The oral poliovirus vaccine (OPV), which has been used to eradicate poliomyelitis in much of the world, was developed by Dr. Albert Sabin during the 1940s and 1950s. This live virus vaccine was produced by passing the three poliovirus serotypes in various cell cultures and searching for variants with reduced neurovirulence. In the days before …
Vincent and Jeremy recorded TWiV #16 in Saanen, Switzerland, at the 19th Challenge in Virology. They review the meeting, and discuss implications of a new HIV-1 sequence from 1960 for the origin of AIDS. Click the arrow above to play, or right-click to download TWiV #16
In my recent post about why I blog and podcast, I discussed how these activities allow me to think more about virology and to teach far more people than I ever could in a laboratory or classroom. Is there even more value in the web for scientists? There are three different web activities, besides blogging …
Dick is back from India, and joins Vincent and Alan on episode #15 of This Week in Virology. The trio discuss hantavirus spread by large deer mice, why the 1918 influenza virus replicates in the lower respiratory tract, measles in Europe, and the growing resistance of influenza virus to antivirals. Click the arrow above to play, …
TWiV #15: Deer mice, Spanish flu, measles, antiviral resistance Read More »
Yesterday the New York Times ran an article on the resistance to Tamiflu of current influenza H1N1 strains circulating in the US. I wrote a post about this issue on 22 December 2008, so I’m happy to see the Times following my lead. But there is an issue with the Times article that I’d like …
The influenza season is upon us in the U.S. Why is this viral infection prevalent during winter months? Most acute viral infections have a clear seasonal variation in incidence. In general, respiratory virus infections are more prevalent in winter months, while infections with enteric viruses predominate in the summer. In temperate climates, influenza mainly occurs …
