial for MediGene's HPV16L1E7CVLP Vaccine to treat pre-cancerous...

Preliminary Study Findings for Adefovir Dipivoxil Reported.
November 14, 2000... 2000 NOV 14 - (NewsRx.com) -- Gilead Sciences, Inc. (GILD) announced results from an ongoing open-label pilot study evaluating the safety and efficacy of adefovir dipivoxil 10 mg once daily as a treatment for lamivudine-resistant chronic...

Discontinuation of Therapy Blamed for HIV Clinical Rebound.
November 14, 2000... 2000 NOV 14 - (NewsRx.com) -- Discontinuation of antiretroviral therapy caused retroviral rebound syndrome in three HIV infected patients. "Although viral rebound follows cessation of suppressive antiretroviral therapy in chronic HIV...

Incidence of Hepatitis C Virus Low in HIV Patients in Singapore.
November 14, 2000... 2000 NOV 14 - (NewsRx.com) -- Medical investigators in Singapore reported that the number of individuals infected with both the hepatitis C virus and HIV is low in that country. They announced the findings of their epidemiological...

DNA Vaccine Stimulates Neutralizing Antibodies in Murine Model.
November 14, 2000... 2000 NOV 14 - (NewsRx.com) -- Genetic immunization with a DNA vaccine coding for Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) produced neutralizing antibodies in a murine model, researchers from the United Kingdom and the United States reported. "The...

Liver Damage Improved with Antiviral Treatment.
November 14, 2000... 2000 NOV 14 - (NewsRx.com) -- BioChem Pharma Inc. (BCHE; BCH), Laval, Quebec, Canada, announced that the liver damage suffered by hepatitis B patients has been shown to be improved by antiviral treatment. A study presented at the...

Study Results Explain Why Hepatitis D Won't Replicate in Avian Cells.
November 14, 2000... 2000 NOV 14 - (NewsRx.com) -- Hepatitis D virus (HDV) replicates independently in a vast array of mammalian cells, but not in avian cells. Scientists say that HDV expression can be toxic to avian cells, thus explaining why HDV...

Phase I Trial of a Peptide Vaccine Encourages Further Evaluation.
November 14, 2000... 2000 NOV 14 - (NewsRx.com) -- Researchers in the United States have evaluated a peptide vaccine against human papillomavirus (HPV) in women with high-grade cervical and vulvar intraepithelial neoplasia who were HPV-16-positive. ...

Secret to Listeria's Virulence Provides Clues to Workings of Other Deadly Microbes.
November 14, 2000... 2000 NOV 14 - (NewsRx.com) -- Many deadly microbes have learned that the key to launching an infection is not to kill your host - at least not too quickly. Now, scientists at the University of California, Berkeley, have discovered how...

Health Care Workers at Risk of Bloodborne Virus Exposure.
November 14, 2000... 2000 NOV 14 - (NewsRx.com) -- Study results indicate 19% of patients admitted to the emergency room of a Mexico City hospital are infected with at least one blood-transmissible virus. "The frequency of hepatitis C (HCV), hepatitis B...

Western Pacific Region Certified Polio-Free.
November 14, 2000... 2000 NOV 14 - (NewsRx.com) -- On October 29, 2000, an independent panel of international public health experts certified the World Health Organization (WHO) Western Pacific Region as polio-free. The Region includes 37 countries and...

Interim Combination Monoclonal Antibody Therapy Data Presented.
November 14, 2000... 2000 NOV 14 - (NewsRx.com) -- XTL Biopharmaceuticals Ltd. (XTL), Rehovot, Israel, presented promising data on the antiviral activity and safety of HBV-AbsXTL (XTL-001) from a Phase I trial in chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infected...

Plasma Kinetics Don't Explain Why Some Hepatitis B Patients are Non-Responders to Lamivudine.
November 14, 2000... 2000 NOV 14 - (NewsRx.com) -- - by Sonia Bell-Nichols -- In a limited number of individuals infected with the hepatitis B virus (HBV), lamivudine therapy will diminish HBV DNA levels, but will not elicit a sustained response. A...

Ribozyme Product Results Presented.
November 14, 2000... 2000 NOV 14 - (NewsRx.com) -- In panel discussions, plenary sessions, and poster presentations at the Annual American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD) Meeting, held in Dallas, Texas, during October 2000, Dr. Lawrence M....

Hepatitis C Patients in the U.K. to Get New Treatment.
November 14, 2000... 2000 NOV 14 - (NewsRx.com) -- Patients in Britain will get the most up-to-date treatment for hepatitis C, following recommendations issued October 31, 2000, by the U.K. National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE). Health...

Maxim Reports 12-Week Results from Hepatitis C Study in Non-Responder Patients.
November 14, 2000... 2000 NOV 14 - (NewsRx.com) -- Maxim Pharmaceuticals (NM: MAXM; MAXM) announced the 12-week results from its clinical study to evaluate the safety of triple-drug therapy incorporating the company's lead drug Maxamine (histamine...

Phase III Pivotal Peg-Intron Plus Rebetol Study Results Reported.
November 14, 2000... 2000 NOV 14 - (NewsRx.com) -- Enzon, Inc. (ENZN) announced that Schering-Plough Corporation (SGP) reported results of a pivotal Phase III clinical study, presented for the first time at the Presidential Plenary Session of the 51st Annual...

Team Recommends Using Antiretroviral Regimens Beyond Pilot Projects, Research Settings.
November 14, 2000... 2000 NOV 14 - (NewsRx.com) -- Experts have concluded the safety and effectiveness of antiretroviral (ARV) regimens that prevent HIV transmission from mother to child warrant their use beyond pilot projects and research settings. ...

Transmission within Families Reduced with Zanamivir.
November 21, 2000... 2000 NOV 21 - (NewsRx.com) -- Families like to share a lot of things, but the flu shouldn't be one of them. A new study, published in the November 2, 2000, issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, found that zanamivir can prevent...

Novel Assay Quantifies HIV-1 Group M and Group O Subtypes.
November 21, 2000... 2000 NOV 21 - (NewsRx.com) -- Abbott Laboratory researchers have developed a sensitive assay capable of efficiently quantifying HIV-1 group M and group O subtypes. "Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) genetic diversity...

Kissing May Spread Cause of Kaposi's Sarcoma.
November 21, 2000... 2000 NOV 21 - (NewsRx.com) -- Most people do not think of kissing as a way of spreading serious sexually transmitted diseases. But kissing between men may be what spreads human herpesvirus 8 (HHV-8), the cause of Kaposi's sarcoma,...

Adolescents Know Little About Sexually Transmitted HPV.
November 21, 2000... 2000 NOV 21 - (NewsRx.com) -- High school students know little about human papillomavirus (HPV), the most frequent sexually transmitted disease in North America, according to a survey in the November 2000 issue of Obstetrics & Gynecology....

HspE7 Trial in HPV-Related Anal Dysplasia Initiated.(human papillomavirus)
November 21, 2000... 2000 NOV 21 - (NewsRx.com) -- StressGen Biotechnologies Corp. (SSB), Victoria, British Columbia, announced that it has initiated patient treatment in a Phase III clinical trial to investigate HspE7 as an immunotherapeutic for anal...

Women and Men React Differently to Nucleoside Analogue Therapy.
November 21, 2000... 2000 NOV 21 - (NewsRx.com) -- In a recent study, researchers in the United States observed that women react differently than men to nucleoside analogue therapy. University California, Los Angeles, researchers J.S. Currier et al....

New Treatment Provides Hope for Children Afflicted with Severe Heart Failure.(OKT3 for treatment of acute myocarditis)
November 21, 2000... 2000 NOV 21 - (NewsRx.com) -- University of California, Los Angeles, pediatric cardiologists have reported a new and surprisingly hopeful treatment for children with acute myocaraditis. The UCLA findings emerge from a small study of...

Varicella Vaccine Protects Adults from Serious Disease.
November 21, 2000... 2000 NOV 21 - (NewsRx.com) -- Live attenuated varicella vaccine (LAVV) of healthy adults protects them from serious illness, researchers report. "Immunization of susceptible adults with varicella vaccine is recommended, but the...

Treatment of Hepatitis C in HIV Patients is Cost-Effective.
November 21, 2000... 2000 NOV 21 - (NewsRx.com) -- Treatment of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection in patients co-infected with HIV is cost-effective, researchers in the United States assert. "The majority of persons infected with HIV from intravenous...

Mosquito-Borne Disease Kills at Least Six People in Honduras.(dengue fever)
November 21, 2000... 2000 NOV 21 - (NewsRx.com) -- A fatal form of mosquito-borne dengue fever killed at least six people in Honduras during October, filling government hospitals to capacity, officials said on October 31, 2000. Another 130 people were...

Studies Link Infections and Inflammation with Heart Disease.
November 21, 2000... 2000 NOV 21 - (NewsRx.com) -- Three studies published in the November 7, 2000, issue of Circulation, a journal of the American Heart Association, provide new insight into the role of infections and inflammation in heart attacks. One...

Distributor Price Gouging of Influenza Vaccine Condemned.
November 21, 2000... 2000 NOV 21 - (NewsRx.com) -- The following statement was issued by Richard F. Corlin, MD, president-elect of the American Medical Association: [helv] The American Medical Association (AMA) has received numerous reports from...

Study Defines Best Way to Test Shellfish for Viral Contaminants.
November 21, 2000... 2000 NOV 21 - (NewsRx.com) -- A comparative analysis of four methods for detecting viral contaminants, including hepatitis A virus, has shown that using a glycine buffer at a pH of 10.0 presents the best way to recover and analyze phages...

Sexual Partner Count Presents Greatest Risk for HPV-Related Cancer in Women.
November 21, 2000... 2000 NOV 21 - (NewsRx.com) -- Human papillomaviruses have been shown to be a significant factor in the development of cervical cancers in women. Researchers at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden say the strongest risk factor associated...

WHO Center Investigates Two-Dose Schedule for Combination Vaccine in Children.
November 21, 2000... 2000 NOV 21 - (NewsRx.com) -- Researchers at the World Health Organization's Collaborating Center for Prevention and Control of Viral Hepatitis, located at the University of Antwerp in Belgium, propose that a combination hepatitis A and B...

Incidence Declined in U.S. in 1999.(measles cases decline)
November 21, 2000... 2000 NOV 21 - (NewsRx.com) -- Reported cases of the measles in the Americas and Caribbean countries dropped steeply last year, U.S. government researchers said on November 2, 2000. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention...

U.N. Wraps Up Campaign in Disputed Sudanese Region.(polio eradication)
November 21, 2000... 2000 NOV 21 - (NewsRx.com) -- The United Nations said on November 7, 2000, that it vaccinated more than 66,000 children against polio in southern Sudan's disputed Nuba Mountains during October, only the second time it has gained access to...

Data for CAP Vaccine Adjuvant Announced.
November 21, 2000... 2000 NOV 21 - (NewsRx.com) -- BioSante Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (BTPH; CDNX-BAI), Lincolnshire, Illinois, announced that data pertaining to its CAP vaccine adjuvant have been published in the November 2000 issue of Clinical and Diagnostic...

Patent Awarded on New Delivery Platform.
November 21, 2000... 2000 NOV 21 - (NewsRx.com) -- Avax Technologies, Inc. (AVXT), Kansas City, Missouri, announced that it has been granted U.S. Patent No. 6,140,114 from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office entitled, "Defective viral vaccine particles...

Time of Perinatal Infection Influences Rate of Neurodevelopment.
November 21, 2000... 2000 NOV 21 - (NewsRx.com) -- According to a study from the United States, the timing of perinatal transmission of HIV-1 infection influences neurodevelopment of the fetus. "Identifying HIV-1 infected children who are at greatest risk...