Virus Weekly articles from September 2001

Virus Weekly archives from September 2001

PCR Measurements Can Determine Treatment After Stem Cell Grafts.(Brief Article)
September 4, 2001... 2001 SEP 4 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Michael Greer, senior medical writer - Real-time measurement of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) levels can help health care providers treat patients who develop EBV-related malignancies after stem cell...

Virus-Like Particles Induce Antibody, Cytokine Responses In Chimps.(Brief Article)
September 4, 2001... 2001 SEP 4 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by N.R. Saltmarsh, staff medical writer - Chimpanzees vaccinated with virus-like particles (VLPs) of human papillomavirus (HPV) are able to mount antibody and cytokine responses to various HPV...

Sexual Transmission Not Major Source Of Hepatitis Infection In Jamaica.(Brief Article)
September 4, 2001... 2001 SEP 4 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Sonia Nichols, senior medical writer - Most patients in Jamaica with hepatitis B or C viruses did not acquire their infections through sexual transmission, a new study published in Sexually...

Simplified Simian Virus May Be Useful For Study.(Brief Article)
September 4, 2001... 2001 SEP 4 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Michael Greer, senior medical writer - Researchers in Europe have developed a simplified but functional version of simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV), which may be useful for study purposes. ...

Pregnant Women Should Be Cautious About Handling Rodents.(Brief Article)
September 4, 2001... 2001 SEP 4 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Pregnant women should be cautious about contact with pet hamsters or wild or laboratory mice, suggest study findings. Leslie Barton, MD, professor of Pediatrics and pediatric infectious disease...

HAV Vaccination More Effective Before Decompensation In Hepatic Disease.(Brief Article)
September 4, 2001... 2001 SEP 4 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Sonia Nichols, senior medical writer - Doctors are now recommending that patients with chronic liver disease receive hepatitis A virus (HAV) vaccines while they retain hepatic compensation. HAV...

Erythrocyte-Delivered Drug Can Protect Macrophages.(Brief Article)
September 4, 2001... 2001 SEP 4 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Michael Greer, senior medical writer - Researchers in Italy have developed a novel method for delivering protective drugs to macrophages at risk of HIV infection. "Monocyte-derived...

Resistance Tests Can Predict Response Up To Two Years.(Brief Article)
September 4, 2001... 2001 SEP 4 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A retrospective study presented at the First International AIDS Society Conference on HIV Pathogenesis and Treatment, July 2001, showed that Virco's resistance tests can predict clinical response to...

Rubitecan Inhibits Replication And Induces Apoptosis.(Brief Article)
September 4, 2001... 2001 SEP 4 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- SuperGen, Inc. (SUPG) announced that a study of rubitecan demonstrated the drug's ability to inhibit by greater than 95% the replication of HIV-1 in clinically relevant primary peripheral blood...

Survey Suggests Few HIV Patients Are Aware Of Symptoms, Diagnosis, Treatment.(Brief Article)
September 4, 2001... 2001 SEP 4 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Awareness of the symptoms, diagnosis, and treatment of HIV related anemia among people living with HIV remains alarmingly low, according to the results of a small, first-of-its-kind survey of 669...

About Three Million Children Head To School Unvaccinated.(Brief Article)
September 4, 2001... 2001 SEP 4 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners (NAPNAP) is mounting a campaign to protect the estimated three million children heading back to school this year who are at risk of...

Study Proves Not All Zinc Nasal Products Are Alike.(Brief Article)
September 4, 2001... 2001 SEP 4 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A clinical study indicated that a zinc sulfate nasal spray had no effect on the duration of the common cold. However, one intranasal zinc product, Zicam(TM) Cold Remedy, was distinguished and...

Rapid New HIV Test To Be Released Soon.(Brief Article)
September 4, 2001... 2001 SEP 4 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- BICO, Incorporated (BIKO), a subsidiary of Rapid HIV Detection Corp. (Rapid Corp.), has acquired the worldwide marketing rights for a new HIV diagnostic test known as InstantScreen(R). The...

"Chemical Condoms" Safe, Effective For Primates.(Brief Article)
September 4, 2001... 2001 SEP 4 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Michael Greer, senior medical writer - A number of "chemical condoms" now being studied may help protect women from sexual transmission of HIV, according to researchers in England. "Vaginal...

Scientists Determine Structure Of Antibody That Neutralizes HIV.(Brief Article)
September 4, 2001... 2001 SEP 4 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Scientists working in The Skaggs Institute for Chemical Biology at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) and at the Glycobiology Institute at Oxford University in the United Kingdom have elucidated...

CDC Charged With Covering Up Important Info On Condoms.(Brief Article)
September 4, 2001... 2001 SEP 4 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- In one of his national daily broadcasts, Focus on the Family President Dr. James C. Dobson charged the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) with covering up vital information on the...

NIH Report Shows That Condoms Do Not Provide Safe Sex.(Brief Article)
September 4, 2001... 2001 SEP 4 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Condoms, long the mainstay of the safe-sex public health model, do not protect against the spread of nearly all sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), according to a benchmark report released by the...

National Minority AIDS Council To Government: Condom Report Is Dangerous.(Brief Article)
September 4, 2001... 2001 SEP 4 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The National Minority AIDS Council (NMAC) labeled as "misleading and dangerous" a report from the U.S. National Institutes of Health that suggests, in part, that condoms are not effective in the...

Women At Higher Risk For Human Papillomavirus Virus Infection.(Brief Article)
September 11, 2001... 2001 SEP 11 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Michael Greer, senior medical writer - Female HIV patients have a high prevalence of coinfection with human papillomavirus, which is a risk factor for cervical cancer, researchers in Mexico...

Pretreatment HCV Load, Qualitative Assays Predict Interferon Response.(Brief Article)
September 11, 2001... 2001 SEP 11 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Sonia Nichols, senior medical writer - One of the best predictors for hepatitis C virus (HCV) response to interferon is pretreatment viral load. This value and the use of qualitative HCV RNA...

Optimal DNA Vaccination Comprises Secreted HCMV Glycoprotein B.(Brief Article)
September 11, 2001... 2001 SEP 11 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by N.R. Saltmarsh, staff medical writer - Researchers in Hungary have outlined an ideal regimen for DNA vaccination against human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) in a report in Vaccine. Optimization of...

False-Positive Epstein-Barr Antibody Test Results Reported In Patients With Primary HIV Infection.(Brief Article)
September 11, 2001... 2001 SEP 11 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Physicians with high-risk patients who present with symptoms of acute Epstein-Barr virus infection (or infectious mononucleosis) should consider a diagnosis of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)...

Synthetic Peptides Cause Significant Lysis Of HPV Targets.(Brief Article)
September 11, 2001... 2001 SEP 11 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by N.R. Saltmarsh, staff medical writer - Researchers in the United States have identified possible vaccine candidates for human papillomavirus (HPV), using an algorithm that may have applications...

Adefovir Dipivoxil Clears Deadly Liver Illness After Liver Transplant.(fibrosing cholestatic hepatitis)(Brief Article)
September 11, 2001... 2001 SEP 11 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Sonia Nichols, senior medical writer - Doctors in the United Kingdom say adefovir dipivoxil can be used to combat cases of fibrosing cholestatic hepatitis that evolve after liver...

Stimulating Innate Human Immune System May Halt Disease Progression.(Brief Article)
September 11, 2001... 2001 SEP 11 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- New laboratory findings could lead to an antibody-based medication that prevents or attenuates the progression of HIV to AIDS. This research advance is based on new insights into the emerging...

Immunostimulatory DNA Sequences Stimulate Immune Responses.(Brief Article)
September 11, 2001... 2001 SEP 11 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Dynavax's proprietary immunostimulatory DNA sequences (ISS) have been shown effective in producing potent immune responses in mice when linked to envelope protein gp120 antigen. In the study,...

Venezuelan Epidemic Highlights Spread Of Disease Throughout Americas.(Brief Article)
September 11, 2001... 2001 SEP 11 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Venezuela thought it had beaten dengue fever after spending millions of dollars on fumigation and prevention. But it was wrong. A new and dangerous epidemic of the mosquito-borne illness has...

AIDS Turnaround: Researchers Suddenly Upbeat Over Vaccine.(Brief Article)
September 11, 2001... 2001 SEP 11 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The scientists trying to create a vaccine to prevent AIDS suddenly seem optimistic, even bullish - words that have not been heard much in this perennially gloomy field. For the first time,...

Response To Interferon A Matter Of Hepatitis C Virus Subtype.(Brief Article)
September 11, 2001... 2001 SEP 11 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Sonia Nichols, senior medical writer - For years doctors and researchers have known hepatitis C virus (HCV) response to interferon is a matter of genotype. A new Japanese study of chronic...

Scientists Discover New Details Of HIV Infection Process.(Brief Article)
September 11, 2001... 2001 SEP 11 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Scientists at the U.S. National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) Laboratory of Molecular Biology have discovered an unexpected step in the process that the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) uses...

Children With HIV Might Benefit From Immunization.(Brief Article)
September 11, 2001... 2001 SEP 11 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Results of a hospital-based study in Malawi suggest that children with HIV infection could potentially benefit from vaccination against rotaviruses, the main cause of severe, dehydrating diarrhea...

U.K. Government Awards Major Genotyping Project To Help Sheep Farmers.(Brief Article)
September 11, 2001... 2001 SEP 11 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Orchid BioSciences, Inc. announced that its United Kingdom-based Cellmark Diagnostics business has been awarded a major contract by the U.K. government to provide genotyping services designed to...

Combination Therapy Receives FDA Approval.(Brief Article)
September 11, 2001... 2001 SEP 11 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Schering-Plough Corporation announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Peg-Intron (peginterferon alfa-2b) Powder for Injection for use in combination therapy with...

Hope And Concern For Gene Therapy Front Runner.(Brief Article)
September 11, 2001... 2001 SEP 11 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The star of gene therapy gets a boost and a caution from early trials highlighting the importance of exploring long-term effects. Adenovirus-associated vector (AAV) offered new hope to a...

New York Hospital Cases Represented Fraction Of Actual Infections.(Brief Article)
September 11, 2001... 2001 SEP 11 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by N.R. Saltmarsh, staff medical writer - An outbreak of West Nile virus in the summer of 1999 - the first reported in the Western hemisphere - resulted in 59 hospitalizations for...

Phase I/II Clinical Trial Of ANTICORT Completed.
September 18, 2001... 2001 SEP 18 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Samaritan Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced it has completed its Phase Ib/IIa, dose-escalating clinical human trial for safety, toxicity, and efficacy of Anticort in patients with HIV infection. ...

Vif Protein May Play Role In Virion Function.
September 18, 2001... 2001 SEP 18 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Michael Greer, senior medical writer - Researchers in Maryland have presented evidence that HIV Vif protein, contrary to conventional wisdom, may be important for viral infectivity. "The human...

Zinc Supplementation Enhances HCV Response To Therapy.(Brief Article)
September 18, 2001... 2001 SEP 18 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Sonia Bell-Nichols, senior medical writer - Patients with intractable chronic hepatitis C who add zinc supplementation to their interferon treatments may respond better to therapy, medical...

Multinational Cohort Urges More Study Of Herbs Before Use For HBV.(Brief Article)
September 18, 2001... 2001 SEP 18 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Sonia Nichols, senior medical writer - An international research team representing Denmark, the United Kingdom, and China has warned Chinese medicinal herbs should be studied more carefully in...

Michigan Identifies Infected Birds.(Brief Article)
September 18, 2001... 2001 SEP 18 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Michigan Department of Agriculture (MDA) Director Dan Wyant announced that Eastern equine encephalitis (EEE) virus has recently been detected in three Kalamazoo County gray catbirds. The positive...

Signaling Pathway Blockade May Prevent gp120-Induced Neurological Damage.(Brief Article)
September 18, 2001... 2001 SEP 18 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Michael Greer, senior medical writer - Researchers say that shutting down part of the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling pathway might help prevent HIV related neurological damage....

U.S. Doctors May Be Falling Short When Managing HCV Patient Care.(Brief Article)
September 18, 2001... 2001 SEP 18 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Sonia Nichols, senior medical writer - A U.S. survey of primary care physicians indicates most know the risk factors for hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection but may fall short on referring...

Phase I/II Clinical Trial Of ANTICORT Completed.(Brief Article)
September 18, 2001... 2001 SEP 18 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Samaritan Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced it has completed its Phase Ib/IIa, dose-escalating clinical human trial for safety, toxicity, and efficacy of Anticort in patients with HIV infection. ...

Researchers Say 42% Of HIV In San Francisco Will Be Drug Resistant By 2005.(Brief Article)
September 18, 2001... 2001 SEP 18 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The share of HIV infections that are drug-resistant will jump to 42% in San Francisco by 2005, according to a team of researchers. Estimating the current rate of drug resistance at 28.5%, the group...

65th Meeting Of Expert Advisory Committee On AIDS Releases Report.(Brief Article)
September 18, 2001... 2001 SEP 18 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The Expert Advisory Group on AIDS (EAGA) held its 65th meeting on July 3, 2001. At that meeting, the following items were discussed and decisions taken: * EAGA was updated on the HIV/AIDS-related...

West African Neonates Would Benefit From Earlier Vaccination.(Brief Article)
September 18, 2001... 2001 SEP 18 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by N.R. Saltmarsh, staff medical writer - Children who are born prematurely or who have low birth weight may be good candidates for early vaccination, researchers in West Africa have found. A...

Number Of Cases Are Increasing In Singapore.(Brief Article)
September 18, 2001... 2001 SEP 18 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Cases of the sometimes fatal mosquito-borne disease dengue fever have surged in Singapore, the Environment Ministry said. A total of 953 new dengue cases were reported in the three months from...

HIV Drug Resistance Isn't Due To Drug-Resistant Strains, Scientists Say.(Brief Article)
September 18, 2001... 2001 SEP 18 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The number of drug-resistant HIV cases has already reached epidemic proportions in San Francisco, but transmission of drug-resistant strains is not to blame, reports a new UCLA/UCSF study in the...

Enrollment For Phase III Drug Trial In Japan Completed.(Brief Article)
September 18, 2001... 2001 SEP 18 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- SciClone Pharmaceuticals announced that it has completed enrollment for its Phase III monotherapy hepatitis B trial in Japan with Zadaxin, an immune system enhancer (ISE) drug. The study involves...

Prisons Grapple With Boom In Cases.(Brief Article)
September 18, 2001... 2001 SEP 18 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- When Charles White was sentenced to prison in Oregon for robbery five years ago, he knew nothing about hepatitis C. It was only after his release in December that he found out he was infected with the...

Turkey Should Shore Up Coverage Of Young People.(Brief Article)
September 18, 2001... 2001 SEP 18 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by N.R. Saltmarsh, staff medical writer - Vaccination policy in Turkey should be changed to play catch-up in children and young adults who are currently at risk for measles, and should mandate a...

Researchers Show 'Friendly' Virus Slows HIV Cell Growth.(Brief Article)
September 18, 2001... 2001 SEP 18 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A team of alcohol have identified a "friendly" virus that appears to retard the growth of HIV cells. The researchers, led by Jack Stapleton, MD, of the Department of Internal Medicine, University...

WHO Reports Progress In Eradication In South-East Asia.
September 18, 2001... 2001 SEP 18 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Since the World Health Assembly resolved in 1988 to eradicate poliomyelitis globally, the estimated number of polio cases worldwide has declined 99%. During 1994, member countries of the South-East...

Microbicide Shows Potential Against Herpes Simplex.
September 18, 2001... 2001 SEP 18 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by N.R. Saltmarsh, staff medical writer - A vaginal microbicide shows promise in preventing transmission of herpes simplex and possibly other sexually transmitted diseases, researchers in Canada have...

Mutated HBV May Be Present Before Therapy In Some Regions.(Brief Article)
September 18, 2001... 2001 SEP 18 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Sonia Nichols, senior medical writer - In areas of high endemicity, hepatitis B virus (HBV) YMDD variants may be present in some patients before they even begin lamivudine therapy. This...

Tetravalent Vaccine Protects Monkeys.(Brief Article)
September 18, 2001... 2001 SEP 18 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by N.R. Saltmarsh, staff medical writer - A newly constructed chimeric vaccine against dengue virus/yellow fever achieves antibody levels in rhesus monkeys similar to those found in animals that...