http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. Bird flu viruses are potentially highly lethal and pose a global threat, but relatively little is known about why certain strains spread more easily to humans than others. Two studies published today in the journal Cell identify mutations that increase the infectivity of H5N1 and H7N9 viruses through improved binding to receptors in the human respiratory tract. The findings offer much-needed strategies for monitoring the emergence of dangerous bird flu strains capable of infecting humans and for developing more effective vaccines. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-06-bird-flu-viruses-humans-surveillance.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Thu, 06 Jun 2013 12:00:14 EST news289724802 Researchers have discovered a new mechanism by which the human papilloma virus (HPV) causes head and neck cancer, and they have designed a drug to block that mechanism. Though further research is needed, the new agent might offer a safer treatment for these tumors when combined with a tapered dose of standard chemotherapy. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-drug-cell-suicide-hpv-related-neck.html Cancer Mon, 08 Apr 2013 12:32:08 EST news284643120 By screening a library of a billion llama antibodies on live Ebola viruses in the Texas Biomedical Research Institute's highest biocontainment laboratory, scientists in San Antonio have identified a potential weakness in the make-up of these deadly agents that can immediately yield a sensitive test. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-highly-lethal-ebola-virus-diagnostic.html Medical research Fri, 05 Apr 2013 17:18:28 EST news284401069 (Medical Xpress)—Flu is unpredictable. Influenza viruses are constantly changing—from one season to the next or even within the course of a flu season—making vaccine development difficult. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-universal-flu-vaccine-technology-consumers.html Medical research Wed, 03 Apr 2013 06:32:30 EST news284189531 Decades of research and three large-scale clinical trials have so far failed to yield an effective HIV vaccine, in large part because the virus evolves so rapidly that it can evade any vaccine-induced immune response. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-hiv-vaccine.html HIV & AIDS Thu, 21 Mar 2013 14:44:52 EST news283095882 Researchers at Shriner's Hospital Pediatric Research Center at the Temple University School of Medicine, and the University of Pennsylvania have evidence linking the human papillomavirus 16 (HPV16) – the most common cause of cervical cancer – to a common form of childhood epilepsy. They have shown for the first time that HPV16 may be present in the human brain, and found that when they added a viral protein to the brains of fetal mice, the mice all demonstrated the same developmental problems in the cerebral cortex associated with this type of epilepsy, called focal cortical dysplasia type IIB (FCDIIB). The findings suggest that the virus could play a role in the development of epilepsy. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-scientists-cancer-causing-virus-brain-potential.html Neuroscience Thu, 24 Jan 2013 11:31:23 EST news278249475 (Medical Xpress)—Researchers in the Life Sciences Institute at the University of Michigan have discovered how a particular type of virus hides and protects its genetic information from the immune system, a design that allows it to replicate inside cells of an infected person or animal. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-discovery-advances-phleboviruses.html Medical research Wed, 07 Nov 2012 07:22:40 EST news271495339 After the SARS-CoV (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus) outbreak in 2003, academia experts in immunology and molecular biology joined forces with industrial vaccine production experts in order to develop preventive and therapeutic measures for SARS. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-sars.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Tue, 28 Aug 2012 09:20:58 EST news265364451 (Medical Xpress) -- New ways that viruses manipulate the human immune response have been revealed in a research paper just published in Nature involving TCD scientists. Dr Orla Mulhern and Professor Andrew Bowie, School of Biochemistry and Immunology based in the Trinity Biomedical Sciences Institute were part of the multi-disciplinary, multi-centre study comprising immunologists, virologists, biochemists and bioinformaticians from across Europe. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-ways-viruses-affect-human-immune.html Immunology Fri, 03 Aug 2012 07:52:15 EST news263199129 University of Washington researchers have made a discovery that sheds light on why the human body is unable to adequately fight off HIV infection. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-human-body-hiv-infection-results.html HIV & AIDS Thu, 12 Jul 2012 09:50:54 EST news261305418 Four years after they discovered the viral roots of a rare skin cancer, researchers at the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute (UPCI) and the School of Medicine have now identified a molecule activated by this virus that, in animal studies, could be targeted to selectively kill the tumor cells. The treatment will soon be tested in patients. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-genomics-molecular-based-treatment-viral-skin.html Cancer Wed, 09 May 2012 14:00:05 EST news255782721 Some cancer drugs used to treat patients with leukemia may also help stop the Ebola virus and give the body time to control the infection before it turns deadly, US researchers said on Wednesday. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-cancer-drugs-halt-ebola-virus.html Medications Wed, 29 Feb 2012 18:14:30 EST news249761663 Some 90 percent of people are exposed to the Epstein Barr virus (EBV) at some point in their life. Even though it is quickly cleared from the body, the virus can linger silently for years in small numbers of infected B cells. According to researchers at Children's Hospital Boston and the Immune Disease Institute (IDI), the immune system subdues the virus by watching for a single viral protein called LMP1, knowledge that has already helped suggest two new treatments for the EBV-fueled cancers seen in some immunosuppressed patients. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-protein-body-epstein-barr-virus.html Medical research Fri, 17 Feb 2012 12:37:54 EST news248704646 Stabilizing the cell's power-generating center protects against Parkinson's disease (PD) in a rat model, according to a report published online this week in the Journal of Experimental Medicine. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-12-strategy-parkinson-disease.html Medical research Mon, 19 Dec 2011 12:00:01 EST news243515120 Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute have determined the atomic structure of a protein that the Lassa fever virus uses to make copies of itself within infected cells. The structural data reveal an unexpected molecular crevice where the viral protein grips the viral genes, making this crevice a target for potential antiviral drugs. Lassa fever virus and other arenaviruses infect hundreds of thousands of people annually and are often deadly. Currently there is no specific therapy or vaccine against them. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-11-scientists-potential-achilles-heel-lassa.html Medical research Tue, 15 Nov 2011 10:16:21 EST news240574574 Examination of lung tissue and other autopsy material from 68 American soldiers who died of respiratory infections in 1918 has revealed that the influenza virus that eventually killed 50 million people worldwide was circulating in the United States at least four months before the 1918 influenza reached pandemic levels that fall. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-09-earliest-evidence-influenza-pandemic.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Mon, 19 Sep 2011 15:00:54 EST news235662152 Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute (UPCI) have identified the oncoprotein that allows a common and usually harmless virus to transform healthy cells into a rare but deadly skin cancer called Merkel Cell Carcinoma (MCC). Their findings, published today in the Journal of Clinical Investigation, could improve diagnosis for MCC and may help in understanding how other cancers arise. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-08-cancer-key-oncoprotein-merkel-cell.html Cancer Mon, 15 Aug 2011 13:09:17 EST news232632109