The death of a dozen pigs from swine influenza last week in the Philippines reminded me of an incident at Fort Dix, NJ in 1976. The infection of humans with a strain of swine influenza lead to a nationwide immunization campaign to curb a pandemic that never occurred. An explosive outbreak ...

In episode #24 of the podcast This Week in Virology, Vincent, Alan, and Hamish Young discuss bacteriophages in viral vaccines, enteroviruses and diabetes, inhibition of Hendra and Nipah virus replication by the malaria drug chloroquine, and viroids. Click the arrow above to play, or right-click to download TWiV #24 or ...

The readers of virology blog are a savvy group - they determined that the bacteriophages present in viral vaccines originate from bovine serum present in cell culture medium. Animal virus vaccines prepared in cell cultures are contaminated with the bacteriophages, which are not removed when the harvests are sterilized by ...

When live, attenuated poliovirus vaccine was used in the US, its production and testing was regulated by the Food and Drug Administration. Guidelines for preparing and testing the vaccine can be found in the Code of Federal Regulations - the codification of the rules published in the Federal Register by ...

The clinical signs of an acute viral infection - characterized by rapid onset of disease with a short but sometimes severe course - are often obvious. These include coughing, sneezing, rashes and poxes, or headache. What takes place within the body while these symptoms develop? Examination of the time course ...