Skip to: Content
Skip to: Site Navigation
Skip to: Search
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2009
| Subscribe to Newser's RSS feeds RSS | Follow Newser on Twitter Twitter

NEWS ABOUT: virus

virus stories: 57 news summaries

1 - 20 of 57 Stories | 1 2 3 Next >>

Switch to grid view »



 'Singer Worm' Hits iPhones 

Wallpaper switched in first virus to hit popular phones

Nov 10, 09 1:45 AM CST
(Newser) - The first virus to hit iPhones is substituting users' wallpaper with a portrait of 80's pop star Rick Astley and the warning: "Ikee is never going to give you up." The virus isn't harming anything else, but observers say it's a warning that hackers have learned how to... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Australia • iPhone • virus • hackers • rickrolling • Rick Astley • wallpaper

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Linked to Virus

Obscure virus found in two-thirds of sufferers

Oct 9, 09 6:45 AM CDT
(Newser) - A research team believes it has finally uncovered the cause of chronic fatigue syndrome. The mysterious syndrome—labeled "yuppie flu" in the '80s and considered by some doctors to be a purely psychiatric problem—appears to be caused by an obscure retrovirus, the scientists say. Some 67% of sufferers... More »

MORE ABOUT:
immune system • virus • chronic fatigue syndrome

 Little Kids Still Need 
 2 Swine Flu Shots 

Older kids, like adults, get effective H1N1 inoculation from just 1 dose

Sep 21, 09 3:41 PM CDT
(Newser) - Kids over age 9 can safely join adults in receiving just one shot of swine flu vaccine, the Washington Post reports. A test of 650 subjects showed 76% of children between 10 and 17 had a response to a vaccine produced by Sanofi Pasteur, and it was strong enough that... More »

MORE ABOUT:
public health • children • epidemic • vaccine • virus • influenza • swine flu • H1N1 virus

 Swine Flu Can Burrow 
 Deep Into Lungs: Docs 

H1N1 can infect cells where seasonal flu can't: study

Sep 10, 09 4:31 PM CDT
(Newser) - Swine flu can worm its way deeper into the body than seasonal flu, a dangerous capability that could result in increased fatalities if the virus mutates, AFP reports. Seasonal influenza is able to bind only to the tissues in the nose, throat, and upper airway—that’s why it causes... More »

MORE ABOUT:
public health • virus • cell • influenza • swine flu • H1N1 virus • lungs

AIDS Charities Blast
Hitler Sex Ad

Racy commercial stigmatizes those infected with virus, critics say

Sep 5, 09 5:19 PM CDT
(Newser) - A racy ad showing Adolf Hitler having unprotected sex is designed to scare young people about AIDS, but charities say the spot vilifies victims of the disease, the Telegraph reports. The explicit commercial, which shows a couple undressing and having intercourse, takes a creepy twist when the camera pans up... More »

MORE ABOUT:
AIDS • Germany • HIV • Adolf Hitler • virus • unprotected sex

Breakthrough Raises Hope for HIV Vaccine

Antibodies could help scientists combat elusive virus' defenses

Sep 3, 09 3:55 PM CDT
(Newser) - Researchers have found two antibodies that neutralize the AIDS virus more successfully than any identified in the past, resurrecting hopes that it may be possible to develop an effective vaccine, Time reports. The new antibodies are effective against a broad range of HIV variants, neutralizing the virus’ most effective defense:... More »

MORE ABOUT:
HIV • vaccine • immune system • mutation • antibodies • virus • AIDS vaccine • National Institute on Allergy and Infectious Disease • Anthony Fauci

Scientists Find First Human Infected With Gorilla HIV

Disease continues to evolve

Aug 3, 09 2:48 AM CDT
(Newser) - A woman from Cameroon living in Paris is the first human discovered to be infected with a form of HIV found in gorillas, HealthDay reports. The finding is yet another indication that the disease continues to mutate and to be transmitted by primates. The woman, 62, has not developed symptoms... More »

MORE ABOUT:
AIDS • HIV • Cameroon • research • infection • gorilla • virus

(Newser) - The World Health Organization today instructed member nations to stop counting cases of the rapidly spreading swine flu pandemic and focus instead on the most serious, Reuters reports. “Trying to register and report every single case is a huge waste of resources,” a spokesman said. Authorities should continue... More »

MORE ABOUT:
infection • virus • World Health Organization • pandemic • swine flu • WHO • H1N1 virus

(Newser) - A 74-year-old passenger has died after some 150 people fell ill with suspected norovirus on the luxury cruise liner Marco Polo, reports the BBC. The ship was touring the UK and Ireland with some 1100 passengers and staff when the illness broke out. The liner is currently being held at... More »

MORE ABOUT:
ship • death • port • vacation • virus • cruise ships • flu • norovirus • cruise lines • cause of death

 What if Swine Flu 
 Meets Bird Flu? 

A hybrid could stymie vaccines, increase disease's killing power

Jun 14, 09 8:59 AM CDT
(Newser) - Among the scarier prospects for the future of swine flu, which has reached pandemic status but killed relatively few people, is that it mixes with bird flu to form a lethal hybrid. Jokes about flying pigs aside, a mix of the easily spreadable H1N1 and the especially virulent bird flu... More »

MORE ABOUT:
genetic mutation • virus • avian flu • influenza • pandemic • swine flu • H1N1 virus

 Safer Stem Cells Bring 
 Real-Life Treatments Closer 

New possibility of regrown tissue without risk of rejection

May 29, 09 11:34 AM CDT
(Newser) - In a development that brings practical applications of manufactured stem cells closer than ever, scientists have created stem-like cells using human skin cells, Reuters reports. "After a few more flight tests—in order to assure everything is working properly—it should be ready for commercial use," a researcher... More »

MORE ABOUT:
stem cell research • stem cells • virus • Harvard Stem Cell Institute • Advanced Cell Technology Inc. • embryonic stem cells

Experts: Don't Blame Pigs
for Swine Flu

H1N1 virus likely arose among jet-setting humans

May 9, 09 6:09 AM CDT
(Newser) - The humble porker shouldn't be the one taking the blame for the H1N1 virus, scientists tell the Los Angeles Times. Pigs provided some of the raw material for the virus, experts say, but so did birds and humans. The most likely incubators and spreaders of the virus, according to scientists,... More »

MORE ABOUT:
swine • virus • outbreak • influenza • swine flu • pigs • H1N1 virus

(Newser) - With panic over the H1N1 flu virus on the wane, some Americans are pondering allowing themselves to become infected in hopes of building immunity against potentially more virulent strains, the New York Times reports. Doctors are split on the idea. "I think it's totally nuts," says a flu... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention • vaccine • infection • virus • infectious diseases • immunity • influenza • pandemic • swine flu • H1N1 virus

 Seasonal Flu Strain 
 May Have Mutated 

Canadian researchers say H3N2 virus mutated from vaccine strain

May 6, 09 2:48 PM CDT
(Newser) - A mutated version of the seasonal strain of flu targeted by this season's vaccine has surfaced in a traveler entering Canada from Mexico, Reuters reports. The development complicates the tracking of the virus in Mexico, which has suffered the majority of infections and deaths. The variant was previously found in... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Mexico • Canada • vaccine • mutation • virus • influenza • swine flu • H1N1 virus • H3N2 virus

Mexico Protests 'Unjustified' Response as Flu Stabilizes  

Health minister targets countries for restricting travel to country

May 3, 09 1:54 PM CDT
(Newser) - Mexico is striking back at countries it says are overreacting to swine flu fears, BBC reports. The country’s foreign minister singled out China, Peru, Argentina, Cuba, and Ecuador for halting flights to Mexico, saying, “We’re surprised by the adoption of unjustified measures.” The news comes as... More »

MORE ABOUT:
China • Mexico • Cuba • Peru • Argentina • Ecuador • virus • swine flu

 Rumors as Virulent 
 as Swine Flu Itself 

Theories implicate everyone from Smithfield Foods to al-Qaeda as responsible

Apr 30, 09 1:31 PM CDT
(Newser) - Rumors about the origins of the swine flu outbreak are spreading faster than the virus itself, with theories ranging from a group of slaughtered pigs in China to an al-Qaeda conspiracy, Reuters reports. China’s government was actually prompted into making a formal statement by international media reports suggesting that... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Mexico • disease • virus • rumor • al-Qaeda • genetic engineering • pandemic • swine flu • rumors • Smithfield Foods

 Mexico's First Flu Death 
 Exposes Containment Trouble 

Response quick, but follow-up efforts weak

Apr 30, 09 10:33 AM CDT
(Newser) - After a 39-year-old woman became Mexico’s first person to die of swine flu, authorities quickly responded—but efforts were mixed, the AP finds. Medical teams interviewed 472 people who possibly had contact with the woman, a tax collector whose family runs a convenience store; they temporarily closed the ICU... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Mexico • disease • public health • virus • disease control • swine flu



 Avoid Planes, Trains, 
 Closed Spaces: Biden 

It's too late to close Mexico border, he says

Apr 30, 09 8:26 AM CDT
(Newser) - Joe Biden is advising his family to avoid confined places where swine flu could spread easily, including airplanes, subways, classrooms, and malls, the VP told the Today Show today. A single sneeze "goes all the way through the aircraft," he noted. Biden also said it's too late to... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Joe Biden • public health • public transportation • virus • President Obama • swine flu

OPINION

 Twitter Amplifies 
 Swine Flu Fear 


Apr 27, 09 2:55 PM CDT
(Newser) - Twitter and other social networks are creating a swine-flu panic out of a molehill with their instantaneous updates, Robert X. Cringely writes for InfoWorld. The quick flow of less-than-dependable information means “people with head colds decide they're really dying from a porcine-borne bug and flood emergency rooms.” And... More »

MORE ABOUT:
social networking • Internet • public health • virus • outbreak • Twitter • swine flu

 Swine Flu Confirmed in UK 

Pair brings disease home from a trip to Mexico

Apr 27, 09 1:48 PM CDT
(Newser) - Two British citizens have contracted swine flu, the virus that has killed at least 149 people in Mexico and sickened 20 in the US, the Guardian reports. The pair returned from a trip to Mexico last week and fell ill, the Scottish health minister said today. Seven others who had... More »

MORE ABOUT:
United Kingdom • United States • bacteria • infection • pig • virus • Britain • swine flu

1 - 20 of 57 Stories | 1 2 3 Next >>


from our news partners