The polio eradication and endgame strategic plan announced by the World Health Organization in 2014 includes at least one dose of inactivated poliovirus vaccine (IPV). Since 1988, when WHO announced the polio eradication plan, it had relied exclusively on the use of oral poliovirus vaccine (OPV). The rationale for including a dose of IPV was …
An unexpected benefit of inactivated poliovirus vaccine Read More »
The American Society for Virology was founded in 1981 to promote the exchange of information and stimulate discussion and collaboration among scientists active in all aspects of virology. These goals are achieved in part by organizing an annual meeting that brings together virologists from diverse fields to discuss their work. As the current President of the …
Human influenza viruses replicate almost exclusively in the respiratory tract, yet infected individuals may also have gastrointestinal symptoms such as vomiting and diarrhea. In mice, intestinal injury occurs in the absence of viral replication, and is a consequence of viral depletion of the gut microbiota. Intranasal inoculation of mice with the PR8 strain of influenza virus leads …
How influenza virus infection might lead to gastrointestinal symptoms Read More »
Recovering viral genomes from ancient specimens can provide information about viral evolution, but not many old nucleic acids have been identified. A study of 700 year old caribou feces reveals that viruses can be protected for long periods of time – under the right conditions. The oldest virus recovered so far is the giant Pithovirus sibericum, …
ZMapp, a mixture of three antibodies against Ebola virus, became a household name after it was used to treat two Americans who were infected while working in Liberia. The structure of these antibodies bound to the Ebola virus glycoprotein suggest how they inhibit infection and ways to improve ZMapp. The three monoclonal antibodies that comprise ZMapp (called c13C6, c2G4, and c4G7) were …
Sea stars are lovely marine invertebrates with a round central body connected to multiple radiating legs (photo credit). In the past year millions of sea stars in the west coast waters of North America have melted into piles of slime and ossicles. Sea star associated densovirus might be the cause of this lethal disease. Sea star wasting disease (SSWD) …
