Humans and Viruses

Bird Flu Remains A Menace in South Asia.

2012-02-20T23:28:00.000-08:00

(Sorry for the late post! I meant to post this like 2 weeks ago! Woops...)

Though relatively forgotten by the mainstream press outside of the latest news about the modified version, bird flu remains enzootic in South and Southeast Asia. While the fervor over a possible pandemic has died down considerably as efforts have been stepped up to regionally contain the virus, elimination from key areas, much less eradication, has proven extremely tricky. Bird flu doesn't fit all of the requirements for a true human virus and despite or because of this, bird flu is a very serious, potentially fatal virus of humans. Though the odds of catching it from an infected bird are low, it can carry a nearly 50% mortality rate.

In South Asia, the past two months have been one long series of setbacks and embarrassments, as India's announcement of the elimination of all wild bird flu in December 2011 has been followed by a total loss of containment along the India-Bangladesh border. Even though India DID eliminate the virus, it couldn't change the infected status of birds in Bangladesh, who subsequently broke through containment, spreading an outbreak that traveled into Nepal. Along the way, the mere presence of the virus in any bird has led to mass cullings and the swift erection of new containment barriers enforced by vaccines and cullings of wild birds. While the government's ability and will to enact these measures gives this story a positive outlook, one cannot ignore that the outbreak began because of a failure to take such measures across borders. Until this can be done, the region can never be truly safe from a new outbreak. Just like with a human virus, complete eradication remains the only option to ensure that any given region is truly safe.

In conclusion, this story should serve to remind us that bird flu remains a real and endemic infection. It should also inform us of the difficulties in controlling and eliminating an epizootic infection. Unlike humans who can tell their doctor if they are sick or who can be easily vaccinated en masse, animals need to be controlled with much stricter options, such as culling, and have no respect for human borders.

References:
Nepal Outbreak + Response
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5j7xEcYCva8ncWPDqGc3qKPBJCxzw?docId=CNG.d7502e631fd80bd9b27d505006b05b64.41
Indian Outbreak
http://www.worldpoultry.net/news/bird-flu-prompts-mass-poultry-cullings-in-india-9972.html
More Recent News from Vietnam:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia-pacific/what-happened-to-bird-flu-deaths-continue-new-strain-outsmarts-poultry-vaccine-in-vietnam/2012/02/17/gIQAEGmAJR_story.html

Baby boomer injection use increases number of hepatitis related deaths

2012-02-20T17:08:00.000-08:00

hepatitis-associated deaths increased dramatically in the past decade, exceeding the number of HIV-related deaths. Hepatitis C alone caused 13,000 deaths between 1999 and 2007, compared to 13,000 due to HIV. Just as significant as the related mortalities are the related morbidities - 1.4 million people are living with chronic hepatitis B and 3.2 with HCV.

One group particularly represented in the hepatitis-related mortality group is the baby boomer generation. This group is more susceptible to injection drug use, therefore at higher risk for hepatitis infection. It's estimated that 75% of all hepatitis related deaths can be attributed to this group. This group is also at high risk because the HBV vaccine was not developed while they were youths.

The article provided a fairly accurate background on the latency of hepatitis virus, how it's transmitted, and potential treatment using nucleoside analog. I was very surprised that Hepatitis caused more deaths than HIV since there seems to be so much attention concentrated on HIV research. Hopefully, with the development of HBV vaccine, we can reduce the number of hepatitis related deaths and move onto developing a vaccine for HIV!

-Michelle Jin
Article source: http://news.businessweek.com/article.asp?documentKey=1376-LZK4GQ6K50XU01-0B4FE2IEUNK9I8BNJICBH7EOEQ

Doctors drop vaccine-refusing families

2012-02-19T22:51:00.000-08:00

Great article by WSJ: More Doctors "Fire" Vaccine Refusers!

It's kind of horrible I know—doctors refusing to treat families who refuse vaccination. Because really, the doctor's duty to society should include those who are disillusioned by vaccines, and should treat illnesses other than MMRV. But apparently, 30% of pediatricians in Connecticut and 21% in the midwest asked families who refused vaccinations to find another doctor. The trend has only climbed in the last decade, perhaps owing to increasing frustration as these parents refuse to believe scientific studies, the medical internet (where I personally diagnose myself with everything...), the risk of infections spreading from unvaccinated children in the waiting room (new type of nosocomial spread!!) or the fact that a large part of a pediatrician's job is actually providing vaccines.

Interestingly, this has created a group of families who can't really get pediatric care. That's quite sad, and a consequence I really had no idea was coming. I really appreciate that we don't blindly follow whatever our doctors tell us but take the time to become informed. However, there are definitely times where it's probably better to just listen to the doctor, despite how smart we think we are/how well we know our own bodies. I suspect I'd be a bad patient one day when I'm overprotective of my kids and haven't kept up on medical findings. Plus, I'll be one of those med students who comes in claiming they have cancer every 3 weeks.

-Annelise

Norovirus Vaccine in the works

2012-02-19T14:13:00.001-08:00

With all of the news about Norovirus lately, it is nice to hear of a positive development in this field.

According to the Huffington Post a vaccine for Norovirus is being worked on at Arizona State University. It will be an inactivated vaccine in the form of a powder puff which will be administered nasally.

So maybe in the future when you are planning your next cruise vacation the packing list will look something like this: Swimmsuit (check), sunglasses( check), sunscreen, shorts, shirt, etc (check), and lastly Norovirus vaccine (check).

Right now the vaccine is having about a 50% success rate which will need to be increased but the vaccine looks promising. Immunity to noroviruses tends to be similar to influenza viruses so the vaccine would likely need to be administered annually.

In the meantime, while we wait for an effective vaccine, the best precautions are to wash your hands before eating/preparing food and to stay home from work/school if you are sick.

--Elena Jordan
http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2012/02/17/powder-puff-vaccine-for-norovirus-vomiting-bug_n_1284886.html

Flu Scare in New Zealand

2012-02-13T13:35:00.000-08:00

In what seems to be a pretty comical story, New Zealand health authorities ordered the immediate isolation of a plane that touched down in Auckland. It was believed that dozens of Japanese students on this flight were carrying a strain of unknown flu virus, and so 73 of these homestay students were kept on the plane hours after it hit the tarmac.

According to the passengers, a pretty frantic investigation ensued, with paramedicals erratically taking temperatures and pulses of the students, and no clear explanation being given from the authorities to the passengers. While it seems funny, about 40 students were found to exhibit mild respiratory symptoms.

The passengers were released approximately 4 hours after landing, and given health services. The whole flurry began when one non-Japanese passenger saw a few Japanese passengers with respiratory symptoms, and thus reported it to the captains on the plane, who then called medical services.

While the Auckland authorities admitted to overreacting, it was much better than underreacting, especially given that 300,000 cases of flu have been reported in Japan in the last week alone.

http://tvnz.co.nz/national-news/health-scare-auckland-airport-4717991

Pooja

Germany leads the way in centralizing infectious disease data

2012-02-13T08:54:00.000-08:00

Germany has just finished testing an electronic reporting system for infectious disease. The system was only tested in the Rhein-Kreiss Neuss district, but theoretically all districts of the country would gather information from local hospitals, doctors, and labs, and forward all information about infectious diseases on to the central federal authority, the Robert Koch Institute in Berlin.

This test not only sets up a data structure for reporting, but also set up secure and confidential ways to submit patient information, as well as set doctors up with the proper computer systems for this kind of networking. This means that it will be faster and easier for German doctors to share information with the Robert Koch Institute in Berlin, which is increasingly important in given the current climate of infectious disease and the necessity of fast response. This would be important in every country, and hopefully the world is moving in that direction.

http://epractice.eu/en/news/5332231

--Sarah Kaewert

The Speed of Viral Evolution

2012-02-13T02:11:00.002-08:00

Researchers recently studied how genetic manipulation of a the virus known as Phage Lambda (noninfectious to humans) affected transmissibility among host bacteria e. coli cells. Downregulation of the typical receptor protein resulted in the viral evolution of a new tropogen that utilized the receptor protein OmpF - a receptor protein that until now had never been recorded as the receptor protein for Phage Lambda. The development of this new tropogen occurred within just 15 days! Upon molecular examination, it was revealed that this mutation required four individual point mutations within the viral genome.

This research could shed some light on the idea of viral evolution. The primary researcher, Justin Meyer, estimates that the probability of four such point mutations occurring simultaneously is around "one in a thousand trillion trillion" (a slightly nonspecific estimate but still...). Contrary to what might be expected, however, in a number of different trials the virus always acquired the function mutation over the course of several weeks.

Is viral evolution more pointed than pure probabilistic mutations? So it would seem.

- Elena Higuchi

Article: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/27/science/in-real-time-a-virus-learns-a-new-way-to-infect.html

Study: http://www.sciencemag.org/content/335/6067/428.abstract

Nanotechnology and future antiviral therapies

2012-02-12T23:26:00.000-08:00

Recently, research has been done on the interactions of nanoparticles on the surface structure of viruses (see interaction of silver particles on G120 of HIV) and there's been interest in developing nanoparticles capable of neutralizing viruses or delivering drugs to specific targets. A company called NanoViricides Inc has developed 'polymeric micelles' that contain ligands normally specific to viral tropogens. This viricide's mechanism of action involves binding to viral-specific proteins (multiple types, if available) and engulfing the virion. In vitro, it has been shown to disassemble the virus in many cases, but researchers have been unable to explain why this happens.

This new type of antiviral therapy is slated to have no adverse metabolic effects, significantly higher effectiveness than chemical drugs, a short R/D period (3-6 weeks), and is biodegradable. It is touted to be a good, rapid counter to bioterror because micelles containing target proteins specific to the virus can be created quickly and cheaply. Unfortunately, the research summary did not include possible disadvantages, of which I can imagine many: host immune response may inactivate the drug, finding effective tropotopes is a severe limiting factor, targeting latent or intracellular pathogens may be difficult, etc.

Possible applications include control of viremia via injection into blood, topical applications on sores (ex. Herpes) and lesions, nasal sprays, and immune-globulin-like therapy/prophylaxis. Also, given that they can be specific to certain cell/viral receptors, these micelles can be used to deliver drugs to areas of the body that need it most.

protective protein against HIV

2012-02-12T21:06:00.001-08:00

A protein called SAMHD1, produced by dendritic cells, provides resistance of immune cells against HIV. Researchers are currently investigating the mechanism by which SAMHD1 resists HIV infection, but it's been proposed that this protein destroys the free flowing dNTPs, thus depleting virus infected cells of building blocks to replicate the viral genome. This process is termed Nucleotide pool depletion. Or in the words of Dr. Landau "SAMHD1 essentially starves the virus." But the viruses have their own escape strategies - they evolved to not infect SAMHD1 producing cells, but to infect CD4 T-cells, which do not produce such protective proteins. In addition, HIV and related viruses have developed Protein X that directly attacks SAMHD1, allowing it to infect dendritic cells.

I found this article interesting because it has profound therapeutic implications. If we could develop a drug to increase SAMHD1 production in naturally non-producing cells, such as CD4 T cells, therefore counter-attacking HIV's immune evading strategies. In addition, understanding how viral protein X interacts and destroys SAMHD1 could pave the way to developing drugs that prevent viral destruction of these crucial genes.

Michelle Jin
Source:http://www.news-medical.net/news/20120212/Study-reveals-how-SAMHD1-works-to-protect-dendritic-cells-from-HIV-virus.aspx?page=2

WNV competent mosquito returns to UK

2012-02-12T14:42:00.000-08:00

Culex modestus has been found in the marshland of the Thames Estuary. This mosquito has not been seen in the UK since 1945. It is worrisome because it can carry and transmit West Nile Virus.

Scientists are now using satellite imagery to locate habitats where the mosquito is most likely to be found. They will then work on the ground to study the mosquito more and determine whether there is any risk to human health.

WNV has been transmitted to humans occasionally in southern Europe but so far has no human has contracted the disease in the UK.

Elena Jordan

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-16988183

Study Linking Chronic Fatigue Syndrome to Viral Infection Has Been Retracted

2012-02-12T02:35:00.000-08:00

In 2009, a study published in Science by Dr. Judy Mikovits linked chronic fatigue syndrome to a viral infection with XMRV. Two years later, in December of 2011, this original study along with one study that supported the findings were retracted within days of each other, and the viral association was discredited. After the study was published, a number of studies failed to confirm the association, and a critical part of the scientific process, replication, was unable to occur.
Chronic fatigue syndrome is defined by a number of symptoms, the most common being profound exhaustion, swollen lymph nodes, sore throat, and cognitive dysfunction. Up until the publication of Mikovit's study, there was no known cause for CFS. The Center for Disease Control even classifies the syndrome as a psychological disease or a stress-related condition. According to a paper by the CDC, patients' who suffer from CDC tend to disproportionately have "paranoid, schizoid, obsessive-compulsive, avoidant, and depressive personality disorders."
On a side note, following the study's retraction, a legal plague hit the institution and researcher associated with the XMRV study. The main researcher, Dr. Mikovits was jailed for stealing from the lab and charged with being a fugitive. At the same time, the Whittemores, from the Whittemore Peterson Institute for NeuroImmune Disease (the research institution where the original study was performed) are being sued for embezzlement.
The XMRV-CFS association was not the only viral-associated connection that Mikovits proposed. At several conferences, Dr. Mikovits offered the idea that the murine leukemia virus (MLV) is associated with autism.

-Angela Cesena

Source:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/07/health/fallout-from-fatigue-syndrome-retraction-is-far-and-wide.html?pagewanted=1&_r=2&ref=health#

Super Bowl Measles!

2012-02-09T23:50:00.000-08:00

Oh man, this story is horrifying but also hilarious.

Someone who mingled with over 200,000 people at the Super Bowl village in Indianapolis has come down with the measles, aka the most infectious disease ever.

There's a chance that he wasn't infectious at the event, which was held on Friday—measles is infectious around 4 days before it becomes a visible rash, and if he's just come down with measles, the people he interacted with should be safe. But who knows what the speed of the news reporting is. Since there's a 10-day incubation period, if he really did spread it, we should see a ton of new cases popping up soon.

The public health department alerted the CDC, but the officials don't seem too worried. This faith in good vaccine coverage may be misplaced, but we can hope that there weren't a large number of kids who attended the party, because the children born in the last decade or so aren't as well immunized as the rest of the population because of parental worries (coughJennyMcCarthy).

Anyways, I look forward to the imminent measles outbreak that will hopefully spur more parents into getting their kids vaccinated!

-Annelise

Fatal Rabies Case in Italy

2012-02-06T13:56:00.000-08:00

A 40-year old man in Mantova, Italy was admitted to the hospital a day ago exhibiting symptoms of rabies including fever, myalgias, and respiratory distress. His rabies infection was confirmed and he died soon after. On September 28, 2011, the man was attacked by an aggressive dog and received pretty severe bite injuries in the arm in the north part of India. Despite receiving immediate post-exposure prophylaxis, his rabies was not cured.

He scored a 17 on the Glasgow Coma Score, which is a diagnostic tool used in rabies diagnosis. It questions eye response, verbal response, and motor response. More information is here: http://www.trauma.org/archive/scores/gcs.html

Approximately 36% of the rabies cases worldwide occur in India, or about 20,000 deaths. Though rabies is known well throughout India, immunoglobulin protecting against the disease is the major constraint in protection as it is in extremely short supply.

http://www.promedmail.org/

Viral Valentines

2012-02-06T11:47:00.000-08:00

In researching for the blog post this week, I must have come across 6 different articles highlighting the infectious dangers of Valentine's day. Valentine's day conveniently coincides with the height of cold-flu season, and since that's coming up and conveniently showcases many of the viruses we've been talking about in class, it's worth a mention.

Among the viral diseases mentioned in just one article are mononucleosis, colds, the flu, and cold sores. This particular article delicately steers clear of any sexually transmitted diseases, but it's Valentine's day so those should probably be included in this list as well. The families represented here might include Herpes, Paramyxo, Picorna, Corona, Papilloma, and Retro, and methods of transmission include direct contact, respiratory, and sexual. Basically, Valentine's day is pretty cool for a virology student.

This particular article shares helpful tips such as "keep your chopstick [and other utensils] to yourself" and "Do Give and Get a Flu Shot – 'It’s the gift that keeps on giving – you protect yourself, your loved one and you stop the virus from spreading to others,” said Parada. “If that isn’t sexy, and say ‘I love you’ I don’t know what does.'"

So enjoy Valentine's day everyone!

http://www.newswise.com/articles/valentine-s-day-is-the-worst-time-to-kiss-says-loyola-infectious-disease-specialist

--Sarah Kaewert

All noro on board!

2012-02-06T08:49:00.001-08:00

3 cruise ships set sale this weekend after having docked in Florida and Louisiana with norovirus outbreaks. Not too much info is known on whether any passengers were infected (guess we'll have to wait the 72 hours of incubation period!). The spokesperson for the cruise ship said that the ship was cleaned and shouldn't cause the symptoms of upset stomach, vomiting, and diarrhea.

I wish the article provided more information on the cleaning measures, how many patients went onboard, how many patients were affected by the outbreak, and how many other cruise ships will be docking in the oubreak area.

The spokesperson for the cruise line also said the passengers were warned - this somehow seems like blaming the victim.

But we'll see in a few days what happens! dun dun dun...

Source:http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2012/02/06/3rd_us_cruise_ship_sails_after_virus_outbreak/

-Michelle Jin

Canadian HIV vaccine SAV001 to be tested in humans

2012-02-06T00:03:00.000-08:00

Source

A genetically engineered live attenuated HIV vaccine has been developed at the University of Western Ontario, and US FDA approval was announced in mid-December of 2011. The vaccine has already been proven to stimulate immune response in animal subjects, and Phase I testing in HIV-infected human subjects began in January. The efforts of UWO and Sumagen Canada were also recently bolstered by a $728,000 boost from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

I'll try and dig up more information on how exactly this vaccine works, and what the genetic modification entails. I'm sure we all remember the Sabin vaccine controversy...

-Alan Le

The reservoir of Foot and Mouth disease in Mongolia

2012-02-05T18:36:00.000-08:00

In Mongolia, outbreaks of food and mouth disease, caused by the foot and mouth disease virus, in the family picornaviridae, affects a wide range of mammals and cloven-hooved animals including: domestic sheep, goats, cattle, camels and Mongolian gazelles. This is a fatal disease, both economically and resource-wise, as about a third of the Mongolian population relies directly on livestock for survival.
Until recently, it was thought that the Mongolian gazelles were the main reservoir of this virus, however, the results of a recent study, entitled "Serosurveillance for Foot-and-Mouth Disease in Mongolian Gazelles (Procapra gutturosa) and Livestock on the Eastern Steppe of Mongolia", proved otherwise. The researchers involved in the study collected blood samples from 36 gazelle calves and 57 adult gazelles to identify the existence and quantity of antibodies to the virus in their blood. They also collected more blood samples from other domestic animals that were kept in areas frequented by gazelles. These included: 138 sheep, 140 goats, 139 Bactrian camels, and 138 cattle and were used as a comparison. They found that in general, the pattern of antibody prevalence in the blood of these gazelles reflected the dynamics of foot and mouth disease outbreaks: for instance, they saw that during 1998-1999, which was free of foot and mouth disease outbreak, no antibodies were to be found in the blood samples of these gazelles, whereas during an outbreak in 2001, there was about 67% prevalence of antibodies in these animals. The study further analyzed following outbreak-free periods, during which the level of antibodies in the gazelle population continued to decline.
Based on these results, the researchers concluded that the Mongolian gazelles were not the natural reservoir for the foot and mouth disease virus, but instead, become infected after spillover from livestock during the sporadic outbreaks.

- Julie

Norovirus Hits Close to Home: San Francisco High School Shut Down

2012-02-05T16:14:00.000-08:00

Last week, a norovirus outbreak suddenly and dramatically hit St. Ignatius High School in San Francisco. School authorities and health professionals have scrambled to explain the source of the outbreak, but so far tests run to check possible contamination of the food or water supply, which would be the easiest way for the fecal-orally transmitted norovirus to spread so quickly, have come back negative. As of now, the school's population has been devastated with a 20% infection rate(!!). 300 students and 30 teachers all got acutely sick on last Wednesday with many vomiting at school. Because of the high infection rate and norovirus' extremely contagious nature, officials shut down the school and declared a 5-day weekend while testing was done and the entire school cleaned to eliminate any residual viral particles. As with the case of most norovirus outbreaks in America, all those affected are expected to recover in a matter of days even though several cases at the school resulted in trips to the hospital due to severe dehydration, likely so they could be treated by ORT.

Interestingly, one of the investigators relayed an anecdote that may explain the outbreak. Supposedly, a sick student vomited on one of the door handles in a main hallway and the janitors didn't disinfect the mess completely. Though the cause of this incident may never be known, the possibility that a single sick patient and a single vomiting could lead to over 300 ill speaks volumes about the incredibly contagious norovirus. We should be so lucky that such a virus is not more dangerous, and that all of these students will recover with no chronic infection.

Pediatric Rabies Patient in California Recovers

2012-02-05T15:52:00.000-08:00

An eight year old girl with a history of paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardio (occasional rapid heart rate) was seen by her pediatrician for a sore throat and vomiting on April 25th, 2011. A week later, she was taken to the emergency department on accounts of poor oral intake and dehydration. Two days after that incident, she returned to the emergency room for non-localized abdominal pain, neck and back pain and was discharged. The next day she returned with the previous days' symptoms, a rapid pulse, respiratory distress and acidosis. All infectious disease tests were negative with the exception of a positive rhinovirus PCR. As time progressed, she suffered from ascending flaccid paralysis, a fever, and decreased level of consciousness.
This patient was tested for west nile virus and enterovirus which both came back negative. Then, the Californa Department of Public Health Viral and Rickettsial Laboratory suggested testing for rabies based on the clinical syndromes. The tests came back positive for rabies-specific antibodies IgG and IgM . She was later sedated, received advanced supportive care and was placed in therapeutic coma. She, however, was not administered rabies immunoglobin or the post-exposure rabies vaccine. (why?)
A few weeks after the combined treatments and therapeutic coma, the patient was transferred to a rehabilitation center where she regained fine motor skills as well as her cognitive skills.
A public health investigation in this rural county in California ruled possible exposure to the rabies virus through means of suspicious animal contact in school- the girl was apparently scratched by two cats in school weeks before the onset of the symptoms. Of all the cats tested, none came back positive for rabies. Nevertheless, precautions were taken and 27 people that came in contact with the girl were given post exposure prophylaxis.

-Angela Cesena

Source:
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm6104a1.htm?s_cid=mm6104a1_w

Suing over STDs

2012-02-05T13:40:00.000-08:00

Just had to share this funny story with you all, though it's a month old. It's about Michael Brown, a high-profile surgeon who went to court for beating his wives and paying ridiculous amounts of money for strippers among other things. The first line of this article reads: "Like herpes, Michael Brown is the gift that keeps on giving. And apparently one of those gifts is...herpes."

Basically, he gave one of his ex-girlfriends vaginal and anal herpes and lied about his STD status. Bad luck in terms of virus shedding and generally poor manners, but what's the problem?

Apparently, it's actually a misdemeanor in New York (also in other states, including CA) to knowingly withhold information from a partner and/or intentionally spread an infectious disease such as an STD. This is based in the person's right to know and the harm done to them, and constitutes a form of assault/battery. Plus, if the person's rich and already in a ton of trouble, you can sue for emotional damages and add fire to the scandal.

It seems to me that this could make fights about who-gave-who-what and taking revenge messier, but I think it's cool that the courts have this kind of protection for those who were taken advantage of and contracted a life-long, stigmatizing, and limiting disease. I'm trying to imagine living with herpes—its painful outbreaks and the constant risk you'd put a sexual partner in even if they consented. Not fun. So, I hope people who have it know about this law!

-Annelise

Viruses on Cruise Ships!

2012-02-05T00:21:00.000-08:00

In Fort Everglades, Florida, 2 cruise ships (of Princess Cruises) were forced to return to port after experiencing gastrointestinal sickness outbreaks among passengers and staff. The Crown Princess had nearly 150 sick people aboard when it returned to port, and the Ruby Princess had 92 infected passengers and 13 infected crew members.

A spokesperson for the cruise line said that the two outbreaks were unrelated, but let's be honest: the food may have very well been contaminated. Proper steps were taken once reports of gastrointestinal illness became common: disinfection of surfaces (railings, door handles, elevator buttons), encouraged hand-washing, and placement of hand sanitizer around the ship.

I was simply entertained by the fact that these simultaneous "cruise ship illnesses" occurred directly following our Humans&Viruses journey into the world of norovirus and diarrhea. It reminded me of my own experiences at Stanford Sierra Camp (where I worked 2 summers) and the constant dread of a norovirus outbreak among staffers there. I'll never forget the phrase "no noro" that would be uttered before sharing drinks or similar... probably not the overall best virus prevention...

Article: http://www.local10.com/news/Passengers-become-sick-on-2-Princess-cruise-ships/-/1717324/8595618/-/15hew72/-/

- Elena Higuchi

The New Official Recommendations for Vaccinating Boys Against HPV Are Finally Here

2012-02-04T18:23:00.001-08:00

Recently there has been a new wave of studies on oral HPV. Just last week, the New York Times reported on a study which found that there are actually now more men with oral HPV than Women. In fact Pooja even posted about it.

Historically the HPV vaccine has been recommended for girls and only encouraged for boys. This was because it was thought that boys were not nearly as susceptible to disease from HPV as girls. Of course it was encouraged to prevent genital warts and certain cancers however it was usually thought that the cancers were rare and could be somewhat looked over.

However, with the recent concern over oral HPV and its link to throat cancer the CDC has published a brand new recommendation. A footnote has been added to the HPV schedule which includes a “recommendation of the quadrivalent human papillomavirus (HPV4) vaccine for males aged 11 or 12 years and catch-up vaccination for males 13 to 21 years of age. Males aged 22 to 26 years may be vaccinated with HPV4 vaccine.” (Annals of Internal Medicine).

From Human and Viruses we of course know that this is an important step in reducing the disease prevalence within society. While the fact that men are also susceptible to cancer from HPV not good news, a push to get everyone (male or female) vaccinated will be an important step to reducing overall infection.

Which reminds me, I suppose it’s time for me to get my vaccine.

--Elena Jordan

The original article Recommended Adult Immunization Schedule: United States, 2012 found in Annals of Internal Medicine can be viewed at http://www.annals.org/content/early/2012/01/30/0003-4819-156-3-201202070-00388.full
The New York times article can be viewed at http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/02/02/new-vaccine-recommendations-hpv-for-boys-hepatitis-b-for-diabetics/?ref=health

Oral HPV More Common in Men Than Women

2012-01-30T13:57:00.001-08:00

A new study talked about in the New York Times Vital Signs blog shows that about 1/15 Americans is infected with oral human papilloma virus. Of these numbers, more are men than women. The disease is a virus of the throat and can cause throat/larynx/pharynx cancers. Specifically, HPV Type 16 has tripled in prevalence over the last 20 years, a fact that is becoming more known in the public given the rise in throat cancer reports.

Aout 6.9% of adults and teenagers in the country are affected with any kind of strain of Human Papilloma Virus. The study also narrowed down behavioral practices that could make one more susceptible to oral HPV: increased age, sexual activity, and smoking cigarettes. Oral HPV can come about from engaging in oral sex.

Given the controversial political debate about whether or not men should also receive the HPV vaccine is likely to be affected by this new study. The fact that men had triple rates of throat cancers than women had until now been unexplained.

Pooja

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/01/26/oral-hpv-more-common-in-men-than-women/?ref=health&gwh=020751B1208E0DA34854985D625B98E6

Could avoiding raw date juice and sap reduce Nipah infection?

2012-01-30T00:48:00.000-08:00

Well experts in Bangladesh seem to think so. According to the Bb News (a Bangladeshi Newspaper) five deaths have already been reported this year in a recent outbreak in Bangladesh. Health department officials fear that more outbreaks of this Fruit babo virus loom on the horizon . However, experts are calling for a simple measure to reduce disease: “not drinking raw date juice.”

The link of date juice/sap to nipah is the fear that fruit bats can infect the dates while feeding. Consuming raw juice from infected dates could pass the virus onto unsuspecting victims, posing a serious threat to their health.

Once infected, there is no cure for Nipah infection and the disease is serious. Symptoms can include encephalitis and coma .(CDC)
Interestingly enough, at least according to this article, Nipah virus is currently only found in Bangladesh…I’ll have to look up that fact to make sure it is indeed true.

The original article can be found here: http://bdnews24.com/details.php?id=216993&cid=2
And the CDC page can be found here: http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvrd/spb/mnpages/dispages/nipah.htm

--Elena Jordan

Study Finds 7 Percent of People in United States Have Oral Infection of HPV.

2012-01-29T23:32:00.000-08:00

A new study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association and reported on in the New York Times, has determined that 6.9% of the American population, aged 14 to 69, has detectable levels of some serotype of HPV in their mouths/throats. The study was performed by PCR analysis of lysed cell extracts retrieved by a simple gargle-and-spit method using mouthwash.

The study also yielded numerous correlations between independent factors and rates of HPV infection. These ranged from the predictable, positive correlations with age and sexual activity since both increase the likelihood of exposure, to the thought-provoking, such as a tripled rate of infection for men vs. women(10.1%/3.6%) and a positive correlation between smoking and chances of infection. Of the serotypes tested, HPV-16, a type linked to both cervical and oral cancers, was the most prevalent of any given type but was still relatively minor at a 1% infection rate. Even so, if these numbers can be expanded for the entire population, that means ~2 million people are infected with an oral oncovirus.

Ultimately, this study alternately raises and calms fears at the same time. While the burden of dealing with potential oral cancers in the future appears grim, for now the numbers retrieved by the study pale in comparison to the rates of genital HPV infection and the chance of contracting cervical cancer. Still, investigations into the efficacy of vaccines to stop oral HPV transmission will likely be performed sometime in the future if the United States gets serious about reducing HPV infection rates.

Study:
http://jama.ama-assn.org/content/early/2012/01/23/jama.2012.101.abstract
Article:
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/01/26/oral-hpv-more-common-in-men-than-women/

Plantibodies in the fight against HIV?

2012-01-29T23:20:00.000-08:00

Dr. Deborah Anderson, professor of obstetrics, gynecology, and microbiology at Boston University, is currently developing a form of prophylaxis against HIV and HSV that uses plant-grown human antibodies to neutralize these viruses in the female genital tract. Anderson has been working closely with the industry to develop a system of producing antibodies to HIV cheaply and massively in tobacco plants. The so-called "plantibodies" are then hoped to be applied to numerous other viruses, perhaps even influenza and rhinovirus.

Trials for another anti-HIV gel were cancelled in November because they appeared to be ineffective at preventing infection. Here's hoping that this one shows happier results.

Source: http://www.bu.edu/today/2012/developing-a-new-weapon-against-hiv/

-Alan Le

How young adults handle epidemics

2012-01-29T21:28:00.000-08:00

A study from the University of Michigan recently outlined how young adults handle epidemics such as the H1N1 influenza. The study was a survey of 3,000 people and focused mostly on people in their 30s, finding that only 20% of those surveyed had been vaccinated during the 2009-10 H1N1 scare. However, about two thirds of them said that they were following the issue closely and "moderately concerned, " which apparently is not concerned enough to be vaccinated (come to think of it, I can't think of one person I know in my age group who got the vaccine either). Even though they felt "well-informed" or even "very well-informed" on the topic, the average scores on an influenza knowledge test were "moderately informed."

The study went on to break down the behavior of this group further: adults with young children at home were the most likely to pay attention to news concerning the epidemic. Most people got news from friends, family, and coworkers (but where did the friends, family and coworkers get their news from?) They most trusted doctors and most mistrusted Wikipedia. Overall, this generation was said to have done "reasonably well in their first encounter with a major epidemic" by the author of the report, Jon D. Miller.

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/240722.php

--Sarah Kaewert

Viruses outrun us..and bacteria

2012-01-29T20:57:00.000-08:00

A recent study published in Science invested gated viral replication in E.coli. The bacteriophage, lambda, attach via specific receptors and attack glycoproteins on E.coli. Scientists generated a bacteria that lack the virus-specific receptor required for viral entry and insertion of genome into host genome. However, within 15 days, the virus evolved to utilize a different receptor to gain entry into its host.

I think this article is interesting because bacteriophages are good models for human viruses. The speed of viral evolution to facilitate infection is impressive but threatening to our health. It would be interesting to learn more about how the virus evolved that fast and I wonder if there's a way for our immune system to adapt faster.

-Michelle Jin

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/science/Quick-learner-Viruses-find-new-ways-of-infecting-us/articleshow/11680861.cms

Wisconsin-Madison Flu Study Censored for Security Measures

2012-01-29T19:09:00.000-08:00

Dr. Yoshihiro Kawaoka's recent flu study at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the University of Toronto is under review after his lab created a more contagious form of the H5N1 avian flu. This study has been compared to that of Dr. Fouchier's H5N1 study at the Erasmus Medical Center in the Netherlands. The main difference being that Dr. Fouchier's lab created a more contagious and a super-lethal strain of H5N1 that killed over 50% of the ferrets it infected. Dr. Kawaoka's strain is highly contagious, but has not been shown to be lethal- not to mention, the current flu vaccine remains effective against his mutated strain. This contagious H5N1 virus strain is a result of four point mutations that occurred after the team of researchers attached the hemagglutining gene of the H5N1 virus to seven genes of the H1N1 2009 virus.
In opposition to research involving genetically engineered flu viruses, Richard Ebright, a chemistry professor at Rutgers University stated, "this virus will not be the endpoint; the first experiment that will be done with it will be an effort to enhance its lethality." Many researchers are concerned that the gene-manipulation techniques as well as intermediate mutations are potentially as dangerous as the end products, which is why certain aspects of this research should be censored.
Censoring this research will make the reproduction of these studies difficult (if not impossible)- which brings into question the importance of reproducing studies in order to validate their results.

-Angela Cesena

Reference:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/26/health/wisconsin-scientist-says-h5n1-flu-strain-he-created-is-less-dangerous.html?ref=health

Ross River Fever outbreak in Australia

2012-01-29T15:13:00.000-08:00

Okay, I just have to report on this because the symptoms are so...not what I would expect from a Togavirus.

There's been an outbreak of Ross River virus in Australia that has hit hundreds of humans! This is a mosquito-borne togavirus, and the breeding season has been prolific, especially in the southwest. (For a island nation, Australia sure suffers a lot of weird disease outbreaks).

But what's fascinating to me is that Ross River virus causes a fever that used to be known as "epidemic polyarthritis." Because it causes arthritis/arthralgia in 95% of symptomatic infections!! (also flu-like fever, of course) This can last for months in chronic infections—hooray for feeling like your fingers, wrists, back, elbows, and knees are 80 years old instead of 20. Based on Bio230 last quarter, I'd suspect that this is probably caused by immune complexes (small batches of virus tied up with antibodies) getting stuck in joints, which causes a local inflammatory response that causes joint discomfort. Ouch.

-Annelise

Sindh Polio Campaign Begins Today

2012-01-29T14:58:00.000-08:00

Sindh, one of Pakistan's four provinces, launches its polio campaign today, with hopes of immunizing 7.4 million children against the virus. 22,000 teams of vaccinators (primarily volunteers assisted by local paramedics) have as their goal to vaccinate every child under 5 in every part of the province. To avoid any vaccine shortage, the teams have been provided with 7.4 million orally-administered (Sabin) doses as well as an additional 10 million as back-up.

Although there was not too much information listed in the article, this seems to be a very positive note in the step of worldwide polio eradication. Pakistan recorded a total of 198 cases in 2011 (as compared to just 1 in 2010); there have already been 5 cases recorded since the start of 2012. Numbers certainly point to the start of an epidemic in the region, and it is likely that there are far more people actually harboring the virus who haven't displayed any symptoms yet. It's too late for a vaccine to be able to help those who are already infected, but it would certainly help inhibit the spread of the virus. Selection of Pakistan to receive this high number of vaccine seems like a good application of typical outbreak containment strategy (high dosages of vaccine administered in the surrounding area of an emerging outbreak).

Article here

- Elena Higuchi

Prion diseases hide out in the spleen!!

2012-01-28T00:11:00.000-08:00

Since we are going to be looking at prions, which are composed of misfolded forms of a protein called PrP, later on, I thought that this study presented an interesting set of facts regarding recent discoveries made about prion diseases.
It was recently found that Prion diseases such as bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) and variant Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease (vCJD) are able to jump across species much more easily than previously thought; in fact, it seems that they can start replicating in the spleen without necessarily affecting the brain. This would mean that thousands of people could be silent carriers of a prion infection and not realize it! It also increases the risk of transmission of the prion infection to more people through surgery, organ donations or blood transfusions.
This also relates back to the question that we had in our problem set this week - do prions have a wide host range and is that why they are able to jump from one species to another easily, according to this new study? Is that why they are called the "barrier breakers"? Apparently, these pathogenic agents are not only able to replicate in the brain, but can also affect lymphoid tissue, such as the spleen, tonsils and appendix. Do these findings match the original assumption that species barriers are very difficult to cross?

- Julie

Looks like HCV is losing!

2012-01-26T00:39:00.000-08:00

A receptor called NPC1L1, or Niemann-Pick C1–like 1, present in the membrane of our liver cells has been known to aid in cholesterol absorption. For a long time, a few studies had hypothesized its potential role in also facilitating the entry of the Hepatitis C virus and thus allowing infection - however, the results of these studies had not been confirmed until now.
Researchers have shown that knocking down the NPC1L1 receptor completely prevents the virus from entering and infecting the liver cells, since this receptor is 'necessary' for infection. Thus if a drug that uniquely targeted NPC1L1 (a NPC1L1 antagonist) could be manufactured, imagine the number of lives that could be saved! This would be especially useful for patients who have received a liver transplant and who are at a high risk of infection (i.e. the virus infecting their new liver). The promising news is that such a drug does exist, and it is called ezetimibe! It has been approved by the FDA, is recognized as safe, and has been used for a long time to control cholesterol levels - now we know that it will kill two birds with one stone!

Here's the Nature article!

- Julie

Effective drug management could save lives

2012-01-23T00:03:00.001-08:00

According to a study published in Clinical Infectious Diseases, the shortage of anti-infective drugs pose a great threat to clinical care and disease outcomes. Anti-infectives were shown to reduce the prevalence of multidrug-resistant pathogens. These drugs are able to treat syndromes such as encephalitis, neurosyphilitis, tuberculosis and many others. The shortage of these key drugs may result in loss of many lives of patients with such diseases. While the source of such drug shortage is hard to determine, several possibilities are "red tape" factors such as regulation, processing, distribution, and other factors that could be avoided with effective management. I think this article is interesting because it points to the necessity of effective non-medical actions to increase medical treatment. By increasing oversight of such processes, many people's lives could be saved.

Article source: http://esciencenews.com/articles/2012/01/22/anti.infective.drug.shortages.pose.threat.public.health.and.patient.care

-Michelle Jin

CCHF in Bangladesh

2012-01-22T23:50:00.000-08:00

On Thursday a Bangladeshi man was admitted into the hospital and treated for Congo Crimean hemmorhagic fever, and sadly died, despite medical treatment. The bite of a single tick resulted in his infection and death, the closure of several restaurants, and has mobilized an entire hospital, the Ministry of Health, an infectious disease team, the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, and the Ministry of Regional Municipalities and Water Resources. Though CCHF is transmitted by ticks, it has been known to spread to healthcare workers and nurses, possibly through exposure to blood. There are unconfirmed reports of several other individuals undergoing treatment for CCHF as well.

The aforementioned ministries are taking actions to prevent any other infections through ticks or infected animals, but control of an organism so small as ticks will no doubt prove extremely difficult, as control efforts with mosquitoes for mosquito-borne diseases have proved. Bad meat was also implicated in the infection, and though this connection is unconfirmed, several restaurants have been shut down and people have been told to avoid eating meat that was bought a week before the incident.

--Sarah Kaewert

http://www.timesofoman.com/echoice.asp?detail=53823

Murray Valley Encephalitis in Australia!

2012-01-22T23:05:00.000-08:00

Recent flooding in Australia (don't forget that it's summer there) has been followed by a spike in the number of Murray Valley encephalitis cases. MVEV is an arbovirus of flaviviridae (genus flavivirus, along with Yellow Fever, West Nile, and Dengue) and is transmitted by mosquitoes. In addition, MVEV persists in the bird population year round as a reservoir.

MVEV appears to cause no clinical presentation in the vast majority of infected individuals; however, a very small number of individuals develop encephalitis. According to the Health section of the New South Wales website, very young infants, travelers, and immigrants to Australia are at greatest risk of developing MVE, due to their lack of immunity and greater chance of becoming infected. Still, the vast majority of infected individuals exhibit no symptoms, and only a very small fraction present with MVE.

Some of you might remember the concerns over West Nile several years ago, when it was first spreading across the U.S. . While many infected individuals exhibited no symptoms, others would suffer from encephalitis and experience severe health problems. I'm not entirely sure what causes the discrepancy in how people react to the virus, but it might be an exciting topic for future reading.

-Alan Le

Mosquito-borne brain-swelling virus on the rise (ABC Australia)

NSW Health Factsheet for MVEV

Aerial Baiting

2012-01-22T22:00:00.000-08:00

Texas has annually taken to the air to fight the ground war on rabies. Over the last 18 years planes were loaded with hundreds and thousands of packets of rabies vaccines that are dipped in fish oil and fish meat. They will deploy 1.8 million packets this year over a larger area of rural south and west Texas.

The goal of this eradication effort is to vaccinate the foxes and coyotes in the rural areas to create a natural buffer zone from rabies that maybe passing into Texas from Mexico and surrounding areas. This program targets only fox and coyote transmitted rabies but is good start to keep enzootic levels down within these animals since they often have contact with livestock and humans. With the success of this program they will move onto skunk rabies.

The vaccination occurs when the animals eat the fish oil covered packets. January is the optimal time for this operation because food is in short supply because of the winter months and the bait becomes very enticing. Texas scientists got the idea for this aerial baiting system for the distribution of rabies vaccines from a program that was occurring in Canada. This method along with laws that mandate pet rabies vaccines keep rabies levels at an all time low.

Through the 18 years of running this program canine associated rabies fell from 122 to 0, and fox strain rabies fell from 244 to 0. Since the air drop began there have been no human cases of rabies in that region. This immunity circle is really doing its job in keeping rabies from spreading in wildlife and ultimately in the human population.

To read more click here

-Victoria Anikst

Polio Cases Triple in Afghanistan

2012-01-22T21:35:00.000-08:00

Polio is currently pandemic in three countries- among them, the one posing the greatest world threat is Afghanistan. Even with the political and military unrest, vaccination teams have been allowed to fulfill their work by the government as well as the Taliban. Th Global Polio Eradication Initiative has stated a near eradication, but this year the cases in Afghanistan tripled- from 25 cases in 2010 to 76 in 2011. This three-fold rise is of international concern since the new cases appeared in regions that were previously believed to be polio-free.

The Afghanistan Ministry of Public Health has indicated that the new cases are of a polio strain seen in Pakistan. This strain has been imported by refugees from endemic areas in Pakistan as well as travelers and tourists. Cases in Pakistan also increased from 80 to 192 in 2011. But not all regions with endemic polio have had similar trends- India, on the other hand, saw a year with no new polio cases.

The World Health Organization and Unicef have devoted $32 million dollars to aid in the effort to eradicate polio. This week, WHO is declaring the three-fold rise in Afghanistan a global public health emergency.

-Angela Cesena

Reference:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/18/world/asia/after-years-of-decline-polio-cases-in-afghanistan-rise.html

Can HIV Be Eradicated Without Vaccines?

2012-01-22T20:42:00.000-08:00

I read an article recently that discussed the potential for eradicating HIV using prophylaxis and anti-retroviral drugs. It's a curious idea since we are taught in class that having a good vaccine is a dominant reason why eradication efforts have worked in the past. Given the nature of HIV spread, the effectiveness (in preventing transmission) and diversity of anti-retroviral drugs, and the lack of a capable, licensed vaccine, suppressing HIV and preventing it's spread may be the best solution; theoretically, it would take a few generations if our only option was to stop spread and wait until the last person with HIV dies, but people are banking on the possibility of reactivating latent HIV reservoirs--a popular area of HIV research--and flushing the virus out of an individual completely, leading to eradication within decades; it won't come cheap though (est. $24 billion a year) and drugs that change the chromatin environment in latent HIV infected cells would need to be developed and approved. One thing that might hamper the effort would be latency in in Hematopoetic Stem Cells!. If eradication through antivirals is successful, it might change the vaccine-centered paradigm. (Original Article)

- NGUyen

Other Cool Stuff:
*In 2006, CDC recommended routine HIV screening for everyone 13-64 years.

*Below: How the Oraquick test works. The way antibodies and enzymes are represented in the picture makes me chuckle.

Ethics of Bird Flu Research

2012-01-22T20:35:00.001-08:00

As was discussed in class, the research surrounding H5N1 avian influenza could have benefits in helping understand the microbiology of influenza zoonoses (and thus any possible predictors), but it also carries with it implications of bioterrist weaponization.

On Friday, Ron Fouchier (the premier virologist involved engineering in the virulent strain of H5N1) and a group of other premier flu-ologists issued a letter announcing a suspension of this research, to allow for more discussion by public officials and academics of its possible benefits versus its possible threats. Such a moratorium is extremely rare - the last one having occurred from 1974 to 1976 following safety concerns in recombinant DNA research.

What I found particularly interesting was Fouchier's statement regarding the parallel debate in the Netherlands - where similar research was also taking place. Scientists seem to have taken much more active steps in the Netherlands throughout their research to keep politicians and citizens much more updated and aware of the research. As such, a heated debate as found in the US does not exist in the Netherlands. This strongly indicates that, in the future, any similarly controversial scientific research would really benefit from publicizing itself more than is typically necessary for other research.

Article

Fouchier's letter

- Elena Higuchi

Bird Flu in China

2012-01-22T19:24:00.000-08:00

Two people in China have died from H5N1 in less than a month. This is according to an article run in the New York Times today. China is a country known for agricultural practices that make perfect “breeding grounds” for bird flu and transmission to humans, namely the close proximity and mixing of birds and pigs. Still, these deaths come as a surprise.

The latest victim’s case was worrisome as the patient didn’t report any contact with poultry before falling ill. The concern was that H5N1 might have finally begun to be transmitted human-to-human. However they didn’t rule out other reservoirs that could spread the disease to humans and based on close relatives not becoming ill, it seems that no human-to-human transmission occurred.

However, with bird flu’s high mortality rate it’s no wonder people are so concerned. According to the WHO, bird flu has killed 343 out of 582 people who have reported being infected. This is a worrisome disease and 2 fatal cases in less than a month is a cause for alarm.

The original article can be located for further review at: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/23/world/asia/china-reports-2nd-bird-flu-death-in-month.html

--Elena Jordan

Henipaviruses

2012-01-22T17:11:00.001-08:00

Since we didn't really get around to Nipah and Hendra...

Hendra virus (a paramyxo) is an Australian BABO zoonotic virus (found in "flying foxes") that most commonly kills horses. Since discovered in 1994, many horses and 4/7 people have died from infection, but human-to-human transmission has not been recorded. Symptoms in horses include respiratory and neurological symptoms. The fatality rate is ~75%. Symptoms in humans can range from mild influenza-like illness to fatal pulmonary, neurologic, or systemic failure.

Most recently, a horse died from Hendra in Australia in early January, marking the 18th outbreak in a year. Some people are calling for the nearby bats to be killed or at least their population thinned, but others argue that this could distress the bats and lead to behavior that infects more horses.

It's interesting to me that we group Hendra and Nipah together in our panic about zoonotic viruses. Yes, they share many characteristics: structure, disease symptoms, spread by bats, and infection of local livestock. However, Nipah has killed many more people, infects a wider range of livestock (commonly pigs, our favorite mixing vessels), and can be transmitted from human to human (nosocomial spread!!). It has hit Malaysia, Singapore, Bangladesh, and India, making it more geographically important than Hendra. Currently, we don't have to worry much about Hendra virus, but perhaps we ought to worry about Nipah...

-Annelise

Bubblegram Imaging!

2012-01-22T10:03:00.001-08:00

Scientists at the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS) have come up with the most incredible way to view the inner workings of viruses by innovating a whole new imaging technique called: bubblegram imagery.
Until now, researchers had only been able to visualize structures on the surface of viruses. The imaging technique Cryo-electron microscopy was the most successful technique used to image these extremely small particles. The limitation of this imaging strategy, however, lies in the fact that it is unable to provide scientists with images of the inner structures of the viruses, which would be extremely helpful in understanding how viral particles interact with the host cell's machinery. The radiation used to image viruses is only employed in very small doses, which is insufficient for viewing any of the inner viral structures. Additionally, higher doses cannot be used since they would damage and possibly destroy the surface viral proteins that could have been seen in the first place.

In trying to determine an optimal level of radiation to view both the inner and outer structure of viruses, researchers at the University of Maryland realized a crucial feature of the inner viral proteins: that they are most susceptible to damage than DNA. Thus, they first used low doses of radiation and obtained images in which the inner structures of viruses were invisible. Next, they used very high doses of radiation, and found that to their surprise, the inner structures could be viewed as clusters of small bubbles. Thus, they simply had to superimpose the two images in order to reconstruct a 3D model of the entire viral structure! This technique has a great future ahead and could be of tremendous use in the development of vaccines, understanding the interaction between viral particles and cellular DNA, and even in visualizing the difference between cancer and non-cancer cells.

- Julie

Possibly Novel Virus, Schmallenberg*, Already Leaving a Mark

2012-01-19T16:22:00.000-08:00

*Not a human virus.

Research and public health agencies throughout Europe are currently racing to understand, characterize, and develop treatments for an apparently novel virus that suddenly and mysteriously appeared in livestock throughout Northern Europe. Though the Schmallenberg virus, named after the German town where the first positive samples were found, is not a human virus, its mysterious origin and potential economic impact make it a virus worth watching and studying. Emerging sometime last year, most likely between November and December, the virus went undetected until waves of abortions, reminiscent of the devastating effects of rift valley fever, began appearing in herds of livestock. This ability, coupled with severe teratogenic effect, threatens the survival and economic viability of herds as the rate of birth defects skyrockets to nearly 20 to 50% after infection. For this reason, quarantine measures have been put into place, including a recent ban by Russia on meat from the Netherlands, which is near the focus of the outbreak.

As of yet, scientists have not confirmed much of the virus' characteristics, including its route of transmission or exact pathology, but have identified the virus as a member of the orthobunyaviridae genus in the family bunyaviridae. Using the viral toolbox, one would guess, and many scientists already assume, that the virus is spread by mosquitos as many already characterized bunyaviruses use mosquitoes as a vector. For now, the virus's complete sequence is near completion and researchers have already successfully cultured it using insect cells, so a more complete description of the virus can be expected in the near future. What is already known though may present a unique case of a laboratory principle occurring very successfully in the wild. Current sequencing data indicates that of the virus' 3 genomic segments, a characteristic of all bunyaviruses, two have a strong resemblance to that of Akabane virus while the other segment resembles that of Shamonda virus. While these two other viruses are closely related, the sudden appearance of a novel virus with segments from both implies a wild reassortment event between the two bunyaviruses that created Schmallenberg. For now, much of this logic lies in the realm of speculation, but would help to explain the sudden, violent appearance of this never-before-seen virus.

Source:
New Animal Virus Takes Europe by Surprise
http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2012/01/new-animal-virus/

Russia bans Imports of Dutch Meat over Virus.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/18/us-dutch-russia-exports-idUSTRE80H1MH20120118

Traditional Chinese Medicine as Influenza Treatment

2012-01-17T21:36:00.000-08:00

A study recently found this summer that a traditional Chinese therapy known as maxingshigan-yinqiaosan (a mixture composed of 12 distinct herbs) showed promise in helping to treat influenza symptoms and reduce infection time. The mixture was compared to tamiflu, as well as a control group; it showed similar results to tamiflu in both the necessary time for fever reduction and the levels of viral shedding measured by PCR, while a combination of the two medications showed better results then either medication alone.

The reason that this popped back into the news is because another study recently evaluated the feasibility of introducing maxingshigan-yinqiaosan as a viable treatment in Western medicine. Overall, it was determined that samples of this treatment currently found in the Western world often varied widely in chemical composition - whether from variances in the herb themselves, variable growing conditions, different harvesting procedures, etc.

This is an interesting finding because it's evidence that there likely exist a multitude of different treatments from various cultures that could help supplement our current knowledge of drugs. If this treatment specifically was to be introduced in a medical sense, it would obviously be quite important to standardize the specific chemicals found within maxingshigan-yinqiason, but I think overall it shows a lot of promise in the pursuit of standardizing the quagmire currently known as "alternative medicine."

Original Study: http://www.annals.org/content/155/4/217.abstract?ijkey=80020d34814781428f0b1245de74f67d3300de69&keytype2=tf_ipsecsha

-Elena Higuchi

New and exciting Ebola target!

2012-01-16T22:51:00.001-08:00

Scientists have discovered that the protein NPC1 may play a key role in preventing Ebola infections, or at least decreasing their severity. NPC1 is a protein that is found in the endosome and brings cholesterol into the cytoplasm. Individuals who lack NPC1 have Niemann-Pick disease, where cholesterol builds up in the brain, liver, and spleen. When cells from individuals with Niemann-Pick were infected with an experimental Ebola-ike virus, they were much better able to fight off infection than cells with normal levels of NCP1. This is because without functional NPC1, the virus can't enter the cytoplasm, and no infection can occur.

Researchers are now working on finding small compounds that block the interaction of NPC1 and viruses related to Ebola. So far several articles have been published in Nature, and the antidepressant imipramine has been found to block NPC1. While NPC1 trials have worked on Marburg-infected mice and cells, no trials with imipramine or other NPC1 blockers have been undertaken yet. However, these preliminary results are exciting: to think, that the key to fighting Ebola might be an antidepressant that's already on the market.

--Sarah Kaewert

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/17/health/npc1-protein-may-give-ebola-its-opening.html?_r=1

From lollipox to measles parties: we’re talking about a whole new kind of crazy

2012-01-16T11:33:00.000-08:00

So if the lollipox and the rise of chickenpox parties weren’t bad enough, here’s a kicker…Now on the rise: measles parties? My gosh, from what we’ve learned about measles and it’s complications, this is a highly contagious and serious disease for which we have an effective vaccination. So why are some parents insisting on purposely exposing their children to such danger.

According to an article this week, measles parties are on the rise. Organizers of such events usually take the stance that measles is a “harmless childhood disease” and tend to be opponents of immunization. They often believe that naturally induced infection has greater benefit for the patient than vaccinations.

Unfortunately, as we have learned in class, actually being infected with wild type measles virus carries with it significant health risks. For example, complications of measles include otitis and lung infections as well as post infectious measles encephalitis and subacute sclerosing panencephalitis (a 100% deadly disease).

Measles can be a severe, debilitating and even deadly disease. On top of that, while people think they are exposing their child to measles, without a doctor present, a measles party could unintentionally spread other diseases. Lastly, due to the highly contagious nature, intentionally spreading the disease could likely have severe effects on infection rates of people outside of the measles parties. All in all, this sounds like a terrible recipe for disaster.

Now consider this: Conversation Parties and HIV. I’ll look into this next week but google it. CRAZY!

--Elena Jordan

(sorry for the late post, I accidentally posted this on the humanvirosphere blog last night...I got confused signing in and it turns out the passwords are the same)

http://www.iol.co.za/lifestyle/family/kids/measles-parties-a-hazardous-route-to-immunity-1.1211175

Norwalk-like Virus: It is winter time again.

2012-01-15T23:32:00.000-08:00

A conference in Victoria was cut short because of a Norwalk-like virus outbreak. The virus took out around 50 students at a hotel that was hosting a national student journalist's conference. It is proposed that someone had already been affected by the virus was the index case in this localized outbreak. Students began leaving the conference hall in the middle of a speech because of symptoms of vomiting, diarrhea, and stomach cramps. There was no laboratory confirmation of the virus but all the symptoms reported matched the "norwalk-like gastroenteritis symptoms". Eleven student went to the hospital to receive fluids and medication, but none were held in care for very long. The route of transmission for noroviruses is fecal, oral, or direct contact. People with norovirus illness are contagious from the moment they begin feeling sick until 3 days after recovery. People were advised to stay in their rooms to prevent transmission and keep vigilant personal hygiene. This outbreak was quite mild. These types of the outbreaks are most common during the winter seasons and in confined spaces like hotels and cruise ships. Public health officials and going to return to gain laboratory confirmation of the causative agent.

See link for original article:

http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/01/15/norwalk-virus-hits-students-at-journalism-conference-in-victoria/

-Victoria Anikst

Imported bush meat: a unique source of zoonotic viruses

2012-01-15T22:21:00.000-08:00

By now, we're all familiar with the threats posed by consumption of bush meat. However, in a recent research article, Kristine M. Smith et al. point out the severity of the situation in Western countries. By one estimate, approximately 273 tons of bush meat illegally arrive at a single airport in Paris each year, or over five tons per week (!!!).

The U.S. is not immune (teehee) to this illegal import either, although we currently do not have sufficient screening protocols to provide an accurate estimate of the amount of bush meat smuggled here. Samples are typically immediately incinerated. However, with cooperation from JFK Airport and the US Fish and Wildlife Service, Smith was able to acquire 44 samples of bush meat (primates and rodents, both raw and barbecued). Analysis of these samples revealed the presence of CMV, simian foamy virus (SFV), and lymphocryptoviruses (LCVs, similar to Epstein-Barr virus). No SIV was detected, though Smith attributes this to the low number of primate samples (n=9).

These findings raise some interesting questions. For one, who's importing this bush meat, and why? Janet Raloff's commentary on the issue suggests that immigrants may "have retained their love of... bushmeat" and are responsible for having it imported. In addition, what can be done to reduce the amount of bush meat brought onto U.S. soil? Improved screening is one potential solution. Targeting the cultural source of the issue might also be possible, by emphasizing the dangers posed by consumption of bush meat.

Bush meat: not even once.

-Alan Le

Zoonotic Viruses Associated with Illegally Imported Wildlife Products, Smith KM

More commentary with links to further reading at 1 and 2

Preventable Outbreaks and the Lasting Effects of a Flawed Study

2012-01-15T14:52:00.000-08:00

As of October 14th of 2011, the Center for Disease Control was dealing with 214 measles cases, a 356% increase from the average 60-70 annual cases. What was most troubling about this statistic is that 86% of the 214 cases were attributed to individuals who were unvaccinated. This rise in cases also marks the largest outbreak of measles in the United States in the last 15 years.

This rise is often attributed to the falsely cited MMRV-autism correlation. Not to mention, the importation of diseases is also a key propagator of pandemics.

In Minnesota, 21 incidents of measles cases were reported with14 of these leading to hospitalizations. Patient zero in this case was a two year old toddler who traveled to Kenya and spread the disease in a child care center.

Utah experienced a similar scenario- in this case, an outbreak involving nine individuals occurred following an unvaccinated high school student's return from Europe. This outbreak was controlled by the Utah Department of Health at a hefty cost. It took $300,000 to cover infection control and examinations- approximately $33,000 for every individual that tested positive for measles. 12,000 individuals were contacted regarding possible exposure and 184 were quarantined. Of the 9 cases that tested positive, two thirds were unvaccinated claiming personal exemptions.

The United States is not the only nation experiencing rises in measles outbreaks- last year, Quebec, Canada experienced the largest outbreak in 22 years with a total of 757 cases as of the 5th of October. Europe experienced over 26,000 identified measles cases in 36 countries- also attributed to a decrease in the use and prevalence of the MMRV vaccine because of the Wakefield theory linking autism and the vaccination. These lasting effects from the flawed study should emphasize the importance of review panels and the ways in which findings are interpreted by the general public.

-Angela Ceseña

References:
http://parenting.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/10/25/an-unnecessary-measles-outbreak/
www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/measles.html, the U.S. National Library of Medicine has more information on measles.
http://yourlife.usatoday.com/health/story/2011-10-21/Unvaccinated-behind-largest-US-measles-outbreak-in-years/50852098/1
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/8932117/WHO-Europe-must-act-on-measles-outbreak.html

A year without Polio for India

2012-01-15T10:20:00.000-08:00

India's last case of polio was in January 12, 2011, which marks a year without a single case of polio. Wow, especially since India was considered the "epicenter" of polio and responsible for half the cases in the world! If the elimination was indeed successful, this leaves only THREE polio-endemic countries: Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Nigeria.

The effort has been impressive, including two government-run, five-day campaigns that vaccinated some 172 million children each. This took some $2 billion over the last decade or so, and much of it came from within India itself.

Fun fact: most vaccines now are bivalent, since type 2 has been eradicated =] Additionally, governments that have recently eliminated polio but continue to vaccinate are determining how to switch to IPV, which carries less risk. This is difficult in poor countries, which can't afford the manufacture or infrastructure to support routine injection of IPV.

It's excited to think we might see the eradication of polio soon, and maybe even the eradication of many important diseases within our lifetimes! Makes me want to join vaccine science.

Article 1 and 2.

-Annelise Mah

One more interesting thing: an article about how HIV doesn't cause AIDS. Several nonscientific claims by the author—can you rebut?

Girls overestimate protection of HPV Vaccine

2012-01-09T12:08:00.000-08:00

You know those parents who think that giving HPV shots to young girls encourages them to have (unsafe) sex? Maybe it's not something we can blow off as hysteria.

A study of 339 girls aged 13-21 done at the Cincinnati Children's Hospital (serving low-income populations) showed that while most girls understand the extend of the vaccine's protection, 23.6% of them believed that the HPV vaccine lowered their risk of getting other sexually transmitted diseases (though not necessarily that they are completely protected and will have unsafe sex, as we might claim and get ahead of ourselves). The cure for this is, of course, better education!

The paper and other experts report this as a low percentage, and indeed only ~4% thought they could get away with less safe sex practices after the shots. Still, 23.6% misinformation seems pretty high to me, even if it isn't "widespread." However, what's slightly more interesting are the other social factors examined in the paper. Risks for unsafe sex include belief that one is not at risk, alcohol use (since "good girls" are more concerned with safe sex?), misunderstanding or negative attitude towards healthcare by the mother, and getting information from a teacher rather than other sources.

The paper! or U.S. News Article

Also, did you know? HPV is the most common STI in the U.S., with more than half of adults getting exposed.

-Annelise Mah

Dengue and Antibody Dependent Enhancement

2012-01-09T11:56:00.000-08:00

As we discussed Dengue numerous times last quarter, we always tried to keep in mind the concept of "ADE", or Antibody Dependent Enhancement, which is usually demonstrated upon secondary or tertiary infection with the Dengue virus serotypes. I recently found a very detailed article, released by researches at Berkeley (Oh bears..), that explains how this process occurs and that provides very precise data regarding the potential combinations of serotypes that would lead to the most severe cases. This could have amazing implications for potential vaccine developments in the future!
This study found that children who have had antibodies against Dengue virus serotype 3 were at a much higher risk for severe infections if exposed to the subtype 2B of Dengue virus serotype 2. The researchers additionally found that the risk for fatal infections is greatest for children initially possessing antibodies to Dengue virus 1 who are infected with subtype 1 of Dengue virus 2.
In response to these results, the director of viral genomics at the Broad Institute, Matthew Henn, said that "both the subtype of virus you get infected with and whether your body has antibodies to another type of virus matter. If you get the wrong combination of the two, you are more likely to get severe disease."
One of the most significant obstacles in the development of a vaccine for Dengue has been the problem of ADE. If scientists are able to distinguish which combinations of Dengue virus serotypes and subtypes upon primary and secondary infections produce the severest cases, or are able to predict which specific virus types will proliferate in various human populations, a groundbreaking treatment strategy could become available to Dengue patients.

Here's the article if you'd like to read more on this study!

- Julie

Successful recombinant SIV vaccine may pave way for HIV equivalent

2012-01-07T23:50:00.000-08:00

A new SIV vaccine has been developed; it’s a recombinant vector vaccine using an adenovirus ‘prime’ to carry SIV genes, and interestingly, the booster is a recombinant Pox virus! After the regimen, infections in rhesus monkeys were reduced by 80% from the experimental group to the unvaccinated control. The researchers found high titres of glycoprotein Abs in vaccinated monkeys and believe these were important in preventing infection, although 12% of said monkeys still did not clear the virus. Humoral responses may also be effective against HIV infection, as noted in the RV114 (Thai) trial, where the 30% of patients who were successfully immunized ‘produced the highest levels of antibodies against HIV’s envelope protein” (GP120). Researchers hope that recombinant vaccines may also work for HIV, but given the species barrier, these SIV vaccines may still not be a good model for developing one for the human virus.

Fun facts about the experiment;
* The monkeys were challenged with SIV intrarectally
* Some Rhesus monkey MHC Class I alleles correlate with stronger control of SIV, thus they were screened out of the study
* There was an 18% genetic difference between the vaccine and challenge strains

- NGUyen

Nature News Article

Full Article

HIV Vaccine potential-sketchy or promising?

2011-12-11T21:48:00.001-08:00

Duke University is working on developing HIV vaccines. The idea behind the vaccine is that it owuld bind to hte GP-120 glycoportein on HIV's envelope.

The paper refers to a previous trial in which Thailand developed a vaccine that was "partially effective"

I think this article is interesting in that it mentions the specific receptor that vaccine is expected to bind to. But it doesn't elaborate on the mechanism of action after binding and how it work. Also, the "partially effective" vaccine form Thailand sounds kind of sketchy - I'm curious to learn how it was partially effective and how the researchers tested it.
Overall, this article proposes a good idea, hopefully there will be a HIV vaccine in the future.

-Michelle Jin
Source: http://www.wral.com/lifestyles/healthteam/story/10473572/

China to manufacture vaccines for global market

2011-12-05T02:25:00.000-08:00

After meeting WHO international standards for vaccine regulation in March, China is now poised to make a splash in the global vaccine scene. Groups like GAVI (which purchases enough vaccines to cover 50 million children annually) are particularly excited about this move, which will result in more favorable prices. China currently produces almost 1 billion doses of vaccines a year.

However, you can't discuss Chinese vaccines without being reminded of their current track record - 2007 saw 93 deaths due to Chinese cough syrup, for example. In 2008, hundreds of thousands of infants were poisoned by powdered milk tainted with melamine; shockingly, even more powdered milk was found to be contaminated in 2009. Suffice to say that scandals like these do not inspire confidence in the ability of Chinese manufacturers to produce safe products in massive quantities.

With that in mind, we can anticipate the need for a regulatory body to ensure that these vaccines continue to be produced to international standards. However, one Chinese health expert, Yanzhong Huang, says that such an agency wouldn't be enough - what China needs is "the market economy, democracy, media monitoring, civil society, as well as a well-developed business ethics code." In short, China needs to change the way it does business before people in the international market will feel comfortable using their vaccines. (This could lead to a whole separate discussion on Chinese society and economy, but that's really beyond the scope of our class, so I'll just change tack here.)

Chinese-produced vaccines will likely be tough to deliver to the American public, if current exemption rates from childhood vaccines are any indication. Relevant comment is relevant:

"If they started producing all vaccines in china and phased out the American made ones I would refuse every last chinese vaccine. If my kid has to go unvaccinated because i dont wanna risk her being killed by a tainted chinese pharmaceutical then so be it. I know if they allow the chinese to produce vaccines the population of unvaccinated children will spike and spiral out of control. This decision will singlehandedly lead to the return of polio and other diseases like smallpox."

Sounds like closed-mindedness with a dash fearmongering, right? Sure, but that doesn't change the possibility that some sub-par Chinese vaccine product will slip through the cracks, especially at the volume at which they'll be produced.

We're going to need some intense regulation of these vaccines, but the manufacturing capacity provided by China's facilities will be a boon to immunization and eradication efforts worldwide.

-Alan Le

P.S. Pardon the lateness! Looking forward to seeing everyone's models :]

Washington Times: China positions itself to become major player as vaccine provider

Monterey County Herald: China to enter vaccine market

Breakthrough discovery on mechanism of prion disease

2011-12-04T23:58:00.000-08:00

Researchers from the University of Alberta doing studies on prion disease have discovered a new property of prion diseases that changes the way we think about prion diseases. While studying BSE, the researchers found that prion particles as well as bystander proteins were being destroyed in the brains of infected individuals for up to 7 months before the animal started showing symptoms. This means that the brain "fights back" more than was previously thought. Additionally, the study shows that prion diseases can change depending on the brains reaction, and might not be irreversible. If we can learn from how the brain fights off the infection for those months before symptoms appear, we may be able to gain insight into possible treatments for prion diseases.

http://www.medindia.net/news/Concealed-Face-of-Prion-Disease-Revealed-by-Medical-Researchers-94319-1.htm

--Sarah Kaewert

HIV+ Philadelphia teen denied entry to school

2011-12-04T23:52:00.000-08:00

Someone's already written this up (whoops) but speaking of both "dual-use" science controversies and flu...I read about the controversy over the engineered H5N1 that's super infectious! It's interesting that they proposed the type of censorship that I was thinking about in the last problem set (i.e. publish generally, to get specifics you need clearance)—but just who would get access to the classified information? I tend to think of bioterrorists like I think of suicide bombers (using crappy kitchen tech), but the truth is that some legit scientists could definitely turn bioterrorist (i.e., the guy sending anthrax, a top researcher for the government who apparently was a co-creator of the vaccine). My brother recently told me about the plot line of a novel series/videogame called "Rainbow 6" in which the bioterrorists work for a biotech firm, and plan to throw virus into the fans at the Sydney Olympics in order to kill everyone off (except themselves, who are of course vaccinated) and thus save the ecological world from destruction. It's scary how "bioterrorists" could come from within our own institutions.

SO IN OTHER NEWS

A 13 year old boy was denied admission to a private boarding school in Philadelphia because "it was necessary to protect the health and safety of the 1,850 enrolled in the institution." The AIDS Law Project is, of course, suing the school for discrimination, interestingly enough under the "Americans with Disabilities Act." I guess there's not really a medical-condition-specific discrimination law? A 6-year-old in Jakarta, Indonesia was also thrown out of school because her father is HIV+; she may be able to get in if she proves she is not HIV+.

It's interesting that there's still so much prejudice over HIV, even in America. (I mean, what's the likelihood that this 13 year old would spread it to his classmates? How much unprotected sex/needle drug usage is there in that school?) Even more for a 6-year-old whose father has it. I thought ostracization happened in Africa, or decades ago in America. For shame.

Article

-Annelise

WHO Weighs in on European Measles Outbreak

2011-12-04T23:03:00.000-08:00

The WHO, through an issue of their publication the Weekly Epidemiological Record, has announced that 26,000 cases of measles have occurred throughout Europe from January 2011 to October 2011. This figure is a steep rise from any previous and indicates the possibility of a continued outbreak of the deadly disease. They have placed blame mainly on fallout from the autism-vaccine controversy created by Andrew Wakefield and failure by European governments to properly enforce vaccinations as over 90% of cases where in unvaccinated people or people of unknown status. European governments have already begun responding to the outbreak, with France launching a high-profile campaign to drive up vaccination rates in reaction to 6 deaths and 14,000 cases experienced there.
These cases present a rather large set-back for the established goal of eliminating measles in Europe by 2015 and for world-wide eradication. Indeed, the European outbreak has also been tied to international outbreaks as a result of infected travelers to foreign countries. This just goes to show that the existence of a highly effective vaccine and even strong political will does not guarantee effective control of a disease.

BBC:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-15999492
Telegraph:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/8932117/WHO-Europe-must-act-on-measles-outbreak.html

US Reflection on HIV/AIDS Awareness

2011-12-04T22:37:00.000-08:00

According to the Centers for Disease Control, only one quarter of Americans with an HIV infection have the infection under control. By "under control," they means that they have a suppressed viral load - less than 200 copies in the bloodstream per milliliter of blood. Contributing to this low percentage is the fact that an estimated 1 in 5 people with HIV don't realize they they are infected and of those that are aware, only 51% receive medical care and treatment. Modern day treatment, while not eliminating HIV, is very effective in controlling the virus - 77% of those on ongoing care and antiretrovirals have suppressed levels of the virus. [Although couldn't this be from the latent nature of the infection too?]

According to this article, not only are men who have sex with men are the population most severely affected by HIV in the US, they are less likely than other sex-groups to get tested and receive preventative testing. In response to this data, the CDC have launched a new national campaign to encourage black gay and bisexual men to get tested for HIV called Testing Makes Us Stronger. Research shows that black men do not engage in riskier sexual behavior than other LGBT communities, but that there is already a higher HIV presence in their population - so testing, behavior improvement (condoms, e.g.) and appropriate medical care are especially important in these communities. This is the latest campaign in the Act Against AIDS, the CDC's broad effort to fight HIV complacency nationwide.

read the full article here.

Emily Pollock

Hep C updates

2011-12-04T22:09:00.000-08:00

The Montefiore Medical Center in New York is now urging members of the baby boomer population to get tested for hepatitis C, as they are more likely to have shared unsanitary needles because of tattoos, drug use, piercings or blood transfusions. Hep C can be asymptomatic for years, and the worry is that many people from this generation might be carrying the virus without knowing it. With a blood test and treatment from two new drugs that were released last May, doctors are seeing almost double the cure rate of the disease as they have in the past. There is still no vaccine to prevent the infection and, if left untreated, hep C can lead to liver failure or cancer, which is why doctors are pushing for people to get tested.

In other Hep C news, this week Delhi became the first city in India to offer Hepatitis C screening. Additionally, the government is offering to provide financial help to poor citizens who need a liver transplant as a result of Hep C.

-Emily Mitchell

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/babyboomers-most-at-risk-for-hepatitis-c-virus-2011-12-02

http://zeenews.india.com/news/health/health-news/delhi-is-first-city-to-launch-hepatitis-c-screening_14801.html

Cold Sore Susceptibility Gene-1

2011-12-04T21:41:00.000-08:00

Cold sores are lesions around the mouth, lips, nose, and even chin and fingers caused by an infection of the herpes simplex type 1 virus. Over 70% of the population is infected with this virus with outbreaks varying from person to person. These outbreaks are a direct result of the virus remaining in the body and unpredictably causing an immune response (the sores). Although there is no treatment for the virus, there are medications that help treat the cold sores. This reality, however, may soon change.

A recent study published in the Journal of Infectious Diseases identified a 3-megabase region on human chromosome 21 that contains 6 candidate genes associated with cold sores through the use of single nucleotide polymorphism scans. A two-point linkage analysis resulted in a positive correlation between the frequency of cold sore outbreaks and 2 SNP's within the C21orf91 region. The researchers even proposed that C21orf91 be defined as the Cold Sore Susceptibility Gene-1.

C21orf91 in no way increases your chances of being infected with herpes simplex virus 1 in the first place, it is simply correlated with the frequency of cold sore outbreaks. Genetics, according to an infectious disease professor, Dr. Kriesel, are only responsible for 21% of the cold sore outbreaks- the remaining 79% is attributed to environmental factors, the viral strain, and a number of other variables.

Sources:
Kriesel, John D et al. C21orf91 Genotypes Correlate With Herpes Simplex Labialis (Cold Sore) Frequency: Description of a Cold Sore Susceptibility Gene. J Infect Dis. (2011) 204 (11): 1654-1662. http://jid.oxfordjournals.org/content/204/11/1654.full#cited-by

http://thechart.blogs.cnn.com/2011/12/01/gene-could-be-factor-in-frequent-cold-sores/?hpt=hp_bn10

-Angela Ceseña

Another Wakefield?

2011-12-04T19:04:00.000-08:00

Malcolm Brabant, a BBC reporter, was believed to have a psychotic episode after getting a yellow fever vaccine. It's reported that he had a fever of 40C after the injection followed by delusions of being Jesus. Eventually, he's forced to go off air to recover. No one in his family history had any mental illness.

I thought the beginning of the article was interesting - describing the reporteras "award-winning" and juxtaposing that with the yellow fever psychosis. This puts vaccines in a bad light and may prompt other people to reject vaccination. Although the article mentions that no causal relationship was drawn between the vaccine and his psychosis, the title and the majority of the paper implies this.

-Michelle Jin

Source: http://news.ninemsn.com.au/entertainment/8384732/bbcs-malcolm-brabant-blames-yellow-fever-jab-for-psychotic-episode

WHO Concerned Over a New Flu Virus Spreading From Pigs to Humans

2011-12-04T18:02:00.000-08:00

After criticism in Europe that the World Health Organization claimed 2009's swine flu to be a pandemic when in fact the outbreak was comparatively mild, the WHO is being cautious in raising alarm to a new flu virus that has been spreading from pigs to humans. It is an Influenza A virus of the H3N2 subtype, but sufficiently different from current viruses that the H3N2 component of the flu vaccine is not expected to help protect against this new strain.

10 outbreaks of the strain have been isolated in Maine, Indiana, Pennsylvania, and Iowa. In each case, the patient was a child under 10 (with one exception of a 58-year old). This might be because most 21-year-olds (and older) are likely to have had exposure to similar viruses in the past and therefore have a degree of immunity. In the first 7 infections, the virus passed from pigs to humans, but the last 3 cases (in Iowa) were clear cases of human-to-human transmission.

Immunity among the older population would likely prevent the virus from ever becoming a full-blown pandemic, but there is still a possibility the virus could spread child-to-child across countries. The CDC is currently conducting serological research to determine specific vulnerability to the virus; it has also asked the manufacturers who produce seed strains for vaccine companies to produce a vaccine candidate for this new H3N2 strain. WHO is also in the process of devising a name for the virus such that it wouldn't be a problem for any specific agricultural interests (as was the case with objections to the name "swine flu").

I think the proper steps are being taken in regard to the emergence of this new strain - both in developing a preemptive vaccine and in creating a epidemiological system of how to handle the spread of the virus in the chance of increased transmissibility. My personal opinion is that it's also better to be on the safe side and have the general population overly cautious of the virus, rather than to be too worried of garnering criticism and therefore not mounting enough of a response soon enough.

Article here: http://www.cbc.ca/news/health/story/2011/11/28/flu-new-virus.html

-Elena Higuchi

Green tea has superpowers against Hepatitis C?

2011-12-04T13:23:00.000-08:00

In a recent study published in the December issue of Hepatology, German scientists from the Hannover Medical School have determined that a certain flavonoid, which is a class of plant secondary metabolites, called EGCG (epigallocatechin-3-gallate), may have a significant role in preventing the Hepatitis C virus from entering liver cells. Their findings could have incredible impacts on the lives of liver transplant patients, who are always at high risk for HCV infection (which according to WHO, affects up to 170 million people worldwide and is the most common cause of chronic liver disease/hepatitis, cirrhosis, and hepatocellular carcinoma). Using EGCG for this particular case may therefore become an important antiviral strategy for the prevention of HCV reinfection following liver transplants.

According to these researchers, "[Their] study explored the potential effect these flavonoids have in preventing HCV reinfection following liver transplantation.” They not only found that this antioxidant EGCG inhibits HCV entry into the cells by inhibiting viral attachment to the cell (which is the initial step in the infection process), but also viewed that the application of this molecule during inoculation prevented the rapid "spread" of the Hepatitis C virus. They specifically announced that "pretreatment of cells with EGCG before HCV inoculation did not reduce the infection, however, application during inoculation inhibited the rapid spread of the HCV."

The actual mechanism of this process however is still in the "uncertain" stage. The authors have suggested that EGCG may actually be preventing the Hepatitis C virus' entry by acting on the host cell, as opposed to acting on the virus, as the green tea catechin was not found to alter the density of virus particles.

Nevertheless, this could have huge implications on future treatments of patients susceptible to chronic hepatitis, primary liver cancer or those who have just received liver transplants. Go green tea!!

- Julie Saffarian

Who Says Curing AIDs is Impossible?

2011-12-03T23:00:00.000-08:00

What is one lesson that Dr. Bob has taught us this year? If people say something is impossible, perhaps it just has not been done yet. A recent article in the New York Times expand on the idea that finding a cure for HIV (something that is usually thought to have insurmountable challenges) may not be as far away as we think.

In 2008 a patient dubbed the “Berlin Patient” was HIV positive when he was diagnosed and treated for leukemia. He was treated with bone marrow transplants which effectively replaced his immune system with the donor’s immune system. It just so happened that his donor was one of Northern Europe’s 1% that are resistant to HIV because they lack CCR5, the human receptor for HIV that allows them to enter immune cells. With his immune system effectively replaced with an HIV resistant immune system, the Berlin Patient has been able to survive 4 years supposedly virus free.

With this knowledge scientists are trying to develop a therapy similar to the Berlin Patient’s treatment for HIV. However, bone marrow transplants are expensive, risky, and require a donor with immunologically matching bone marrow. All this makes it a very tricky process.

Nevertheless, scientists have come up with a plan: “modify a patient’s own immune cells to make them resistant to infection by eliminating CCR5” (NYTimes). Now they have succeeded in doing just that in a patient.

The Trenton patient’s white blood cells were treated with gene therapy to produce zinc-finger nucleases that effectively disrupt CCR5 gene. The treated cells were returned to the patient and a month later he stopped taking his anti-virals.

At first, the level of HIV in his body increased sharply. However, then it fell back to undetectable amounts even before the 12-week period had ended. The patient’s immune cell counts also shot up.

What’s remarkable is that only a portion of his cells became genetically altered after the treatment and it still worked. It’s amazing that it worked at all because most of his CD4 cells had CCR5 gene expression.

Five other patients who received the same treatment did not have such successful outcomes but it is an interesting start to a possible new treatment for the disease. What is most interesting is that some scientists think that getting rid of as little as 10% of CD4 CCR5 gene expression (and therefore saving them from infection) could free up the immune system to control the virus. Patients who genetically have a percentage of their immune that are resistant to HIV (lack CCR5) would be even more likely to overcome disease by this treatment.

The article, New Hope of a Cure for H.I.V. can be found at http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/29/health/new-hope-of-a-cure-for-hiv.html?_r=1&ref=health

--Elena Jordan

Major Disappointment for AIDS Research

2011-11-28T13:33:00.000-08:00

A microbicide gel that had once been considered a major mechanism for preventing AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa was reported to not be effective on Friday, and its clinical trial was canceled. The microbicide gel is a vaginal gel that a woman can place in her vagina prior to sexual intercourse. This was not only microbiologically intelligent, but also culturally sensitive because many women are not in a position to refuse sex or demand a condom of their partner in certain areas of the world where HIV runs rampant.

In 2010, a clinical trial of this gel was reported to be very effective, with almost 54% of infections being prevented. This trial's participants were divided into three categories: a control group, a group containing a pill of Tenofovir (the active drug), and the microbicide gel (containing Tenofovir and a booster drug). In September, the pill group was canceled because it, too, was shown to be ineffective.

It was shown that so far in this trial, 6% of women had become infected with HIV. While it is safe, just not effective, it ethically cannot continue.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/26/health/research/anti-hiv-gel-trial-is-canceled-in-africa.html?_r=2&adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1322516072-OfxQmx/x/WFusJW33wuHvA

-Pooja

More Parents Opting Out of Vaccinations for Their Children

2011-11-28T05:02:00.000-08:00

School records are showing that more and more parents are choosing not to vaccinate their children. Depending on the state, parents can opt out of "mandatory" vaccinations by checking a box for medical, religious, or even philosophical reasons. Vaccination rates still remain high overall - as high as 90% for more "traditional" vaccines such as polio, measles, and Hepatitis B. Yet in 8 states, 1 in 20 kindergarteners aren't receiving their vaccines. This is counterproductive to many state officials' goals of reaching 100% vaccination.

The information shows that parents who choose to opt out of vaccinations are often geographically clustered together. Some rural counties in northeastern parts of Washington have exemption rates as high as 20 or even 50%.

I find this type of information extremely frustrating, especially after reading the following quote:
"We are being told this by every government official, teacher, doctor that we need vaccines to keep us safe from these diseases. I simply don't believe that to be true. I believe all the diseases in question were up to 90 percent in decline before mass vaccines ever were given. I don't think vaccines are what saved the world from disease. I think effective sewer systems, nutrition, and handwashing (are the reasons)"

Yay America.

-Elena Higuchi

Article: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/28/school-vaccines-more-stud_n_1115915.html

WNV and the public

2011-11-27T23:47:00.000-08:00

A study published in Health Affairs found that climate change could cost more than $14 billion. This study examined 6 case studies of events related to climate change (i.e. hospitalization, premature deaths, injuries, etc). Most of the estimated health costs are due to premature deaths ($740 in health care costs) The researchers claim that the $14 estimate is most likely an underestimation and the actual health cost could be much greater.

In order to prevent such monumental health costs, researchers suggest reducing carbon emission and invest more money in climate change research and prevention strategies. Examples of climate change related events that contribute to the health care cost include: heat waves, hurricanes, infectious disease (WOOHOO!), wildfires, and river flooding.

I think this article is interesting because although most people know that anthropogenic climate changes are "bad" it's hard to conceptualize how bad it is. By putting a price on the related health costs, it will help mobilize prevention measures.

On a personal note, I picked this article because over Thanksgiving dinner, I met someone from LA who has a son in elementary school. She told me that some parents were protesting for the schools to close in order to prevent their kids from WNV (arbo virus) because they though it's transmitted through direct contact or respiration. It was really interesting to get her perspective on this climate related disease and realize how the public needs to be informed more about the diseases so it could be prevented in the appropriate manner.

-Michelle Jin
Source: http://www.scpr.org/blogs/environment/2011/11/15/3814/health-costs-climate-change/

GAVI Alliance Board Agrees to Fund Joint HPV and Rubella Vaccine Intervention

2011-11-27T23:38:00.000-08:00

The GAVI alliance (former Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization) has recently agreed to fund the joint introductions of the HPV and rubella vaccine to nine of the 57 developing countries it serves. A total of two million women and girls will be protected from cervical cancer and a total of 588 million children will have received the rubella vaccination by 2015 if the organization’s goals are met.

Approximately 275,000 women die each year from cervical cancer- 90 percent of these women are in developing countries. If no program or change is implemented, statistics show that this number can rise to 430,000 by the year 2030. Change, however, is a viable option- the HPV vaccine has been shown to prevent 70% of cervical cancer cases.
The board’s decision will rely heavily on pharmaceutical company’s compliance and negotiations to try and secure a sustainable price for the vaccines. Earlier this year, in June, Merck announced a 67% reduction in HPV vaccine prices for the Gavi alliance, resulting in a tentative price of $5 per dose.

The Gavi board also mentioned a potential fund for distributions of a Japanese encephalitis vaccine once the World Health Organization prequalifies an effective vaccine and discussed the rollouts of pneumococcal and rotavirus vaccines to countries with high levels of unvaccinated children.

Original Source:
http://www.who.int/immunization/newsroom/GAVI_hpv_rubella_statement_nov11/en/index.html

http://www.gavialliance.org/support/nvs/human-papillomavirus-vaccine-support/

-Angela Ceseña

Chimeric Oncolytic Measles Virus

2011-11-27T23:16:00.000-08:00

One of the challenges facing the deployment of oncolytic viruses to fight tumors in humans is the immune response they generate. Naturally, we would think that viruses for which most of the target population has immunity to (e.g. those abrogated by the MMRV vaccine) are ineligible therapeutic candidates, but researchers are finding new ways to make host immunity a non-issue. For example, using Measles Virus (MV) to fight cancer would normally be inefficient because most people are vaccinated at an early age. Because strong immunosuppression during oncolytic therapy is a risky option, scientists have developed a method of 'shielding' the pathogen from the host.

Researchers from the Mayo Clinic replaced measles virus glycoproteins with modified CDV (canine distemper virus) glycoproteins that are able to attach to cancer cells via an attached antibody. The shielded MV was successful in eliminating tumors in murine models and was also successful in evading human antibodies. THis study was a proof of concept for chimeric viruses.

Nguyen
http://www.nature.com/mt/journal/v19/n10/full/mt201192a.html

GAVI to purchase and distribute HPV vaccine in developing countries

2011-11-27T21:30:00.000-08:00

As you may already know, 275,000 HPV-related cervical cancer deaths occur each year, with 88% of those deaths happening in developing countries. The Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI, consisting of groups such as the WHO, UNICEF, and vaccine manufacturers) has announced plans to work with manufacturers such as GlaxoSmithKline and Merck to acquire full courses of the vaccine at special rates.

The success of this program, of course, depends on a couple of crucial factors:

First, can GAVI actually find a partner to provide enough doses to meet their goal of vaccinating 2 million women and girls?

Second, GAVI wants to distribute the vaccines in 9 currently-unspecified countries. Social or political instability can hinder GAVI's efforts in affected regions, just like with poliovirus vaccination. Daniel Berman of Doctors Without Borders has expressed concern that GAVI's delivery of the vaccine may fall short. However, Dagfinn Hoybraten, a GAVI chairman, responded with claims of a 90% compliance rate in a Rwanda vaccine trial. Whether this can be applied on a larger scale, in additional countries, remains to be seen.

Source: Washington Post

-Alan Le

Controversial H5N1 Research Still Under Review

2011-11-27T18:19:00.000-08:00

Last September, Ron Fouchier, a Dutch virologist, announced at a conference in Malta that he had succeeded in creating a strain of H5N1 that could readily infect ferrets and transmit between them via airborne transmission. Due to the similar interactions between the immune systems of ferrets and humans with influenza viruses, this implies that this virus could do the same for humans and touch off a global pandemic were it to be released. Since this announcement, debate has raged over whether or not this research was safe or justifiable and over the fate of the unpublished data and modified virus strain. While Fouchier wishes for the data to be published and the results made completely open to the scientific community, his paper remains under review by the National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity and others have condemned his research, arguing that the resulting data should not be published because of the potential for misuse.

Fouchier has defended his work on the grounds that it proves the potential for H5N1 to infect humans in the same manner as seasonal flu and thus presents a possible risk for a global pandemic. Still, the debate over the nature of the experiment, the fate of the virus, and whether or not to publish the data closely mirrors the smallpox debate covered in class. In the end, both of these debates should, in principle, be resolved by judging the benefits versus risks of taking action, here the scientific potential of continuing and replicating this research versus the threat of misuse. These may prove to not be the only factors in play as seen by a recent Daily Mail article that describes the virus as having the potential to 'wipe out civilization'. While these are clearly inflammatory and speculative properties, this research frankly has all of the hallmarks of a bad cautionary story of “Science Gone Wrong” written all over it. The public's reaction has yet to be seen, and the potential for a serious backlash could affect the decision to publish.
-Zachary Herrera
NPR Article:
http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2011/11/17/142453447/bird-flu-research-rattles-bioterrorism-field
Daily Mail Article:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2063326/Scientists-mutate-bird-flu-make-MORE-contagious--critics-claim-bioweapon-kept-secret.html?ito=feeds-newsxml

RNAi makes a comeback

2011-11-27T16:29:00.000-08:00

Back in 2006, when the Nobel prize was awarded for the discovery of RNA interference, many companies hoped that the future of pharmaceuticals might lie in the ability to silence certain genes using RNAi. This process works fairly well in the lab, but it proved so difficult to make it work in an actual human that many companies gave up on the concept.

However, Alnylam Pharmaceuticals has come out with an RNAi drug that has been shown to be effective in humans. This is the first time RNAi has ever been shown to work outside of the lab. While the drug is still in its earliest stage of testing, the drug made a statistically significant difference on patients who took high doses of it. The disease used in testing is TTR-mediated amyloidosis, which basically causes a buildup of proteins that causes nerve damage. The drug aimed to silence the TTR gene, and was delivered into the body in lipid packets, which were carried to the liver, where TTR genes are expressed.

Even if this particular drug doesn't prove to be completely effective, this breakthrough is exciting because it shows that RNAi drugs probably can work in humans.

http://prescriptions.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/11/21/a-step-forward-for-rna-interference/?scp=7&sq=virus&st=cse

--Sarah Kaewert

Annual childhood flu vaccines may not be as effective as we think...

2011-11-26T23:14:00.000-08:00

According to a study done at the Erasmus Medical Center in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, vaccinating children annually against the influenza virus may interfere with their development of cross-reactive killer T cells to flu viruses. In this study, blood samples were collected from children with cystic fibrosis, who were vaccinated every year against the flu due to their weaker immune system, and also from healthy children who were NOT vaccinated. The analysis of the results showed that while both samples contained the virus-specific killer T cells, the samples from the constantly-vaccinated children with cystic fibrosis indicated less of a natural "increase" in their number annually. In other words, the healthy unvaccinated children demonstrated a natural increase of the virus-specific killer T cells every year, with age, while those who were vaccinated annually did not.
Researchers concluded that vaccination could thus potentially interfere with the induction of these killer T cells..

Then should the annual vaccination of children with cystic fibrosis, or defective immune systems in general, be stopped?

- Julie Saffarian

HIV1 Group N Spreading Outside of Cameroon's Borders

2011-11-26T19:58:00.000-08:00

The rare strain HIV-1 group N seems to have spread outside of Cameroon. This is according to an article released in this month’s Lancet. Previously, cases had been isolated to within Cameroon but this week a man in France with HIV like symptoms tested positive for the this rare infection which for his case has been linked to sexual relations with a partner in Togo.

An HIV Ag/Ab ELISA was used to determine the infection but it was only weakly positive. An HIV-1 western blot also showed weak reactivity. Serotyping samples, showed clear reactivity against group-N-specific antigens. This prompted full-length sequencing through which scientists were able to determine that the infection was with HIV-1 group N.

The first case of HIV-1 group N was reported in a Cameroonian woman in 1998. Since then over 12,000 HIV-1 patients have been screened but there have been only 12 cases of N group reported. Until now these cases were all reported within Cameroon. With a French patient turning up positive and his case linked to sexual relations in Togo, it seems that the disease has spread outside of Cameroon’s borders.

HIV-1 group N is more closely related to SIV isolated from wild chimps than HIV-1 groups M (major), O (outlier) or P. Symptoms in the 57-year-old man living in France included fever, rash, lymphadenopathy, and genital ulceration. These were reported 8 days after returning from Togo.

--Elena Jordan

Lancet Article at: http://download.thelancet.com/pdfs/journals/lancet/PIIS0140673611614578.pdf?id=e16241398b8eb460:-e9becc5:133e24e18dd:-45471322353801455

Tenofovir microbicide trial in Africa cancelled

2011-11-26T18:22:00.000-08:00

A microbicidal gel containing the antiviral drug tenofovir, that had shown lots of promise in stopping AIDS transmission in earlier trials, was cancelled on Friday because it wasn't working. The other parts of the trial, which were testing tenofovir in pill form, have also been cancelled due to lack of results.

This is a big disappointment in the fight against AIDS, because many researchers had such high hopes for this drug. Over 5,000 women were enrolled in the trial, which started in 2009, and since some data is still being collected, researchers aren't yet able to examine the data for answers as to why the gel failed to be effective in preventing the HIV transmission. Data will continue to be collected until 2012, so no definitive answers can be found until then, but researchers think the failure to be effective might lie in that too few women used the gel on a regular basis, it caused inflammation that allowed the virus to enter the body more easily, or that the dosing schedule was incorrect.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/26/health/research/anti-hiv-gel-trial-is-canceled-in-africa.html?_r=1&ref=health

--Sarah Kaewert

New swine flu virus discovered...

2011-11-26T17:41:00.000-08:00

...but apparently it's nothing to worry about. The CDC has confirmed 10 cases this year of a new strain of influenza A, S-OtrH3N2 (doesn't quite have the same catchiness as "H1N1"), that originated in pigs. However, unlike the H1N1 scare of a few years ago, this new strain doesn't show signs of being dangerous. For one thing, it's treatable with antiviral medication. Also, the cases have been spread across the country (Pennsylvania, Indiana, Iowa, Maine), which means the disease hasn't expressed itself in outbreaks or clusters.

Even though this new strain of flu isn't as dangerous as many of the other viruses discussed on this blog, flu viruses are interesting (among many other reasons) because they mutate often and so are changing all the time. The article mentions that even though it might seem like there are more strains of flu popping up than ever before, the increase in numbers is probably due more to technological advances in diagnostic techniques than an actual rise in the numbers of flu strains. Additionally, the article lists two examples of novel flu strains that weren't so harmless as this new H3N2 virus: the H1N1 outbreak of a few years ago, and the devastating 1918 epidemic. It's interesting to think that each year's new flu mutation may turn out to be relatively benign or quite dangerous.

http://yourlife.usatoday.com/health/story/2011-11-24/CDC-confirms-cases-of-new-swine-flu-virus/51384636/1

--Sarah Kaewert

Biosecurity Super-Lab

2011-11-23T17:09:00.000-08:00

A lab in Geelong, Australia that opens in March holds some of the highest tech available, in order to allow scientists to study live SARS, Hendra, Nipah, and Ebola viruses. It boasts an array of powerful live-cell imaging microscopes to allow researchers to watch virus-host interactions in real time, space-suit like sterile suits, and Dr. Linfa Wang's collection of emerging bat viruses (the largest in the world).

I found the security measures fascinating. Everything that goes in is incinerated, even the jewelry you didn't take off. Nothing comes back out unless it's been thoroughly sterilized, and anyone who visits is subjected to a 3-minute shower and wash. Afterwards, you're instructed to avoid common viral reservoirs, like birds, pigs, and cows.

I'd love to visit and experience the ultra high-techness of the place. (I bet I'd just prance around in the silly suits for a while.) Working there with these awe-inspiring live viruses on a daily basis would be a dream! And also the start to many a zombie movie...

Article.

-Annelise

neutralizing antibody against Sudan virus

2011-11-22T21:36:00.001-08:00

Researchers have isolated a neutralizing antibody against Sudan virus, a species of ebolavirus and virulent pathogen. This antibody was identified by injecting lab mice with geneticall engineered viruses to make more copies of virus coat within the infected mouse. Researchers then isolated the mice's antibodies by harvesting B cells and culturing them in lab. Researchers then tested each antibody extracted from the mice B cells and found that antibody 16F6, neutralized Sudan virus in the petri dish and delayed mice death.

The antibody-antigen protein binding strategy is similar to another ebolavirus species Ebola-Zaire and has great potential to serve as vaccine and therapy against ebolavirus infections.

An experimental vaccine with protein coats from Ebola and Sudan viruses was given to monkeys and results showed that it induced immunity against the viruses. However, specific mechanisms by which the vaccine work is currently elusive. Because this is the first time that anyone has isolated neutralizinga ntibody against Sudan virus, much has to be done in order to test its effectiveness and safety as vaccine.

I think the way that the research is carried out is very interesting because what if the researchers never find a neutralizing antibody? It seems like a broad shot-gun approach. But it would be very nice to be able to make a vaccine against the Sudan virus.

Michelle Jin

Source: http://www.laboratoryequipment.com/news-Antibody-Neutralizes-Ebolavirus-112211.aspx?xmlmenuid=51

Promising news for potential Ebolavirus vaccine

2011-11-20T23:59:00.001-08:00

Just today, Scientists from the Scripps Research Institute and the US Army's Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases have reported their findings regarding an antibody that is able to neutralize Sudan virus, one of the major species of Ebolaviruses (which is part of Filoviridae), through its particular way of attaching to the virus. It has been seen that the antibody tends to "link" two segments of the viral coat protein, thus blocking the freedom of movement or in other words, paralyzing the virus, and enabling it from infecting a cell. This protein-linking mechanism was also found to be the strategy of another neutralizing antibody, which is effective against the Ebola-Zaire virus, which is more commonly known.
These two viruses, the Sudan and Ebola-Zaire virus, were first discovered as they caused significant outbreaks in Sudan and Zaire (today's Democratic Republic of Congo), in 1976. They resulted in serious cases of hemorrhagic fevers, killing about 90% of those that had been infected. Up to this day, there has been no vaccines against these viruses, although one was developed from Ebola and Sudan viral proteins to provide protection against these viruses in monkeys. However, it is unclear whether these vaccines would work in humans.
Thus, these new findings could open the door to a potential vaccine or antibody-based therapies to protect against these dangerous Ebolaviruses.

Have a great break everyone!

- Julie Saffarian

HSV and DNA Mismatch Repair Proteins

2011-11-20T21:14:00.000-08:00

DNA Mismatch Repair Proteins are a highly conserved group of proteins from prokaryotes to higher eukaryotes and perform a number of important functions to maintain the integrity of the genome within an organism. Mutations in these genes can cause several forms of early-onset cancer. They also play an undefined role in signaling cell cycle checkpoints as well as apoptosis. Kareem Mohni and other scientists studied these cells in Herpes Simplex Virus-cell interactions to shed some light on the methods of HSV DNA replication. Specifically, they looked at MSH1 and MSH2, which usually function together in an MSH2-dependent manner.

This paper shows a novel pathway in that , in HSV replication, MSH1 does not act in an MSH2-dependent manner. Depletion of MSH1 exerted a very strong effect viral infection - specifically on immediate-early viral gene expression. MSh1 also localizes to ND10 nuclear bodies, which in turn are recuited viral replication compartments following infection. MSH2 however, is not localized to the ND10 bodies and had a later effect on gene replication.

Check out the article here.

-Emily Pollock

Happy Thanksgiving Break!

Salivary Gland Cancer Tied to latent CMV

2011-11-16T12:40:00.001-08:00

Scientists at USC claimed to have rigorously confirmed that Human Cytomegalovirus (hCMV) is an oncovirus that can be directly linked to mucuoepidermoid carcinoma, or cancers of the salivary gland. Their findings were published online over the weekend in the journal Experimental and Molecular Pathology, with publication pending but likely soon. In the paper, they claim that hCMV satisfies all of Koch's postulates, as modified for viruses and cancers by their own standards. This translates to 4 major observations:

1. Proteins indicative of the presence of hCMV are seen in cancerous cells.
2. These proteins are not seen in healthy cells.
3. The levels of proteins expressed by hCMV correlate with the severity of the cancer.
4. The presence of hCMV causes the upregulation of a known oncogenic pathway.

If these claims hold up under outside scrutiny and independent confirmation, these findings mean that another member can definitively be added to the roster of oncoviruses: CMV. This would represent an interesting addition considering that CMV is so common and has been thought to typically present little danger to healthy people outside of the common risk-groups(immuno-compromised, organ transplant patients, or newborn infants). If it indeed causes cancer at a non-trivial rate, this may also indicate the birth of a larger field of anti-CMV treatments looking at decreasing the global rate of CMV infections in order to control cancer, much like the modern anti-HPV campaign.

Sources:
Press Release
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2011-11/uosc-rcn111411.php
Journal Article(Publication Pending):
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0014480011001869
-Zachary Herrera

Oh Norovirus...

2011-11-16T12:09:00.000-08:00

Human norovirus, which belongs to the Caliciviridae family, is the most common cause of acute gastroenteritis, and affects about 1 in 15 Americans each year. According to the CDC, it leads to about 70,000 hospitalizations, and more than 500 deaths annually, and the disease it causes tends to be one of the more unpleasant of those that leave healthy people unscathed in the long run, with diarrhea and vomiting that typically last for 48 hours.
Researchers from Emory University have recently answered a crucial question regarding these dangerous viruses: If well water becomes contaminated with noroviruses, for instance, from leaking sewer lines, then how long would these noroviruses survive in that body of water, and when would it be safe to drink from that well? The answer is least 61 days, and probably far more.

The test they performed consisted of a safety-tested virus stock solution. They placed a known amount of this solution into a container of groundwater and tested the virus's infectivity at various days, starting from 0 and ranging to about 61 days. The volunteers for this study drank from the water and became infected, exhibiting a range of unpleasant symptoms. Unfortunately due to funding issues, the researchers could not conduct the experiment past 61 days, but found that volunteers who had drank the water 61 days after contamination with notovirus still became severely infected. Now you may think that volunteering for such an experiment is quite an odd idea: who would want to experience extreme diarrhea? And possibly even risk being hospitalized? The researchers of this study were actually themselves surprised to see that most volunteers had a desire to test their immunity, and see whether they were actually capable of getting sick..

The important conclusion from the study was that Norovirus may in fact remain infective far longer than 61 days, a significant evidence for the need to treat groundwater used for drinking. The researchers stored the groundwater at room temperature in the dark, and used reverse transcription PCR to calculate how much viral RNA remained after exactly 622 days, and again after 1,266 days. They found no reduction in the amount of viral RNA after the first interval, but saw very little at the end of the second interval.

To read more, here's a good link!

- Julie Saffarian

Flu-V: immunity in 1 shot

2011-11-15T12:00:00.000-08:00

A company called SEEK is pioneering a "universal flu vaccine" that would only need to be injected once and would provide T-cell immunity to all influenza strains for many years. As you probably know, current flu vaccines are annual because the influenza surface epitopes mutate too quickly for last year's vaccine to be very effective. Scientists find the current viruses circulating, predict what the major flu strains will be in any given year, and combine a few of them into a shot/spray to administer during flu season.

SEEK used computer models to compare known influenza epitopes and find ones that are conserved throughout the years. They specifically looked at ones that T-cells recognize, i.e. that have been processed internally in infected cells and presented through HLA molecules. These conserved epitopes are then mass-synthesized (rather than grown in eggs as normal flu vaccine). The trial is currently in Phase II, and shows promising results in being able to lower viral levels. It's also probably a lot cheaper and able to be mass produced.

SEEK's website...video is fairly interesting

Virophiles, which genes are likely used for this vaccine and how does induction of T cell immunity help reduce viral titers?
Since the vaccine relies on processed antigens found in the interior of cells, SEEK's conserved epitopes probably rely on chunks of viral polymerase, IFN-suppressing enzymes, or perhaps even capsid proteins (which aren't generally available on the surface of Orthomyxo). These genes are unlikely to change in sequence much over the years.
The vaccine, unlike many conventional ones, does not rely on recognition of surface epitopes and won't generate a humoral (antibody) response. Instead, it produces cytotoxic T cells which recognize and kill virus-infected cells. Memory cells of this population could recognize a subsequent infection and kill infected cells, stopping the virus from replicating. Although this response itself is not complete without the neutralizing effects of antibody-mediated immunity, activation of these cells probably hinders the initial growth of the viral population to significantly dampen the progression of the flu. It is also possible that the vaccine's ability to activate helper T cells plays a role, as these cells can strengthen the overall immune response and help activate B cells.

-Annelise

Smallpox and Liver Cancer

2011-11-15T00:33:00.000-08:00

While the smallpox vaccine worked wonders by eradicating a deadly disease, it may have uses in future medicine. A recent study has emerged in which patients with liver cancer received live attenuated Vaccinia virus [smallpox vaccine].

Vaccinia has been found to preferentially infect cancer cells because their production of antiviral interferon has been turned off signals that attract Vaccinia have been turned on.

More research has to be done to determine the causality of the Vaccinia virus on patient health outcomes but from this preliminary study, patients who received vaccine survived for longer than patients who did not.

More can be read at: http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn21158-smallpox-vaccine-doubles-liver-cancer-survival-time.html
--Elena Jordan

Yellow Fever in Ghana

2011-11-14T13:37:00.000-08:00

The Upper West Region of Ghana has recorded 3 cases of Yellow Fever this year 2011. While the three infections are in the same region of Ghana, they are located in separate municipalities. Ghana has not seen any cases of Yellow Fever in the past 6 years, so this is particularly troublesome. The medical director of a major hospital in Jirapa, Ghana, Dr. Richard Wodah, has announced a mass vaccination campaign that will begin by focusing on children above a year old. He also called upon people to sleep under mosquito nets and keep children aware.

Ghana is an area where Yellow Fever is endemic, so sporadic cases arise here and there. The potential of this to go into a larger outbreak should not go unnoticed, especially when taking in travel and tourism into account. The vaccine campaign stated above must begin quickly or the disease will be difficult to keep track of.

http://www.ghananewsagency.org/details/Health/UWR-records-three-yellow-fever-cases/?ci=1&ai=35535

-Pooja

United States will spend $433 million on experimental smallpox drug?

2011-11-14T12:53:00.000-08:00

Currently, smallpox is one of 12 pathogens that the U.S. has classified as being a possible material biothreat to the country. Because of this, the government is in talks with Siga Technologies Inc. to buy $433 million worth of a smallpox drug to add to the country's biodefense arsenal. This would buy 1.7 million doses, which comes to about $255 per dose. The drug in question is called ST-246, and it's an antiviral pill that is designed to be taken if a person has missed the window for inoculation after being exposed to smallpox. However, is hasn't been tested on humans, for obvious ethical reasons, and the jury is out as to whether animal testing would prove anything where human effectiveness is concerned.

The United States currently has $1 billion worth of smallpox vaccine, which is enough to vaccinate the whole country. However, it has to be given within four days of exposure to reliably save lives. In contrast with ST-246, this vaccine costs only $3 per dose.

This deal is surrounded by political controversy, as some consider that the deal is more of a political alliance than a national security plan. Additionally, some scientists think that it's an enormous waste of money to buy this much of an untested vaccine in defense of a threat which may never appear.

http://www.latimes.com/news/la-me-smallpox-20111112-m,0,6088814.story

Competition between HPV strains?

2011-11-14T12:08:00.001-08:00

The two vaccines used for HPV protect against 4 strains of the virus which are most known to cause cancer. There are more than 40 other types of the virus, however, and scientists are beginning to worry that these types will become stronger as the vaccine fights off the four others.

Researchers are just beginning to look into this possibility to see if it has any implications for new HPV infections. A preliminary study published just this month looked at over 2,000 men in Kenya who have HPV to see how many types of the virus most people were infected with. The study showed that being infected with one type of the virus is not related to being infected with any other type. This shows that there is not a concerning amount of competition between the types of viruses.

The next, and more important, step is to see whether there is a difference between the number of types of HPV in a person before they are vaccinated and after they are vaccinated. This will show whether targeting the four types that we now target could put people at risk of infection from the other types of HPV.

-Emily Mitchell

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/15/health/research/dozens-of-hpv-types-are-not-yet-competing.html?_r=1&ref=health

Testing new smallpox vaccines

2011-11-14T11:22:00.001-08:00

Since cases of clinical smallpox no longer exist, efficacy testing of new vaccines in humans is not really possible. The old method of human testing, which involved vaccination and revaccination + an assessment of the patient's reaction (or lack of) to secondary challenge (usually a skin lesion), encountered the problem of patients developing heart problems (also, it was quantitative).

Thus smallpox vaccine development had to use the FDA's "animal rule," which allowed for animal models (two or more) to be surrogates for human testing, assuming the effectiveness, dosage, and responses to the vaccine can be extrapolated from the animal trials. But even here, vaccine development encounters another problem: there isn't a suitable animal model that would model human smallpox infection. So, researchers have been looking at the immunity given by their vaccines toward variola-like mice and monkey strains. Protection new vaccines such as MVA (uses attenuated vaccinia) confers onto humans might never truly be known until smallpox reemerges.

NGUyen

JAMA.
2004;291(15):1825. doi: 10.1001/jama.291.15.1825
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/730177_8

Smallpox Antiviral Pill?

2011-11-14T10:40:00.000-08:00

Did you know that America has $1 billion worth of smallpox vaccine stored away?

The Obama administration has pushed through a contract for an additional $433 million of ST-246, an antiviral pill manufactured by Siga Technology. Each dose is over $200. This pill hasn't been tested thoroughly, but promises to combat smallpox when it's already been contracted, after the vaccine would be useful.

Issues are being raised as to whether or not we need more defense against bioterrorist threats, the safety and usefulness of Siga's pill (which is not yet FDA approved since it can't ethically be tested in humans), its short shelf life (3 years), and the manner in which Siga acquired the contract (apparently, they was little competition for the contract). The only known smallpox in existence is held by the U.S. and Russia.

LA Times Article

I didn't know we even had smallpox vaccine owned by the government, although it makes a lot of sense. At the same time, I'm not sure that stockpiling these drugs would be all that epidemiologically useful. Since smallpox is most contagious when symptoms are obvious and the patient is bed-ridden, dedicated wards where these patients and their contacts could be isolated/quarantined and cared for by vaccinated health workers might actually be more effective than mass-vaccinating everyone, especially given that the vaccine can be dangerous in immunocompromised people. But, in our extremely mobile world, it may be hard to stop the spread of a reemergent smallpox, and the populace may clamor for a drug. I also think it would be awesome to develop an antiviral that could combat smallpox, if ST-246 does what it promises, because so far the only treatment is vaccination.

-Annelise

smallpox vaccine might be helpful in cancer treatment

2011-11-14T02:09:00.000-08:00

A genetically engineered smallpox vaccine, named JX-594, was shown to reduce risk of death by 60% among patients with liver cancer, according to a phase 2 clinical trial. JX-594 is a derivitive of vaccinia virus, the common virus used to vaccinate children against smallpox. This study was conducted by researches from UCSD and Jennerex Inc, a biotech company. Thirty patients were enrolled in this study and monitored for mortality. 66% of the participants given high dose of JX-594 were alive after one year, versus 23% among participants who received low-dose vaccine.
The vaccine was relatively safe, with no known side effects other than acute flu-like symptoms. The possibility of using vaccines as anti-cancer therapy yields great potential in future therapeutic measures against cancers.
I think this article is interesting because not only does the vaccine protect against smallpox like the conventional vaccinia virus, it also could protect against cancers. If subsequent phases of clinical trial were to be successful, the same concept could be applied to anti-cancer treatments.

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/11/05/us-cancer-virus-idUSTRE7A41CC20111105
-Michelle Jin

Polio Outbreak: Denied by UN in Madagascar, Confirmed by WHO in China

2011-11-14T01:56:00.000-08:00

"No matter how long a country has been polio-free, as long as global polio eradication has not yet been achieved, the risk for importation remains and constant vigilance is required," states Helen Yu of the World Health Organization in Beijing.

China experienced a polio outbreak during the last week of October of this year with ten confirmed cases, six occurring in children under three years of age. According to the World Health Organization, this infectious strain of WPV1 is genetically similar to the strain that was circulating in Paksitan. The last case of polio infection in China was over a decade ago, in 1999, when a strain of polio was imported from India. This reaffirms the notion that disease eradication is only possible when the eradication refers to an international level- otherwise, the risk of disease importation remains a viable possibility.

A few countries away, during the same time frame, Madagascar faced a polio outbreak- this outbreak, however, was caused by a wild type. Days after the initial report was released, Unicef made a clarification stating that the infection was in fact vaccine-induced. There were three reported cases of vaccine-derived poliovirus that were partially attributed to low immunity on behalf of the population in the island of Madagascar. This low immunity, is in part due to a combination of the recent fuel shortages that don’t allow for proper storage and refrigeration of the vaccine and a reduction of 250 clinics which have led to a drop in vaccination rates to less to 40% in the southern part of the country. During a nine year period (2000-2009), Madagascar experienced 14 vaccine-derived polio cases leading to 400 confirmed polio cases. Not to mention, 14,000 children who have not been immunized as a result of the financial situation and lack of resources, were paralyzed by the virus.

Resources:
"Outbreak Notice: Polio" http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/notices/outbreak-notice/polio-china.htm

"Madagascar: UN denies polio outbreak" http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-15454479

-Angela Ceseña

How Measles Spreads So Quickly

2011-11-13T23:51:00.000-08:00

Measles is one of the most contagious viruses in the world- more than 10 million children are affected each year and roughly 120,000 of the infected die. While a vaccination is available, measles still remains a significant health problem both in the US and globally.
Originally published in Nature online, a report from researchers at the Mayo Clinic sheds some light on just how measles spreads so quickly. Upon exposure, the virus hijacks those cells patrolling the lungs to infect the host, and travels to other immune cells throughout the body. The infected cells deliver their cargo to cells that specifically express the receptor protein nectin-4 - which are located in the trachea. The reproduction of virus in the trachea (and possibly subsequent immune response) provokes a cough, which the newly reproduced are in the perfect position to be carried through, ready to infect the next host.
What is particularly interesting about this finding, aside from the particulars of transmission, is that the receptor protein nectin-4 has been linked by other studies as a biomarker of ovarian, breast, and lunch cancer. Following the ideologial trend that modified viruses may be less toxic than other cancer-treatment alternatives, this finding could prove fruitful to the development of anti-cancer viruses for cancers that express the nectin-4 protein.

read the article here.

-Emily Pollock

Engineered Smallpox Virus Could Act as a Vaccine for Breast and Ovarian Cancer

2011-11-13T16:35:00.000-08:00

As it stands, tumor-associated antigens (TAAs) often elicit either a very weak immune response, or no immune response. We've studied in class how smallpox viruses have a remarkably large virion and large chain of genomic material. Its genome allows for the insertion of several genes, including ones that can code for TAAs as well as for proteins that help stimulate T-cell response. After vaccination, the modified smallpox virus can produce both the tumor-associated antigens as well as co-stimulatory T-cell proteins, so that T-cells can better learn to recognize TAAs and respond against preexisting TAAs (from real cancer cells) in the body.

This wouldn't be a typical vaccine in the sense that it would prevent disease; rather, it would help treat preexisting cancer and help the immune system mount a more effective response against cancerous cells. A pilot study testing the vaccine in humans has showed promising results, and the vaccine is currently being further researched. Although it may not be an end-all cure for cancer as of yet, I think it could be a major step in that direction - no matter what, it certainly acts as an effective mediator of cancer, which is encouraging for everyone.

Published study here
Article here

- Elena Higuchi

Chickenpox lollipops for kids?

2011-11-08T23:59:00.001-08:00

You've probably heard of chickenpox parties, in which parents bring their kids to get infected at a young age and thus gain immunity. Now, it appears that some parents have been selling lollipops coated with their infected children's saliva, shipping them out to customers around the country for $50 a pop (no pun intended). Bit of a ripoff though, since varicella is infectious through the respiratory route, not oral.

Let's not forget the fact that it's illegal to ship diseased or viral substances across state lines like this, and that there's a serviceable vaccine out there. Many parents out there want the "best" for their kids; in this case, they opt for a full-blown infection rather than the vaccine. Not that their concerns are without merit; in the U.S., the duration of protection by the vaccine is only about 10 years, though this does depend on exposure to wild varicella during the protected state.

Bonus fact: I caught chickenpox in middle school despite being vaccinated. Fun times, fun times.

-Alan "sorry for the sleepily-written blog post" Le

Sources:
http://blogs.webmd.com/breaking-news/2011/11/chickenpox-lollipops-chickenpox-parties.html
http://www.thirdage.com/news/chickenpox-lollipops-unsafe-doctors-warn_11-08-2011

Gut Bacteria Helping Out Viruses?

2011-11-08T21:39:00.000-08:00

Since the 1950's scientists have thought of the body's bacteria as helpers in fighting off infection by out-crowding potential pathogens. But recent research with the mouse mammary tumor virus (MMTV) and a poliovirus show that some viruses rely on an interaction with the bacteria of the gut to produce an infection. In the case of MMTV, Tatyana Golovkina and colleagues at the University of Chicago in Illinois have shown that the virus covers itself with bacteria molecules present in the host's gut, and those molecules interact with TLR4 to establish an infection.
Julie Pfieffer at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas reports similar findings in mice infected with poliovirus. Poliovirus expression in humans requires the presence of a human poliovirus receptor (PVR) and those PVR-transgenic mic susceptible to poliovirus infection by forced immunodeficiency where then tested. Some were untreated, and others were given an antibiotic treatments to decreased the intestinal bacteria by a millionfold. The mortality of the untreated mice (with bacteria) was twice that of the antibiotic-treated mice.

These findings are interesting because they chance the way we can think about the infectivity of certain viruses that replicate in the gut - possible applications for prophylactic treatments?

Julie Pfieffer's research with poliovirus
Article in Science Magazine

Emily Pollock

Why polio is sticking around

2011-11-07T13:26:00.000-08:00

Despite many years of eradication efforts, the world is still not free of polio. So far in 2011 there have been fewer than 500 cases worldwide, but getting rid of those last (comparatively) few cases has been eluding health officials for years. The four main polio holdouts, where the disease is endemic, are Pakistan, Afghanistan, Nigeria and India. Overcrowding, conflict, natural disasters and political will are cited as roadblocks on the path to complete eradication.

While there have been fewer cases this year than last, polio has also reemerged in countries where it had been thought to be eradicated, like China and Kenya. One critic of polio eradication said in the article that spending so many billions on eradication efforts is a waste of money, and we should instead be putting that money toward something that affects more people, like malaria or malnutrition.

http://www.thestar.com/news/world/article/1081457--why-polio-persists

--Sarah Kaewert

Current Outbreak of Polio in China

2011-11-07T12:54:00.000-08:00

The World Health Organization has reported that 18 new cases of Polio have occurred in Xinjiang Province, China. Half of the cases are extremely young children, and the other half are in young adults. This is particularly worrisome because with polio, up to 90% of infected cases will not exhibit symptoms for quite some time. While only 1% will be affected with paralysis, because the disease is transmitted via the fecal-oral route, it is very hard to track epidimiologically.

Travel advisories have been issued for people traveling to this area. Polio vaccinations prior to arriving are highly recommended. Additionally, Guam has been warned because it is popular destination after traveling through Xinjiang. The doctors there are on alert for any possible cases.

http://www.guampdn.com/article/20111104/NEWS01/111104011

-Pooja