A new type of vaccine against influenza, made with virus-like particles, has been shown to protect ferrets from infection with the 2009 H1N1 swine-origin strain. What is a virus-like particle, and how is it produced? If you have been taking influenza 101, you know that new virus particles are produced in infected cells by budding. During …
The global battle to eradicate poliomyelitis is already 9 years behind schedule. To make matters worse, type 2 poliovirus, which was declared eradicated in 1999, has returned. There are three serotypes of poliovirus, each of which causes poliomyelitis. The vaccine used by WHO in the global eradication effort is a trivalent preparation comprising all three …
Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Dick Despommier, Alan Dove, and Jennifer Drahos In episode #45 of the podcast “This Week in Virology”, Vincent, Dick, Alan, and Jennifer Drahos tackle the Hendra virus disease outbreak in Australia, AIDS-like disease in wild chimps, return of polio type 2 in Nigeria, the influenza pandemic wave, and rabies in three countries. …
When the 2009 H1N1 pandemic influenza virus emerged earlier this year, I began re-reading John Barry’s The Great Influenza. I came across the sentences that I had underlined during my first read identifying errors in basic virology. Because this is a very popular book, it’s important to identify the mistakes and correct them. Barry is …
We’ve had several discussions on the value of personal protective equipment (PPE) in preventing influenza infection. CIDRAP has an excellent summary of an Institute of Medicine meeting on this subject. The IOM has been asked to make recommendations about how to protect healthcare workers against swine-origin H1N1 influenza. An unpublished study of respiratory protection in …
A new class is starting at virology blog: Virology 101. I began this blog in 2004, to give back what I’ve learned from studying viruses for 30+ years. I’ve written many posts on basic virology, but they tend to disappear with time. To remedy this problem, I’ve collected all these posts with links back to …
