Mosquito saliva, which is injected into the host as a mosquito probes for a blood vessel, contains a collection of chemicals which include anticoagulants to prevent blood clotting, vasodilators to keep blood vessels wide, and anesthetics to prevent us from sensing the mosquito. Saliva also contains components that enhance viral ...

The TWiV team is together in New York City for a conversation with Nobel Laureate Harold Varmus about his remarkable career in science. You can find TWiV #400 at microbe.tv/twiv, or listen/watch below. [powerpress url="http://traffic.libsyn.com/twiv/TWiV400.mp3"] Click arrow to play Download TWiV 400 (101 MB .mp3, 139 min) Subscribe (free): iTunes, RSS, email Become a patron of TWiV!

Flaviviruses are unusual because antibodies that cross-react with different viruses can enhance infection and disease. This property, called antibody-dependent enhancement or ADE, has been documented to occur among the four serotypes of dengue virus. It has implications for infection with or vaccination against Zika virus or dengue virus. Earlier this year ...

The first experimental Zika virus vaccine has been published, and in this episode of Virus Watch, I explain how it works - it's a DNA vaccine - and I compare it with all the other vaccines out there.

The latest Zika virus news from the ConTWiVstadors, including a case of female to male transmission, risk of infection at the 2016 summer Olympics, a DNA vaccine, antibody-dependent enhancement by dengue antibodies, and sites of replication in the placenta. You can find TWiV #399 at microbe.tv/twiv, or listen below. [powerpress ...