Report warns of threat to unborn babies from CMV virus
"Thousands of pregnant women are unwittingly passing on infections to their unborn babies that cause severe disabilities," is the headline in the Daily Mail after a new report highlighted the risks cytomegalovirus (CMV) can pose to pregnancies.
The paper says cytomegalovirus "can lie dormant in mother's body for years" and "is caught from other children through nappy changing and wiping mouths", so often older siblings can pass it on to unborn babies.
What is the basis for this report?
The story was prompted by the release of a report by the charity CMV Action. The charity aims to raise ...
Source: NHS News Feed - June 30, 2015 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Pregnancy/child QA articles Source Type: news
Hot Atara snags licensing deal with cancer center
Experimental off-the-shelf cell therapies against cancer and long-term viral infections were grabbed by Atara Biotherapeutics Inc. in a licensing deal with Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.
South San Francisco's Atara (NASDAQ: ATRA) — part of the San Francisco Business Times' life sciences IPO Class of 2014 — said Monday that it licensed three programs already in clinical trials that boost the body's ability to fight Epstein Barr Virus, or EBV, cytomegalovirus and Wilms Tumor 1, or WT1.… (Source: bizjournals.com Health Care:Pharmaceuticals headlines)
Source: bizjournals.com Health Care:Pharmaceuticals headlines - June 15, 2015 Category: Pharmaceuticals Authors: Ron Leuty Source Type: news
Durham's Chimerix hits 'major milestone' in drug trial enrollment
Durham drug developer Chimerix, Inc. (Nasdaq: CMRX) reached a milestone by hitting full enrollment in a trial to test its lead drug against cytomegalovirus.
Trial enrollment isn’t the most important news a drug developer can report, but it is significant because it puts the company back on track to test its experimental drug, called brincidofovir, in the correct patient population. In February, Chimerix disclosed it would take longer than initially anticipated to fully enroll the trial.
Specifically,… (Source: bizjournals.com Health Care:Pharmaceuticals headlines)
Source: bizjournals.com Health Care:Pharmaceuticals headlines - June 9, 2015 Category: Pharmaceuticals Authors: Jason deBruyn Source Type: news
New therapy from naïve cells attacks high-risk viruses in cord blood transplant patients
(Baylor College of Medicine) Researchers in the Center for Cell and Gene Therapy at Baylor College of Medicine, Houston Methodist and the Texas Children's Hospital have expanded the use of virus-specific cell therapy in cord blood transplant patients to successfully prevent three of the most problematic post-transplant viruses affecting this group of patients that have yet to be addressed clinically -- cytomegalovirus, Epstein-Barr virus, and adenovirus. (Source: EurekAlert! - Cancer)
Source: EurekAlert! - Cancer - April 29, 2015 Category: Cancer & Oncology Source Type: news
Cytomegalovirus and Inflammatory Bowel DiseaseCytomegalovirus and Inflammatory Bowel Disease
How common is cytomegalovirus in patients with IBD, how does it develop, and how is it best treated? Alimentary Pharmacology & Therapeutics (Source: Medscape Today Headlines)
Source: Medscape Today Headlines - April 20, 2015 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Gastroenterology Journal Article Source Type: news
Purging a virus from organ transplants
The switch that can awake a dormant cytomegalovirus, a dreadful pathogen in immuno-compromised patients, has been identified by scientists. The switch can be controlled with common drugs, opening a new strategy for purging the virus from organ transplants. (Source: ScienceDaily Headlines)
Source: ScienceDaily Headlines - April 7, 2015 Category: Science Source Type: news
Purging a virus from organ transplants
(Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne) EPFL scientists have discovered the switch that can awake a dormant cytomegalovirus, a dreadful pathogen in immuno-compromised patients. The switch can be controlled with common drugs, opening a new strategy for purging the virus from organ transplants. (Source: EurekAlert! - Infectious and Emerging Diseases)
Source: EurekAlert! - Infectious and Emerging Diseases - April 7, 2015 Category: Infectious Diseases Source Type: news
Perinatal Cytomegalovirus Infections: Epidemiology, Prevention, and Treatment
Mother-to-child transmission of cytomegalovirus (CMV) can lead to severe birth defects and neurologic impairment of infants. Congenital CMV is the most common congenital infection and the leading infectious cause of infant hearing loss and neurologic deficits, complicating up to 2% of all pregnancies globally. Although antiviral treatment of congenitally CMV-infected infants can ameliorate CMV-associated hearing loss and developmental delay, interventions that can effectively prevent congenital CMV infection and the associated neurologic impairments are still being evaluated. Moreover, an effective CMV vaccine to protect m...
Source: NeoReviews recent issues - April 1, 2015 Category: Pediatrics Authors: Bialas, K. M., Swamy, G. K., Permar, S. R. Tags: Pediatric Drug Labeling Update Articles Source Type: news
Cytomegalovirus Hijacks Human Enzyme for Replication
(Source: News from NIGMS Funded Institutions)
Source: News from NIGMS Funded Institutions - March 26, 2015 Category: Research Source Type: news
New Insights Into How Cytomegalovirus Infects Different Cell Types
(Source: News from NIGMS Funded Institutions)
Source: News from NIGMS Funded Institutions - March 26, 2015 Category: Research Source Type: news
Study announces a durable vaccine for Ebola
(University of Plymouth) A new study shows the durability of a novel 'disseminating' cytomegalovirus-based Ebola virus vaccine strategy that may eventually have the potential to reduce ebolavirus infection in wild African ape species. (Source: EurekAlert! - Infectious and Emerging Diseases)
Source: EurekAlert! - Infectious and Emerging Diseases - March 25, 2015 Category: Infectious Diseases Source Type: news
Cytomegalovirus hijacks human enzyme for replication
(Princeton University) Researchers at Princeton have discovered that cytomegalovirus manipulates a process called fatty acid elongation, which makes the very-long-chain fatty acids necessary for virus replication. Published in the journal Cell Reports on March 3, the research team identified a specific human enzyme -- elongase enzyme 7 -- that the virus induces to turn on fatty acid elongation. (Source: EurekAlert! - Biology)
Source: EurekAlert! - Biology - March 23, 2015 Category: Biology Source Type: news
Chimerix has hiccup in patient enrollment
Shares of Durham drug developer Chimerix (NASDAQ: CMRX) dipped more than five percent on news that it had to delay enrollment of a clinical trial.
Chimerix is testing its lead drug candidate, brincidofovir, for the prevention of clinically significant cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection in hematopoietic cell transplant (HCT) recipients. The trial has enrolled 80 percent of the planned 450 subjects, but the last patient is now expected to be enrolled in the summer. Chimerix had previously hoped to enroll… (Source: bizjournals.com Health Care:Pharmaceuticals headlines)
Source: bizjournals.com Health Care:Pharmaceuticals headlines - February 27, 2015 Category: Pharmaceuticals Authors: Jason deBruyn Source Type: news
A few cells could prevent bone marrow transplant infections
Researchers have found clues for reducing infections after bone marrow transplantation for leukemia and lymphoma. Bone marrow transplantation is a life-saving therapy for patients with blood cancers like leukemia or lymphoma. However, the depletion of the patient's immune system prior to transplantation can put patients at risk of for an infection by a virus called cytomegalovirus (CMV) that can be life threatening in these immune-compromised individuals. (Source: ScienceDaily Headlines)
Source: ScienceDaily Headlines - February 3, 2015 Category: Science Source Type: news
Look for CMV in Kids With Lupus (CME/CE)
(MedPage Today) -- Persistent fever is a clue to possible cytomegalovirus infection. (Source: MedPage Today Infectious Disease)
Source: MedPage Today Infectious Disease - January 20, 2015 Category: Infectious Diseases Source Type: news
