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By Region: Asia/Pacific

New China H7N9 strain gives kick to mutant bird flu research

(Reuters) Dutch scientists hidden away in a top-security laboratory are seeking to create mutant flu viruses, dangerous work designed to prepare the world for a lethal pandemic by beating nature to it. The idea of engineering viral pathogens to be more deadly than they are already has generated huge controversy, amid fears that such viruses Read More »

October 23, 2013
| Filed under Asia/Pacific, Europe, North America, and Research
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First New Dengue Virus Type in 50 Years

(AAAS) Scientists have discovered a new type of the virus that causes a centuries-old pestilence, dengue. The surprising find, announced at a major dengue conference here today, is bound to complicate efforts to develop a vaccine against a tropical disease that is becoming a more pervasive global menace. But it could shed light on where Read More »

October 22, 2013
| Filed under Asia/Pacific, North America, South America, International, and Public Health
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Flu virus wipes out immune system’s first responders to establish infection

(ScienceDaily) Revealing influenza’s truly insidious nature, Whitehead Institute scientists have discovered that the virus is able to infect its host by first killing off the cells of the immune system that are actually best equipped to neutralize the virus. Confronted with a harmful virus, the immune system works to generate cells capable of producing antibodies Read More »

October 21, 2013
| Filed under Asia/Pacific, Europe, North America, South America, Agents & Toxins, and Research
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Vaccination campaign doubles HBV mutations

(EurekAlert) October 7, 2013 – A universal infant vaccination campaign in China has led the Hepatitis B virus (HBV) to more than double its rate of “breakout” mutations. These mutations may enable the virus to elude the vaccine, necessitating new vaccination strategies. Researchers at the Chinese Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and University of Read More »

October 8, 2013
| Filed under Asia/Pacific, North America, and Public Health
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Scientists closer to universal flu vaccine after pandemic ‘natural experiment’

(ScienceDaily) Scientists have moved closer to developing a universal flu vaccine after using the 2009 pandemic as a natural experiment to study why some people seem to resist severe illness. Researchers at Imperial College London asked volunteers to donate blood samples just as the swine flu pandemic was getting underway and report any symptoms they Read More »