UNC School of Medicine researchers have delineated the details of one major barrier to a promising vaccine. It’s something we all have – a natural body temperature of about 98.6 degrees.
The viruses that cause Ebola and Zika, daunting diseases that inspire concern at every outbreak, share a strong similarity in how they first infiltrate a host’s cells.
New research shows small, New World monkeys called marmosets may be an important animal model for emerging viruses with the potential for harmful effects on fetuses
Chelsea Smartt said her study’s finding supports that the mosquito species, known scientifically as Culex quinquefasciatus mosquitoes, can contain live Zika virus in saliva. To date the mosquito species Aedes aegypti is considered the primary carrier of Zika virus.
How a bacteria hijacked insect fertility remained a mystery for five decades, until Associate Professor of Biological Sciences Seth Bordenstein and his team helped solve it.
Wistar and partners at the Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania; Inovio Pharmaceuticals; and GeneOne Life Science were recognized among the Top 10 Clinical Research Achievement Awards by the Clinical Research Forum for their groundbreaking phase 1 DNA-based Zika vaccine research – the first trial of a Zika vaccine in humans, which proved safe and effective.
Researchers at New York University College of Dentistry, in collaboration with Rheonix, Inc., are developing a novel test for Zika virus that uses saliva to identify diagnostic markers of the virus in a fraction of the time of current commercial tests.
In this issue, find research on gun storage, LARCs and abortion, flu vaccine disparities, air pollution disparities, Brazil birthrate after Zika and more
The U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has signed a five-year cooperative agreement worth up to $28 million with Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) to develop methods for preventing the global spread of viruses like chikungunya and Zika.
The impact of congenital Zika syndrome on families will be substantial and will last a lifetime, given its severity and uncertainty about long-term outcomes for infants.
Two viruses closely related to Zika – West Nile and Powassan – can spread from an infected pregnant mouse to her fetuses, causing brain damage and fetal death, according to a new study from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. The findings suggest that Zika may not be unique in its ability to cause miscarriages and birth defects.
In both cell cultures and mouse models, a drug used to treat Hepatitis C effectively protected and rescued neural cells infected by the Zika virus — and blocked transmission of the virus to mouse fetuses. Researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine, with colleagues in Brazil and elsewhere, say their findings support further investigation of using the repurposed drug as a potential treatment for Zika-infected adults, including pregnant women.
Scientists at the Morgridge Institute for Research have discovered a promising new target to fight a class of viruses responsible for health threats such as Zika, polio, dengue, SARS and hepatitis C.
Monkeys who catch Zika virus through bites from infected mosquitoes develop infections that look like human Zika cases, and may help researchers understand the many ways Zika can be transmitted.
An alternative animal model that mimics key features of the Zika virus infection, including its lingering presence in bodily fluids, has been developed at Texas Biomedical Research Institute in San Antonio.
Healthy adults mounted strong immune responses after receiving an investigational whole inactivated Zika virus vaccine, according to interim analyses of three Phase 1, placebo-controlled, double-blind trials conducted at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC), Walter Reed Army Institute of Research (WRAIR), and Saint Louis University School of Medicine. The findings were published today in The Lancet.
A new study demonstrates that outbreaks of mosquito-borne viruses Zika and Chikungunya generally occur about three weeks after heavy rainfall. Researchers also found that Chikungunya will predominate over Zika when both circulate at the same time.
California researchers have discovered that a medication used to prevent and treat malaria may also be effective for Zika virus. The drug, called chloroquine, has a long history of safe use during pregnancy, and is relatively inexpensive. The research was published today in Scientific Reports.
Birth defects in babies born infected with Zika virus remain a major health concern. Now, scientists suggest the possibility that some women in high-risk Zika regions may already be protected and not know it. New research in PLOS Pathogens on Nov. 16, performed in mice, shows women who develop symptom-free Zika infections may be able to acquire immunity that would protect them from future infections and their offspring in a future pregnancy.
A study by LJI researcher Dr. Sujan Shresta reports that mice rendered immune to dengue show "cross-protection" from subsequent Zika infection and then identifies specific types of immune T-cells capable of defending against both viruses. These revelations have profound implications for efforts to build a potent anti-Zika vaccine.
Rural counties continue to rank lowest among counties across the U.S., in terms of health outcomes. A group of national organizations including the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the National 4-H Council are leading the way to close the rural health gap.
Researchers at the University of California San Diego School of Medicine, with colleagues in Brazil, report that the Zika virus is transmitted from mother to fetus by infected cells that, ironically, will later develop into the brain’s first and primary form of defense against invasive pathogens.
Scientists are working to predict malaria outbreaks months in advance, giving public health officials a chance to protect people from a disease that poses a risk to nearly half the world’s population and kills hundreds of thousands a year.
Georgetown University’s Center for Global Health Science and Security and the Georgetown University Global Health Initiative welcomes Ambassador Jimmy Kolker, former assistant secretary for global affairs at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
UCLA researchers have developed an improved technique for creating simplified human brain tissue from stem cells. Because these so-called “mini brain organoids” mimic human brains in how they grow and develop, they’re vital to studying complex neurological diseases.
A Texas researcher has received a two-year, $420,000 grant from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease (NIAID) to study the mosquito-borne virus Zika. With the NIAID grant, Wu and his colleagues at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso (TTUHSC El Paso) will try to determine which human genes enable the virus to attack and kill human cells. To do this, Wu will conduct a genome-wide knockout screening — a process that specifically knocks out, or deactivates, each gene in the human genome —to identify the genes involved by process of elimination.
U.S. Olympic and Paralympic athletes and staff who traveled to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, for the 2016 Summer Games did not become infected with Zika virus but did test positive for other tropical, mosquito-borne viral infections, including West Nile Virus, Dengue Fever and Chikungunya. Results from the University of Utah Health-led study will be reported at IDWeek, a national infectious disease conference being held in San Diego.
A new generation DNA-based Zika vaccine is the first to demonstrate both safety and the ability to elicit an immune response against Zika in humans, according to new research from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, conducted in partnership with The Wistar Institute, Inovio Pharmaceuticals, and GeneOne Life Science, Inc. In results published today in the New England Journal of Medicine, the phase 1 clinical trial showed for the first time that humans who received up to three doses of the vaccine candidate produced an immune response against Zika with minimal adverse effects, opening the door to further clinical trials for this important vaccine candidate.
A new study by researchers has identified an innovative strategy for treating influenza, and perhaps other infectious diseases as well. Scientists showed that a small protein called retrocyclin-101 (RC-101) could potentially improve the symptoms and mortality associated with the flu and possibly other types of infectious illness as well.
The same countries hard hit by Zika virus – which can cause brain damage in babies infected before birth – are also home to dengue virus. Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis researchers report that they have found an antibody that protects against both viruses. These findings, in mice, could be a step towards an antibody-based preventative drug to protect fetuses from brain damage, while also protecting their mothers from both Zika and dengue disease.
Sandia National Laboratories won five awards from the 2017 Federal Laboratory Consortium for its work to develop and commercialize innovative technologies.
A National Institutes of Health-supported nationwide clinical trial will test a novel approach to combat hearing loss in children infected by a relatively unknown virus, cytomegalovirus (CMV). The University of Utah Health-led study will determine whether antiviral therapy can halt progressive hearing loss in children with a confirmed CMV infection. CMV is the leading non-genetic cause of hearing loss, contributing from 6 to 30 percent of childhood cases.
While Zika virus causes devastating damage to the brains of developing fetuses, it one day may be an effective treatment for glioblastoma, a deadly form of brain cancer. New research from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and the University of California San Diego School of Medicine shows that the virus kills brain cancer stem cells, the kind of cells most resistant to standard treatments.
Recent outbreaks of Zika virus have revealed that the virus causes brain defects in unborn children. But in a study to be published September 5 in The Journal of Experimental Medicine, researchers from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and the University of California, San Diego report that the virus could eventually be used to target and kill cancer cells in the brain.
The Wood County Health District contracted with Bowling Green State University to assist in its mosquito surveillance project after receiving a $17,696 grant from the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency to study mosquitoes. Dr. Dan Pavuk and two undergraduate biology students have been working on the project all summer.
EL PASO, Texas - West Nile virus is no stranger to the U.S.-Mexico border; thousands of people in the region have contracted the mosquito-borne virus in the past. But could this previous exposure affect how intensely Zika sickens someone now?
New information about how and where the innate immune system fights off viral infections that enter through the skin could lead to better treatments for viruses like Zika, dengue and measles, according to Penn State College of Medicine researchers.
Currently, testing for Zika requires that a blood sample be refrigerated and shipped to a medical center or laboratory, delaying diagnosis and possible treatment. Now, Washington University in St. Louis researchers have developed a test that quickly can detect the presence of Zika virus in blood. Although the new proof-of-concept technology has yet to be produced for use in medical situations, test results can be determined in minutes, and the materials do not require refrigeration.
ASU Biodesign Institute scientist Qiang “Shawn” Chen has led his research team to develop the world’s first plant-based Zika vaccine that could be more potent, safer and cheaper to produce than any other efforts to date.
Unlike other mosquito-borne outbreaks, Zika doubles as a sexually transmitted infection, with men retaining the virus 10 times longer in their semen than women do in their vaginal fluids. According to research initiated at the Santa Fe Institute, populations least likely to get tested for Zika could create a silent, sustained outbreak.
According to researchers at the University of Wisconsin–Madison who conducted studies with monkeys, casual contact like kissing or sharing a fork or spoon is not enough for the virus to move between hosts. Their findings were published today (Aug. 1, 2017) in the journal Nature Communications.
UF/IFAS researchers used a baseline comparison of infection and transmission rates of Florida mosquitoes to those from the Dominican Republic, a region associated with numerous human cases.
Barry Alto, an associate professor of entomology at the UF Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, led a team of UF/IFAS researchers that measured mosquito infection and transmission of the emergent strains of chikungunya -- Asian and Indian Ocean – in Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus mosquitoes.
In this month’s release, find new embargoed research about: Gestational weight gain and maternal obesity, disparities in hydration status, Zika and reproductive rights in Brazil